Monetary unification and the price of risk: An unconditional analysis

In this paper, the standard International Arbitrage Pricing Theory is used to assess the effects of European monetary unification on the functioning of the European financial market. In particular, the focus is on the effects that unification may have had on the risk-sharing capacity of the financial markets. It is found that, already in the ERM decade, exchange rate changes do not (unconditionally) correlate strongly with financial market movements across countries. Consequently, elimination of exchange rate variability through monetary unification is not likely to have major implications for the pricing behavior in EMU. JEL no. G12, G15     

Advertisers’ perceptions regarding the ethical appropriateness of new advertising formats aimed at minors

Although they are key stakeholders, advertisers’ views on the usage of novel (integrated and/or interactive) advertising toward minors has remained largely unexplored in academic research. This study aims to fill this gap by examining advertising professionals’ opinions about the ethical appropriateness of using novel advertising formats aimed at children and teenagers, how to advance advertising literacy in minors, and their views of practices that are potentially privacy-invading, by means of both a quantitative online survey and qualitative in-depth interviews with Belgian advertising professionals. Results show that advertisers perceive that from 12 years onward, minors are capable to understand novel advertising formats and it is ethically justified to use them. Remarkably, advertisers would inform minors already from the age of 10 years onward about the commercial intention behind new advertising formats. Advertisers have strict opinions about collecting information online from minors. They advocate a combination of laws and self-regulation and governmental and educational campaigns to raise awareness and develop advertising literacy.     

Analysts’ earnings forecasts: coexistence and dynamics of overconfidence and strategic incentives

This paper formulates a two-stage model to capture the decision process of financial analysts when issuing earnings forecasts. Our model extends the model of Chen and Jiang [(2005). Analysts’ weighting of private and public information. Review of Financial Studies, 19 (1), 319–355], by allowing for a distortion of forecasts independent of whether an analyst has private information. Using quarterly earnings forecasts, we provide empirical evidence on the coexistence of overconfidence and strategic incentives. Financial analysts overweight their private information and at the same time strategically inflate their forecast.     

Budgetary constraints and programmatic choices by Flemish subsidized theatres

We analyse programmatic choices of Flemish theatres and examine how they are affected by the theatres’ budgetary situation. Following Lancaster's characteristics approach, we identify several output characteristics of individual Flemish theatres during the period 1980 to 2000. A simultaneous equation approach is used to capture the theatre managers’, subsidizing government's and consumers’ behaviour. We find that changes in the budgetary situation of a theatre are translated into changes of both the ‘amount’ and the nature of the theatre's output. The budgetary impact on artistic choices has intensified since the introduction of a 4-yearly instead of yearly allocation of subsidies. The decrease in financial risk for the individual theatres leads to an increase in artistic risk-taking.