The effect of stock splits on clientele: Is tick size relevant?

We explore whether the relation between stock splits and clientele is driven by binding tick sizes. We find little evidence that firms adjusted prices to maintain similarly binding tick sizes as the NYSE reduced tick sizes. Furthermore, though splits that increase the extent to which tick sizes are binding are associated with greater increases in spreads, these splits experience similar changes in measures related to clientele, including trade size, breadth of individual and institutional ownership, and analyst following. We find little evidence supporting theories, such as spread-induced sponsorship, that rely on binding tick sizes to link splits and clientele.     

Impact of landing fees on airlines’ choice of aircraft size and service frequency in duopoly markets

A one-shot simultaneous game-theoretic model is applied in a duopoly market to investigate how airport landing fees could influence airlines’ decisions on aircraft size and service frequency. It is found that higher landing fees will force airlines to use larger aircraft and less frequency, with higher load factor for the same number of passengers. It is also found that airlines will be better off if some of the extra landing fees are returned to airlines as a bonus for airlines using larger aircraft, which consequently reduces airport congestion.     

Firm Size Distribution and Growth*

Abstract Empirical documentation of the sectoral distribution of firm size for a set of European countries reveals substantial differences. We study the relationship between productivity growth at the industry level and size structure. A positive and robust relation is found between average firm size and growth. We ask why size should matter for growth by considering the role of innovation to construct a test based on the differential effect of size on growth according to various indicators of R&D intensity. Our results indicate that larger size fosters productivity growth because it allows firms to take advantage of all the increasing returns associated with R&D. We argue that our test can be interpreted as a test of reverse causality, which lends support to the view that firm size has a causal impact on growth.     

RISK, SEASONALITY AND THE ASYMMETRIC BEHAVIOUR OF STOCK RETURNS

For some time there has been a puzzle surrounding the seasonal behaviour of stock returns. This paper demonstrates that there is an asymmetric relationship between systematic risk and return across the different months of the year for both large and small firms. In the case of both large and small firms systematic risk appears to be priced in only two months of the year, January and April. During the other months no persistent relationship between systematic risk and return appears to exist. The paper also shows that when systematic risk is priced, the size of the systematic risk premium is higher for large firms than for small firms and varies significantly across the months of the year.     

Sectoral Differences in Plant Start-up Size in the Finnish Economy

New knowledge on the factors behind the choice of plant entry scale is important for understanding the entry process and the recruitment decisions of new plants in different sectors of the economy. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of various industry attributes on plant start-up size, measured with employment, using data on the entire Finnish business sector. The paper extends previous research by examining the differences between manufacturing and services and by using a richer set of explanatory variables. The relative importance of the covariates for different-sized entrants is taken into account by using a quantile regression approach. The results for manufacturing and services are remarkably similar. However, the findings imply that in the future analysis it is also important to consider the effect of the regional availability of educated and experienced work force on plant start-up size in these two sectors. The findings on the importance of scale economies and industry turbulence in determining start-up size correspond to the earlier studies. The results also show that single plant and multiplant entrants face a rather different entry environment. In addition, the employment share of foreign-owned entrants in the industry has to be taken into account.     

Overreaction after Controlling for Size and Book-to-Market Effects and its Mimicking Portfolio in Japan

In this paper we observe that firm size (SZ) and book-to-market (BM) cannot fully explain stock returns on prior-return- (PR-) based portfolios in the Japanese stock market. The overreaction effect after controlling for the SZ and BM effects is significant and persistent, and accounts for a large part of the zero-investment returns on the loser to the winner. We therefore propose a new mimicking portfolio whose returns mimic the common factor in returns related to overreaction. Our evidence shows that the proposed four-factor model captures common variation in returns on portfolios, based on stocks SZ, BM, and PR, better than the well-known three-factor model does.     

Bank size, market concentration, and bank earnings volatility in the US

We examine whether bank earnings volatility depends on bank size and the degree of concentration in the banking sector. Using quarterly data for non-investment banks in the United States for the period 2004Q1-2009Q4 and controlling for the quality of management, leverage, and diversification, we find that bank size reduces return volatility. The negative impact of bank size on bank earnings volatility decreases (in absolute terms) with market concentration. We also find that larger banks located in concentrated markets have experienced higher volatility during the recent financial crisis.     

本土市场规模与中国制造业全要素生产率

本文使用2001—2010年中国制造业分行业数据,实证分析了本土市场规模与全要素生产率之间的关系。估计结果显示,以"市场促创新"的假说整体上是成立的。本土市场规模每增加1%,将会促进生产率指数增长0.021%、效率改进指数增长0.023%、技术进步指数增长0.018%。分行业研究显示,本土市场规模对全要素生产率的影响在不同行业存在一定的差异。本土市场规模作用的发挥更依赖于行业的技术密集程度和资本密集程度,而对行业的劳动密集程度则并不敏感。从作用机制来看,本土市场规模对生产率增长和技术进步的正向作用主要通过资本密度、研发密度与人力资本等途径传递;对效率改进的正向影响主要通过资本密度、研发密度、人力资本以及对外开放度等途径传递。在所有的作用途径中,人力资本的影响最大。这些作用机制可以进一步归纳为"集聚效应"和"竞争效应"。     

微气泡曝气中微气泡收缩特性研究

微气泡曝气是一种新的气泡曝气方式,气泡特性对微气泡曝气性能具有显著影响。采用气-水旋流微气泡发生装置,考察了微气泡曝气中气泡尺寸和微气泡收缩特性及其影响因素。结果表明,微气泡发生装置在清水中产生的微气泡平均直径为55.85μm,标准偏差为30.03μm;40～50μm直径范围内的微气泡所占的体积分率最大,表面活性剂SDS会降低微气泡的平均直径。微气泡具有加速收缩消失的行为特性,微气泡初始直径与收缩时间之间存在显著的正相关关系,静态条件下相同初始直径的微气泡收缩过程存在明显差异。表面活性剂SDS存在时,微气泡的收缩时间显著延长。微气泡的收缩时间与传质区域面积具有负相关关系,表明微环境影响微气泡收缩过程。     

人口规模、经济增长与碳排放:经验证据及国际比较

根据国际能源署（IEA）公布的1971—2008年碳排放数据,探讨中国与典型发达国家、发展中国家（G8＋5）人口规模、经济增长与碳排放变化的差异性。结果表明：随着GDP增长,中国碳排放快速增长,人均碳排放已超过世界平均水平;单位GDP碳排放持续降低,但依然高于世界平均水平。利用秩相关系数检验人均GDP与单位GDP碳排放,发现7个发达国家均呈显著下降趋势,发展中国家南非、中国呈显著下降趋势,巴西、印度、墨西哥呈上升趋势但并不显著;人均GDP与人均碳排放秩相关系数表明,7个发达国家中,美国、法国、德国、英国呈显著下降趋势,加拿大呈不显著上升趋势,日本、意大利呈显著上升趋势;5个发展中国家处于工业化快速发展阶段,能源消费急剧增加,随着人均GDP增长,人均碳排放均呈显著上升趋势。基于此,归纳出世界主要发达国家和发展中国家人口增长、经济增长与碳排放变动的三种模式。