The tax/subsidy relation between member banks and the federal reserve system

This paper identifies and measures the costs (taxes) and benefits (subsidies) of membership in the Federal Reserve System for the period 1923–1976 and considers two hypotheses. The first, that banks have made membership decisions partly on the basis of net taxes and subsidies, is tested empirically. The second, that the Federal Reserve has reacted to this bank behavior by attempting to alter specific taxes and subsidies to affect membership, is treated through analysis of Fed actions. The conclusions contain recommendations for possible alternate policies.     

The status of biotehnology-based innovation

This paper contributes to the debate surrounding the question of whether biotechnology, particularly its applications in agricultural and food-related industries, should be regarded as revolutionary or evolutionary (with some reservations about the vaildity of teh question). The potential to create a revolutionary techno-economic paradigm shift does exist but it is currently systems. It is also important to consider the motivations underlying statements about the revolutionary/ evolutionary nature of biotechnology, as some such statements are intended to influence events rather than to reflect them. The impact of small firms on the direction and place of revolutionary change in these industries is likely to be marginal, unlike the situation in the early phases of teh electronics/IT revolution. At present the lack of integration of policy initiatives by national governments and the EC is a major factor discouraging the rapid implementation of change.     

Paying the piper: choice and constraint in changing HR functional roles

HR directors are often exhorted to play a more ‘strategic’ role in their organisations. However, it is not necessarily clear what is meant by this, or whether it is possible for departments to change their role at a whim. In this article we examine the changing role of the HR function within two contrasting organisations – an NHS trust and a bank – over a period of seven years. Drawing on role‐set theory and concepts of negotiated order, we illustrate how HR functional roles are located within a complex and dynamic social setting, and present a model that seeks to map these interrelationships.     

STOCHASTIC VOLATILITY MODELS AND THE PRICING OF VIX OPTIONS

In this paper, we examine and compare the performance of a variety of continuous‐time volatility models in their ability to capture the behavior of the VIX. The “3/2‐ model” with a diffusion structure which allows the volatility of volatility changes to be highly sensitive to the actual level of volatility is found to outperform all other popular models tested. Analytic solutions for option prices on the VIX under the 3/2‐model are developed and then used to calibrate at‐the‐money market option prices.     

全球通胀形势愈显严峻

【美国《华尔街日报））6月11日】通胀担忧正在全球不断加剧，金融市场也随之颤抖不已。     

新兴市场通胀肆虐

【美国《华尔街日报》4月24日】赶走了之前压制它们的诸多“恶魔”，就是通货膨胀。在经过多年的强劲增长之后，新兴市场终于但有一个“捣蛋鬼”如今又卷土重来了，它就是通货膨胀。 分析师和投资者们表示，对这些国家的经济和政治局势而言，物价上涨比肆虐美国的金融危机危害更大。     

Organization Design and Information-Sharing in a Research Joint Venture with Spillovers

The paper presents a non-tournament model of process innovation with spillovers in the R&D process when firms engage in Cournot competition in the product market. It is shown that careful modelling of information-sharing and coordination of research activities leads to the conclusion that a Research Joint Venture (RJV) will economize on scarce R&D resources. There is an analysis of the effects of R&D cooperation, in the form of an RJV, on the organization of R&D, i.e. the efficient number of research labs. R&D expenditure, which precedes production, results in lower unit costs. R&D is modelled as a two-stage process: in the first stage, firms incur expenditure that will generate new knowledge, while in the second stage this knowledge is employed to reduce unit costs. A distinction is made between single and complementary research paths. It is shown that the RJV will operate one lab in the case of a single research path exploiting its coordination advantage. In the case of complementary research paths the number of labs the RJV will operate crucially depends on the stage of the R&D process at which diminishing returns occur: it will operate both labs when diminishing returns occur at the first stage (creation of knowledge), while it will be indifferent as to the number of labs, one or two, when diminishing returns occur in the second stage (cost reduction).     

Price convergence in the EU—an aggregate and disaggregate approach

This article examines the price dispersion in the European Union (EU) over 15 years (1990–2005). An extensive overview of the literature offers inconclusive results with the half-lives of price shocks from 2.8 to 282 months. Until now, most of the empirical research has been either micro or macro based. In contrast, we conducted a complex analysis utilizing both aggregate and disaggregate price data. The macro approach is based on a Comparative Price Level index calculated as the ratio between PPPs and exchange rate. The disaggregate analysis utilizes the actual prices of almost 150 individual products sold in the 15 capital cities of the EU. We conducted sigma and beta convergence in the analysis of both datasets. There are several differences in results depending on whether the calculation was based on indices or actual prices. Additionally, the model is tested to measure the contribution of different factors in explaining the observed convergence pattern. Most of the explanatory power comes from the differences in GDP (or wages), exchange rate volatility and differences in taxes. The Euro effect when controlling for exchange rate volatility, is not significant.