Fundamental Drivers of Dependence in REIT Returns

We analyse the empirical relationships between firm fundamentals and the dependence structure between individual REIT and stock market returns. In contrast to previous studies, we distinguish between the average systematic risk of REITs and their asymmetric risk in the sense of a disproportionate likelihood of joint negative return clusters between REITs and the stock market. We find that REITs with low systematic risk are typically small, with low short-term momentum, low turnover, high growth opportunities and strong long-term momentum. Holding systematic risk constant, the main driving forces of asymmetric risk are leverage and, to some extent, short-term momentum. Specifically, we find that leverage has an asymmetric effect on REIT return dependence that outweighs the extent to which it increases the average sensitivity of REIT equity to market fluctuations, explaining the strong negative impact of leverage on firm performance especially during crisis periods that has been documented in recent empirical work.     

Ecological uncertainty,adaptation, and mitigation in the U.S. ski resort industry: Managing resource dependence and institutional pressures

We draw on resource dependence and institutional theories to study how firms manage uncertainty in nature (ecological uncertainty) in the U.S. ski resort industry. Through resource dependence theory, we develop the concept of ecological uncertainty and explain its effects on firms' access to and management of natural resources. We then predict that firms adapt to ecological uncertainty with natural‐resource‐intensive practices, as well as practices that attempt to mitigate its underlying causes. Using institutional theory, we also predict that environmental expectations moderate these responses. Our results indicate that firms did manage ecological uncertainty by adopting natural‐resource‐intensive practices, but not mitigation practices. They also show that stronger environmental expectations constrained firms from adopting natural‐resource‐intensive practices and promoted their adoption of mitigation practices in response to ecological uncertainty. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

全球数字创意最新案例研究

When the world zigs,zags当世界向左,我们向右。以颠覆见长的全球顶级创意热店——BBH是全球最重要的广告公司之一,以创意和效率而著称。该公司由广告界传奇人物John Bartle、Nigel Bogle和John Hegarty于1982年共同创建,追求策略性的手法,崇尚绝妙的创意。BBH在伦敦、新加坡(亚太区)、东京、纽约和圣保罗和上海设有分公司,共有员工800名。     

The determinants of debt maturity in Australian firms

We examine the determinants of debt maturity in the Australian capital market with the Top 400 firms listed on the Australian Securities Exchange for the period 1989–2006. We find that Australian firms not only exhibit a positive leverage–maturity relationship but also use short‐term debt to signal their high quality to the market. Our results are robust to different estimation methods that control for endogeneity and error‐dependence. We also find that ignoring the interaction between leverage and maturity can lead to erroneous conclusions about the support for the matching principle, the agency costs hypothesis and the transaction costs hypothesis.     

What have we learned from a decade of empirical research on growth? Comment on "It's Not Factor Accumulation: Stylized Facts and Growth Models," by William Easterly and Ross Levine

William Easterly and Ross Levine document five stylized factsabout growth and argue that they imply a bigger role for totalfactor productivity (TFP) and technology than for physical andhuman capital. I agree with the first four of their facts andbelieve facts 1 and 3 provide strong support for their conclusionthat TFP should be the focus of growth research.     

Welfare rights and wrongs: The limits of local anti-poverty strategies

This article discusses the development of local authority anti-poverty initiatives in Britain over the last two decades, setting them in the context of previous targeted anti-poverty activity in this country and in the United States, and focusing in particular upon the important role played by welfare rights within local anti-poverty work. The article also describes in some detail the initiatives in the welfare rights field undertaken by Sheffield County Council in the 1980s as part of its more general commitment during this period to challenging poverty and deprivation in the city and improving welfare services. It is argued that Sheffield provides an example of many of the strengths, and weaknesses, of the welfare rights theme within local authority anti-poverty action; and that from this lessons can be drawn for the role of welfare rights in future anti-poverty initiatives here and elsewhere. In conclusion the more general limitations of local anti-poverty strategies are discussed, contrasting their tactical successes with their more general policy failure in preventing the growth of local poverty.     

Performative entrepreneurship: identity,behaviour and place in adventure sports Enterprise

This research explores entrepreneurial identity and place in adventure sports within the emerging field of sports entrepreneurship. A growing body of literature has established the broad parameters of sports entrepreneurs mainly within the fitness sector. This study applies a performative entrepreneurship lens to explore the embedded nature of identity, behaviour and place amongst mountain bike (MTB) trainers and guides. This qualitative study is based around interviews with six trainers/guides conducted via online forums as well as participatory observations made on a group ride and of a communal response to the natural environment through trail building. Findings illustrate that unlike the fitness sector where there is a more established market and where entrepreneurs often move from employment to self-employment within the sector, the MTB adventure sports entrepreneur operates in a less formalised market resulting in less formal strategic planning. ‘Place’ is an important factor in the performative nature of enterprise in this study and it is clear that it is through lifestyle entrepreneurship that the individuals are ‘performing’ identity.