Analysis of Instantaneous and Early Failures in Weibull Distribution

There are many situations in life testing experiment where an item fail instantaneously and hence the observed lifetime is reported as zero. The items that fail prematurely are called early failures. We propose a modified Weibull distribution as a suitable model to represent such situations by mixture of a singular distribution at zero and a two parameter Weibull distribution. We obtain the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters and their asymptotic distributions. The methods are illustrated on drying of woods under different experiments and schedules reported by Vanmann (Research report, 1991:2).     

Mortgage Refinancing Activity: An Explanation [1990–2001]

Mortgage refinancing activity reached unprecedented high levels during 1990–2001. Using GARCH to control for heteroskedasticity and separating the data into regimes to control for potential structural changes over time, we estimate a model explaining changes in mortgage refinancing activity over the period studied. We find changes in refinancing activity to be negatively related to current as well as past changes in the 30-year mortgage rate with a declining significant lag over time. Similarly, there is a significant lagged dependent variable with a declining lag. Moreover, mortgage refinancing activity is a substitute for other investments during certain regimes. These results offer evidence that home owners cash out the mortgage for other investments. The lags suggest that the process is delayed for a variety of reasons. The declining lag signals a faster response by consumers. The reasons for a faster response include a consumer perception that interest rates have “bottomed out,” the presence of an increase in consumer sophistication, and improvements in technology and market coordination that facilitate and reduce the cost of the refinancing process.     

Money, cycles and capital formation: von Mises the 'Austrian' vs. Robertson the 'Dynamist'

A ‘disequilibrium’ between saving and investmentdecisions determines a maladjustment in production, the disruptionof capital, and a downturn in economic activity, according tothe ‘Austrian’ approach. By contrast, the ‘Dynamists’argue that it may lead to economic growth, as disequilibriummay well be instrumental to capital accumulation. What explainsthese different predictions in otherwise similar models? Thekey is in the interplay between the analytical features andthe ideological options underlying each of these approaches:alternative lines of thought, entirely compatible with theiranalytical models, were abandoned by some of these authors whenthey conflicted with their pre-analytical views. This paperillustrates the argument by exploring the models of two ‘fathers’,von Mises and Robertson.     

Anticipating bailouts: The incentive-conflict model and the collapse of the Ohio deposit guarantee fund

The collapse of the Ohio Deposit Guarantee Fund in March 1985 provides a laboratory for examining the financial market's belief in the incentive-conflict model proposed by Kane (1989). Research in this area has yet to examine the stock returns of federally insured institutions during that period in the context of this model. Thus, it has not addressed the question of whether financial market participants recognize the implications of the model; that is, whether they anticipate the bailouts it implies. This paper fills that void.We find that on average, stocks of firms insured by the poorly capitalized FSLIC do reasonably well during the 41-day event window centered on the ODGF's Bank Holiday, while stocks of firms insured by the relatively well-capitalized FDIC do not. More important, differences in abnormal returns of FDIC and FSLIC firms are consistent with a reaffirmation of the incentive-conflict model.     

Optimal bank asset and liability management with financial futures

This paper presents a model for optimal bank asset and liability management with financial futures. This model is a multiperiod linear programming model based on Markowitz portfolio theory. Given the bank's initial position, its economic forecasts, and the constraints under which it operates, the model can help a bank's senior executives determine the current and expected future balance sheet composition and financial futures position which will minimize the bank's operating risks and which will meet the bank's expected profits goal with the minimum possible profits risk. By parametrically varying the expected profits goal, the model will generate the set of risk-return efficient decisions. Bankers need then examine only the set of efficient decisions to choose their optimal solution. A simplified example is used to illustrate the application of our model and to demonstrate that banks that use financial futures in asset and liability management can obtain better results than banks that do not use financial futures.     

Promoting Development of Agricultural Science and Technology by the Drive of Banking and Finance

在论述中共中央第9个一号文件重大意义和我国农业科技面临诸多问题的基础上,相应对金融和财政部门“两轮驱动”,合力推动农业科技跨越发展,促进农业增产、农民增收、农村发展提出了十三条具体建议,以起到以点带面的作用,供探讨。     

Out of sight but not out of mind: Why failure to account for left truncation biases research on failure rates

We note at least three major issues in entrepreneurship theory that can be clarified by studying the survival chances of new ventures: the extent to which entrepreneurs are so constrained by initial founding conditions that they are unable to learn; the degree to which heterogeneity and innovative capabilities are lost due to the failure of new ventures; and the imprinting effects of new ventures' early days on their subsequent development. However, previous research on these issues has been inconclusive because of problems in research design and data analysis. In this paper, we shed light on new venture failure rates by assessing the validity and generalizability of previous findings. We argue that research using registration data to study new ventures is very likely to generate biased results and that research attempting to track new ventures from a very early stage can still suffer from selection bias due to left truncation. Using a sample of new ventures from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics II, we provide evidence for the extent of such biases. We offer a statistical solution to left truncation that can be easily applied in widely used statistical programs.     

The sources of bank productivity growth in China during 2002–2009: A disaggregation view

This study investigates the sources of bank productivity growth in China over the period 2002–2009. In order to perform this research, we propose an advanced index – input slack-based productivity index (ISP) – a model that disaggregates total factor productivity growth into each input productivity change. Funds, capital, and employees are chosen as the inputs, whereas loans and other earning assets are outputs in this study. Our results show that technological gains transcend the efficiency regressions and result in total factor productivity growth. More specifically, technical progress in capital productivity reveals the dominant force behind the total factor technical change and productivity improvement. In addition, this paper uses these disaggregation terms to find out the competitive advantages and disadvantages of input usages for each Chinese bank. These findings indicate that the ISP index provides more insights than traditional total factor productivity indices.     

中国、越南的银行业改革比较研究

基于高度相似的改革背景,中国、越南的银行业改革呈现出了较多的相似性;同时,越南银行业改革在一些方面明显不同于中国的银行业改革,改革的力度更大,改革推进得更深入。     

关于我国商业银行开展投资银行业务的策略选择

随着我国银行业对外资全面开放以及金融业综合经营的稳步推进,商业银行将面临新的形势和挑战。国内商业银行在现有监管环境下开展投资银行业务,是创造新的利润增长点、提高核心竞争力的重要途径之一。商业银行可以充分利用和发挥资金、客户、网点、销售渠道等方面的优势,搭建若干投资银行业务平台,采取有效措施加快拓展投资银行业务。