Relative Guarantees

Many real-world financial contracts have some sort of minimum rate of return guarantee included. One class of these guarantees is so-called relative guarantees, i.e., guarantees where the minimum guaranteed rate of return is given as a function of the stochastic return on a reference portfolio. These guarantees are the topic of this paper. We analyse a wide range of different functional specifications for the minimum guaranteed rate of return, hereunder both so-called maturity and multi-period guarantees. Several closed form solutions are presented.     

Replacement Investment: Optimal Economic Life Under Uncertainty

Replacement investment is essentially a regenerative optimal stopping problem; that is, the key decision concerns when to terminate the life of existing plant – and hence when to start over again. This paper examines this optimisation problem within a continuous time framework and studies the qualitative and quantitative impact of uncertainty on the timing of new investment (and the criteria that should be used for terminating the life of existing plant).     

美国会计目标研究的历史考察及其对我们的启示

会计目标不仅是一个重要的理论问题,亦是一个重要的实际问题。美国是世界上研究会计目标最早、取得研究成果最丰富的国家之一。从美国会计学会1966年发表基本会计理论研究公告算起,美国从事会计目标研究已有30余年的历史。美国会计学会、会计原则委员会、特鲁布罗德委员会、财务会计准则委员会都对会计目标的研究作出过重要贡献,形成了像基本会计理论公告、APB第4号报告、特鲁布罗德报告和企业财务报告的目标等一系列研究成果。通过对美国会计目标研究历史的分析,我们从中可以得到如下三点启示: 第一,会计目标的研究与对会计本质的认识密不可分; 第二,会计目标研究应密切联系一定的社会经济环境; 第三,会计目标研究应采取理论分析与实证研究相结合的方法。     

Software for Learning and for Doing Statistics

The community of statisticians and statistics educators should take responsibility for the evaluation and improvement of software quality from the perspective of education. The paper will develop a perspective, an ideal system of requirements to critically evaluate existing software and to produce future software more adequate both for learning and doing statistics in introductory courses. Different kinds of tools and microworlds are needed. After discussing general requirements for such programs, a prototypical ideal software system will be presented in detail. It will be illustrated how such a system could be used to construct learning environments and to support elementary data analysis with exploratory working style.     

工业控制机的特点及在机电一体化中的应用

工业控制机是应用于工业领域自动控制的一类计算机，在机电一体化系统中有着重要作用。本文介绍了不同形式的工业控制机的特点及应用     

The economics of land transfer and title insurance

In the presence of uncertainty over the title of land (due to fraud or error), a legal system can protect either the current (innocent) owner, or a previous owner who claims title. The predominant system in the United States generally awards title to the latter in the event of legitimate claim. Thus, current owners frequently purchase title insurance to provide indemnification in the event of a loss. In contrast, the Torrens system awards title to the current owner, but provides for indemnification of any legitimate claimants. We evaluate these two systems and argue that if transaction costs are low, both promote efficient assignment of title (according to the Coase Theorem), but if transaction costs are high, the Torrens system is more likely to award title to the party that values it the most (namely, the current possessor).     

Believing in employment discrimination: The case of Forrest Mims,Scientific American,and title VII protection

This article reviews the law regarding Title VII employment discrimination protection from religious discrimination. The issues surrounding the principal legal protection in this regard are explored in the context of a recent controversial case in which an author, Forrest Mims, was not hired as a regular contributor forScientific American magazine, ostensibly because of his belief in the theory of creation over the theory of evolution. The definition of what constitutes a protected religious belief or practice is seen to have expanded over time. However, a belief in creationism is not necessarily seen as being tantamount to a religious belief under present legal interpretation of Title VII. The implications of this finding for future needed Title VII revision are discussed.     

卡夫卡小说的思想与艺术特色散论

奥地利作家弗朗兹·卡夫卡小说的思想特色主要是深刻反映了资本主义社会的"人的异化"、暴露资本主义社会的腐朽专横和野蛮残忍及一些人的心理变态,艺术特点主要是表现主义、象征主义和超现实主义.     

公路建设中路线方案多属性决策方法的研究

路线方案的比选是公路建设项目前期的一项重要工作,直接影响着项目建设能否达到预期的目标以及项目投入运营中的使用效果,如行车的安全性、舒适性、快捷性等。进行路线方案比选时,要考虑路线的线形合理性、对周边地区环境影响,项目经济效益、施工难易等多种因素对影响。本文在分析路线方案比选复杂性的基础上,对多种决策方法进行对比,选择TOPSIS法作为路线方案的决策方法。算例的结果表明该方法应用的可行性和有效性。     

Efficient Liability Rules: Complete Characterization

Received May, 18, 2000; revised version received March, 19, 2001