DOES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS AFFECT FIRM PERFORMANCE OF CONSUMER CO‐OPERATIVES? THE CASE OF ICOOP KOREA

Consumer co‐operatives in Korea have been growing rapidly since they launched their own shops. If co‐operatives would be too much oriented to enlargement or economic growth, they might easily pay no attention to members’ participation which is one of the priorities in co‐operatives. It could lead to losing the value of co‐operatives. So it is important to adjust the balance between members’ participation and economic growth. This paper focuses on the role of board of directors in doing that. It aims to examine how effectiveness of the board influences members’ participation and the participation has effect on performance of co‐operatives in the case of iCOOP Korea. The variables such as communication with members and usage of management skills and knowledge are employed as measures of the effectiveness of the board in decision‐making process. The data are collected by survey the respondents of which are 222 directors of 30 primary co‐operatives. It is analyzed by Structural Equation Model. The findings of the research are as follows. Firstly, communication of the board with members increases the members’ democratic participation, and the increased participation contributes to improving the financial performance. Secondly, management skills and knowledge of the board does not have significant relations with the level of members’ participation, even though members’ economic participation has significantly positive relation with the financial performance. The findings imply that members’ voluntary participation will be increased when boards of co‐operatives try to reflect members’ needs in the decision making processes, and it can help the co‐operatives improve their financial performance. It suggests a clue for the trade‐off between the value of co‐operatives and growth of business which many co‐operatives are trying to resolve.     

中国黄金期货保证金水平——基于非正态分布下的研究

中国目前静态的期货保证金水平只是一个经验数字,对价格波动并不敏感,大部分时间投资者资金被过度占用,当市场波动剧烈时又不能覆盖足够的风险。本文研究了基于非正态分布下黄金期货保证金水平,利用广义极值分布和广义帕累托分布来拟合尾部风险。结果显示:黄金期货存在尖峰厚尾现象,在考虑流动性风险后,现有的保证金水平有下调空间,应设定为4.38%,当风险加大时应提高到5.15%。     

TRADING VOLUME,VOLATILITY, AND GARCH EFFECTS IN THE SOUTH KOREAN WON/US DOLLAR EXCHANGE MARKET: EVIDENCE FROM CONDITIONAL QUANTILE ESTIMATION*

Under the MDH, this paper investigates the asymmetry in the positive relationship between unexpected volume and volatility, and whether the unexpected volume series as a proxy for the rate of information arrival absorbs the GARCH effects. This is achieved by applying a quantile regression approach to the won/dollar exchange market with reliable data on trading volumes. Interestingly, the results show that in a freely floating exchange rate system, the positive relationship increases as exchange rate returns are higher. Contrary to previous studies, despite a significantly positive relationship, the inclusion of volumes alone does not reduce volatility persistence at medium or high levels of returns. In addition, the reform of the South Korean exchange rate system had an impact on the relationship, which occurred in response to a financial crisis.     

Revisiting General and Specific Union Beliefs: The Union‐Voting Intentions of Professionals

We examine how general and specific beliefs about unions influence the union‐voting intentions of professional employees. Previous research, mainly on nonprofessionals, has found that both beliefs are significant in predicting voting behavior, but that specific beliefs have the stronger effect. Using a structural equation model, we found a causal relationship between general and specific beliefs, and that the total effect of general beliefs is nearly three times as strong as that of specific beliefs.     

Corporate Taxes and Securitization

Most banks pay corporate income taxes, but securitization vehicles do not. Our model shows that, when a bank faces strong loan demand but limited deposit market power, this tax asymmetry creates an incentive to sell loans despite less‐efficient screening and monitoring of sold loans. Moreover, loan‐selling increases as a bank's corporate income tax rate and capital requirement rise. Our empirical tests show that U.S. commercial banks sell more of their mortgages when they operate in states that impose higher corporate income taxes. A policy implication is that tax‐induced loan‐selling will rise if banks’ required equity capital increases.     

THE EFFECTS OF WORKERS' REGION OF BIRTH ON LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

In this paper, we investigate empirically whether there are differences in labor market outcomes according to workers' region of birth. We also investigate whether wage differentials by region of birth are due to taste discrimination, statistical discrimination as measurement error, or both of these things. The empirical analyses based on the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) data show the following. First, Honam‐born workers have a higher migration ratio to other regions than Youngnam‐born workers. Second, workers born in other regions have a higher propensity to become contingent workers and are paid significantly lower wages than Seoul/Kyonggi‐born workers. Finally, our empirical tests support the third hypothesis that wage differentials by region of birth are attributable partly to statistical discrimination as measurement error and partly to taste discrimination. We rejected a hypothesis based solely on taste discrimination as well as a hypothesis based solely on statistical discrimination as measurement error.     

Improvements of model-test method for cavitation-induced pressure fluctuation in marine propeller

Although the prediction of propeller cavitation-induced pressure fluctuation strongly depends on the model-scale measurement in a cavitation tunnel, there is still a lack of correlation with full-scale data. This paper deals with the enhancement of such a correlation deficiency by improving the conventional model-test technique, two majors of which are in the following. One is to take into account the boundary layer effect of wooden fairing plate at the ceiling of water cavitation tunnel. The other is to avoid the resonance frequency range of model-ship via adjusting the revolution speed of model propeller. Through a case study, for which both model and full-scale test data are available, the improved method in this study shows its validness, and furthermore a close correlation with full scale measurement.     

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

This paper studies the relationship between intellectual property rights (IPRs) and economic growth for a cross-section of countries for the period 1960–1990. The analysis focuses on effects of IPRs on growth using a quantitative index of IPRs. The paper finds that IPRs affect economic growth indirectly by stimulating the accumulation of factor inputs like R&D and physical capital. The positive effects of IPRs on factor accumulation, particularly of R&D capital, are present even when the analysis controls for a more general measure of property rights     

The Simple Meaning of Complex Rates of Return

Real options analysis (ROA) has been identified in the literature as a quantitative means to evaluate the flexibility inherent in the decision-making process. From an engineering economics perspective, this paper highlights applications, real-world users, modeling approaches, ROA assumptions, and future research directions. Through identifying and systematizing the current literature, a concise summary of modeling concerns and a road map for future modeling efforts and applications is discussed. More specifically, this paper supports research efforts to combine decision analysis tools with financial option pricing techniques to develop a real option framework that will be accepted in industry to make decisions in today's fast-paced and highly competitive business environment.     

CLO (Collateralized Loan Obligation) Market and Corporate Lending

We investigate whether access to the collateralized loan obligation (CLO) market as collateral managers or underwriters affects lenders' ability to overcome an idiosyncratic adverse shock in the corporate lending market. In a triple difference-in-differences setting, we find that lenders decrease their origination of loans following a negative shock; however, those with CLO access become more likely to arrange deals with securitizable facilities (Term B). Moreover, they choose to arrange deals with smaller size on-balance-sheet lending (Term A). The results suggest that securitization is actively used by lenders to switch to off-balance-sheet lending and to reduce the risk retained on the balance sheet.