International Housing Markets and the U.S. Subprime Crisis

We propose a novel decomposition approach to study the degree of co-movement of international housing markets while distinguishing among different economic drivers. We find that the housing market variability for an average country was mainly driven by the common housing risk premium components during the years leading up to the 2007–08 subprime financial crisis. A decrease in the common housing risk premium was followed by a housing boom and economic expansion in the United States prior to the crisis. Our findings add to the understanding of the role of common risk factors across international housing markets before the crisis.     

Global Banks and Synthetic Funding: The Benefits of Foreign Relatives

This paper examines the effect of dislocations in foreign currency (FX) swap markets (“CIP deviations”) on bank lending. Using data from UK banks we show that when the cost of obtaining swap-based funds in a particular foreign currency increases, banks reduce the supply of cross-border credit in that currency. This effect is increasing in the degree of banks' reliance on swap-based FX funding. Access to foreign relatives matters as banks employ internal capital markets to shield their cross-border FX lending supply from the described channel. Partial substitution occurs from banks outside the UK not affected by changes in synthetic funding costs.     

Sequential point estimation of normal mean under LINEX loss function

A sequential point estimation of the mean of a normal distribution is considered under LINEX loss function. The regret of sequential procedures are obtained. Furthermore, it is shown that a sequential procedure with the sample mean as an estimate is asymptotically inadmissible. An accerelated stopping time is also considered. Received: December 1999     

浅谈GPS实时动态技术在土地测量中的应用

GPS实时动态测量技术相比各种传统的测量技术和方法,有其独特的优点。本文通过介绍GPS实时动态技术的构造以及测量原理,分析了GPS实时动态技术在土地测量工作中的优势,并给出了GPS实时动态技术在实际测量工作中的应用方法。     

全球汽车产业价值链的分析与启示--以通用、福特、大众、丰田为例

汽车产业作为一种典型的全球化产业,其突出表现之一是价值链的全球化。价值链全球化的形成与完善给企业自身带来了巨大的竞争力。本文以世界排名前四位汽车制造商通用集团、福特集团、大众集团、丰田集团为例,剖析其全球价值链形成的过程以及对各大集团的影响,并总结出成功经验,旨在对我国的汽车产业发展有一定的借鉴意义。     

A Dependence-Trust Modelm of Export Alliance Performance in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the export performance of US environmental technology (EnviroTech) firms, which are predominantly small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We conceptualize and empirically test a model of perceived export performance contingent upon the perceived effectiveness of host country partner (HCP) alliances, dependence, and trust in the HCP. We find that US SME EnviroTech firms contemplating exports need two critical ingredients for success. First, they must forge close, cooperative, long-term strategic alliances with HCPs for mutual benefit. And second, they must pay specific attention to building trust in the HCP in order to achieve greater success with the strategic alliance and exports. Though dependence on a host country partner increases the vulnerability of the exporter and detracts from an effective alliance, trust is the antidote that can neutralize the negative impact of dependence.     

Central bank transparency and financial market expectations: The case of emerging markets

In this paper, we study how central bank transparency influences the formation of money market expectations in emerging markets. The sample covers 25 countries for the period from January 1998 to December 2009. We find, first, that transparency reduces the bias (the difference between the money market rate and the weighted expected target rate over the contract period) in money market expectations. The effect is larger for countries with no exchange rate peg and countries with low income. Second, an intermediate level of transparency is found to have the most favorable influence on money market expectations: neither complete secrecy nor complete transparency is optimal. Finally, all subcategories of the Eijffinger and Geraats (2006) index lead to a smaller bias in expectations, with political transparency having the largest effect.     

Hungary's entry into the euro area: Lessons for prospective members from a monetary policy perspective

This paper evaluates the conduct of monetary policy in Hungary using standard Taylor rules as well as extended rules that incorporate real exchange rate effects. Moreover, we explicitly consider the impact of future euro area entry by estimating instrument rules that permit an influence from Maastricht Treaty inflation requirements via the estimation of Markov switching models as well as by estimating a differential rule vis-à-vis the existing euro area. Lastly, the paper also considers the impact on policy rules from the large data revision that affects real exchange rate and output estimates. I find that interest rate setting behavior in Hungary does not resemble that of the euro area. Also, counterfactual experiments reveal that the potential macroeconomic costs of entry into the euro area sooner rather than later may be lower than if membership in the single currency area is delayed beyond 2008.     

Impact of International Networks on Standardization Process in Banking Industry： Example of Secure Electronic Transaction （SET） Initiative

The purpose of this article is to present and interpret the case study of the secure electronic transaction （SET） scheme of Internet security, as an illustration of the necessary construction of interoperability solutions for financial services. The interpretation of case data with actor network theory （ANT） provides an illustration of power coalitions among banks to create a de facto standard for transnational electronic payment security on the Internet. After a step of protecting its political interests and well-known technological solutions, the coalition understands that its mission becomes a matter of life and death for its members： Brand-new currency has been invented on the Web and one could develop business and monetary transactions without the banks. This interpretative stage tells us much about the transnational mechanisms of regulation and standardization as well as the ＂translation＂ steps regarding these transnational organizations. However, an additional step has to be added to this interpretative step, a step of framework construction. The aim is to help managers of the transnational firms involved in regulations and standardization to anticipate the evolutions and make relevant decisions. The framework has three distinctive characteristics： the ability to help conception, the ability to help conceive problems ＂ex ante＂, and the ability to facilitate collective conception of strategic maneuvers.     

The development of political skill and political capital by global leaders through global assignments

The purpose of this paper is to explain how developing global leaders through global assignments (i.e. in the form of expatriation and inpatriation) may lead to their acquisition of valuable political skill and political capital. First, using the theoretical frame of political influence theory, the benefit of political skill is explained relative to the development and augmentation of global leaders' capital portfolio during global assignments. Second, a distinction between social capital and political capital, as the integral components of global leader's capital portfolio, is made. In conclusion, the value of acquiring political skill and building human, cultural, social and political capital by global leaders is discussed separately for expatriate and inpatriate assignments.