Government contracts and US bond yield spreads: A study on costs and benefits of materialized political connections

In a 1991–2013 sample of bonds issued by US public firms, we find that the cost of debt (yield spread relative to comparable Treasuries) of suppliers to government agencies is contingent on the strategic importance of the supplier's industry. The yield spreads for strategically unimportant government suppliers are higher than for firms that are not government suppliers. If government contracts serve as tangible evidence of political connections, these higher yield spreads indicate that weaker corporate governance as a cost of political connections outweighs the benefits of said connections. For the subsample of government suppliers from strategically important industries, where the benefits of implicit bailout guarantees and revenue stability outweigh the corporate governance problems, the cost of debt is lower than for firms that are not government suppliers. The higher (lower) cost of debt for strategically unimportant (strategically important) suppliers is confined to contracting with the federal government. Our findings are robust to alternative variable and sample specifications, and to endogeneity concerns.     

Managerial optimism: New observations on the unifying theory

Managerial optimism theory is behavioral finance's greatest achievement. It explains two prominent features of corporate financial behavior – over‐investment and pecking‐order capital structure preferences – that otherwise require two different theories with mutually incompatible assumptions about managerial loyalties to shareholder‐value maximization. After reviewing the development of managerial optimism as a unifying theory, I use a simple change of measure to transform risk‐averse optimism to risk‐neutral probabilities that can be pessimistic or optimistic depending on wealth changes. This unexplored feature has implications for, among other things, pay for performance when managers are excessively optimistic.     

Switching costs and financial stability

We establish that the effect of intensified deposit market competition, measured by reduced switching costs, on the probability of bank failures depends critically on whether we focus on competition with established customer relationships or competition for the formation of such relationships. With inherited customer relationships, intensified competition due to lower switching costs destabilizes the banking market, whereas it stabilizes the market if we focus on competition for the formation of customer relationships. We characterize the factors important for evaluating the effects of intensified competition on stability in a market with unattached as well as locked-in depositors.     

承包单位项目成本控制与管理探析

本文阐述施工承包单位成本控制的类型、成本控制的最终目的以及加强成本核算与控制的有效策略。     

建设项目全过程造价管理的应用研究

本文以建设项目全过程造价管理的概念为出发点,对我国建设项目在不同阶段应用造价管理的现状分析,最后提出提高建设项目全过程造价管理的对策。     

浅谈新形势下建筑工程造价、工期、质量三者关系

怎样才能分析并处理好工程造价、工期时间、工程质量之间的关系,达到真正意义上的造价低、工期短、质量高是当前建筑行业亟需解决的问题。本文就三者之间的关系做了一些分析和探讨。     

Mobile phone network data reveal nationwide economic value of coastal tourism under climate change

The technology-driven application of big data is expected to assist policymaking towards sustainable development; however, the relevant literature has not addressed human welfare under climate change, which limits the understanding of climate change impacts on human societies. We present the first application of unique mobile phone network data to evaluate the current nation-wide human welfare of coastal tourism at Japanese beaches and project the value change using the four climate change scenarios. The results show that the projected national economic value loss rates are more significant than the projected national physical beach loss rates. Our findings demonstrate regional differences in recreational values: most southern beaches with larger current values would disappear, while the current small values of the northern beaches would remain. These changes imply that the ranks of the beaches, based on economic values, would enable policymakers to discuss management priorities under climate change.     

建筑工程造价控制及优化措施探析

在建筑工程项目中,严格控制工程造价,可以取得较好的经济效益。要做好建筑工程的造价控制工作,为企业赢得良好的经济效益,必须要求企业内部多方面进行协调与配合。     

浅谈医院财务预算与成本控制

运用恰当的方法进行成本控制,使医院成本实现最小化,从而达到利润最大化,对医院的长远规划起着重要的作用。     

土建工程项目施工时间管理浅析

时间是项目管理工作最清晰的轴线,通过有效控制可以实现非适宜施工时间和适宜施工时间的转换,从而获得项目管理的时间和空间,以实现项目管理目标。本文概略分析施工时间对不同项目实施效果的作用,论述施工时间管理是实现项目管理目标的根本保障。