Effects of financial constraints on corporate policies in Australia

We jointly study the impact of financial constraints on Australian companies’ investment decisions and demand for liquidity. By examining a large sample of Australian firms over the period 1990–2003, we find that financial constraints not only reduce the sensitivity of investment to the availability of internal funds, but also increase the responsiveness of cash holdings to internally generated cash flows. Further analysis shows that the impact of financial constraints varies across different cash flow states; that is, financial constraints have a small effect on corporate investment and cash policies when cash flows are positive. In contrast, the severity of constraints is high in negative cash flow years in which the cost disadvantage of external finance coincides with deteriorating operating performance.     

Impact of on-field football success on the off-field financial performance of AFL football clubs

In this study, we examine the factors that contribute to the financial performance of clubs in the Australian Football League over the period from 1993 to 2002. Primarily, we examine the association between the on‐field football success of clubs and their level of off‐field financial performance. We find that match attendance is positively related to both short‐term and long‐term success of football clubs and also to the uncertainty as to the match outcome (i.e. the expected closeness of the match). We also find that club membership is highly persistent and is positively related to both the past football success of the club and the marketing expense incurred. Finally, we find that there is a significant association between the level of marketing revenue and the level of on‐field success in the prior 2 years.     

Higher moments and beta asymmetry: evidence from Australia

We examine whether systematic higher moments capture beta asymmetry in an asset pricing model whereby the conditional beta of a risky asset increases (decreases) during a bear (bull) market state. We first provide a simple conceptual outline from the microeconomic literature to show that beta asymmetry is driven by time‐varying higher‐order risk preferences (prudence and temperance) across different market states. We then empirically relate these higher‐order risk preferences to systematic skewness and systematic kurtosis. We find that beta asymmetry in Australian stock returns cannot be explained by Carhart (1997) 4‐factor model but is subsumed by systematic higher moments.     

In the service of the society: The labour management practices of an Australian life Insurer to 1940

This article considers the labour management practices in use in the Australian life insurance industry during the inter-war period. Using the Australian Mutual Provident as a case study, it is argued that the specific human resource management practices evolved to deal with separate sets of problems arising from the functions of the life insurance business and the manner in which the principal/agent problem was manifested. The differing nature of work associated with the sales and management of life insurance fostered the development of primary and secondary labour markets in which the benefits flowing to one were superior to those accruing to the other.     

Always egalitarian? Australian earnings inequality 1870–1910

We document the origins of Australia's egalitarianism by quantifying both the level and trends of earnings inequality during 1870–1910 by constructing social tables for earnings, thus overcoming the constraints imposed by the lack of income, tax and wealth data. We find that earnings inequality was much lower in Australia than in the United States and the United Kingdom in 1870 and that there was no rise in Australian earnings inequality over the half century 1870–1910, but rather a fall. We argue that such findings are driven by a faster skill supply growth relative to demand.     

Owners and Tenants: The Commonwealth Housing Commission and Post-War Housing, 1943–1949

This article takes as its point of departure early research by the economic historian David Merrett on owner-occupiers and tenants. In the light of his subsequent explanation of the growth of sources of finance for house purchasers after 1945, it investigates the post-war housing program of the Commonwealth government with its emphasis on planning, co-ordination and public provision. Within the larger context of post-war reconstruction, it argues that the failure of the public housing program provided the stimulus for the spread of owner-occupation. The failure is explained as the outcome of economic constraints and the shrinking political capacity of post-war reconstruction.     

中国与澳大利亚西澳州矿业权管理比较及启示

矿业权问题涉及国家资源利益的实现,是各国矿产资源管理部门共同关心的焦点。澳大利亚是世界上重要的矿产资源生产国和出口国,而西澳州的矿权设置最为明确,相关的矿业制度制定的也比较完善。本文在分析矿业权发展,矿业权设立、管理、流转等基础上,提出完善我国矿业权管理的建议。