Stability, Asymmetry and Seasonality of Fund Performance: An Analysis of Australian Multi‐sector Managed Funds

Using a sample of Australian Multi-sector trusts we examine selectivity and market timing performance and extend the analysis to include the relatively new measure of volatility timing. This is of particular relevance to our data set, as high levels of volatility persistence are prevalent in Australia. In addition we consider the stability, asymmetry and seasonality of the various performance and risk measures. A survivorship adjustment procedure is also employed in order to assess the impact of survivorship on selectivity, market timing and volatility timing performance.     

Maquiladora industrialization of the Baja California peninsula: the coexistence of thick and thin globalization with economic regionalism

This article assesses the shape of industrial growth at the western end of the US‐Mexican border, analysing the degree to which globalization has diminished and/or restructured this international division. Baja California's connection to external economies is highly variable in tourism, agribusiness and export processing, with electronic maquiladoras clustering and garment production fragmenting. Most recently, dynamism has been driven by Asian investors meeting NAFTA deadlines, and impeded by recession and increased border security. The polarizing effect of globalization is demonstrated by the unprecedented emergence of a powerful group of Mexican‐state and private‐sector technocrats, at the expense of the majority of workers whose jobs remain poor. The state government has facilitated the development of capital intensive electronics industries, has neglected small and medium domestic suppliers, and been unable to provide public security. Low extensity, or the concentration of maquiladoras in an east‐west corridor adjacent to the border, and the location of most of their owners in Southern California, indicates the strongly regional character of the maquiladora economy. However, a small number of very large capital intensive plants originate in Asia, contributing to globalization via intercontinental linkages. The findings support transformationalist and sceptical models of globalization. L'article évalue la forme de croissance industrielle à l'extrémité occidentale de la frontière américano‐mexicaine, en analysant dans quelle mesure la mondialisation a atténué et/ou restructuré cette séparation internationale. La péninsule de Basse Californie est reliée de façon très variable aux économies extérieures, par le tourisme, l'agro‐industrie et la transformation à l'exportation, avec un regroupement de maquiladoras d'électronique et une fragmentation de la production vestimentaire. Plus récemment, si le dynamisme est venu d'investisseurs asiatiques en des échéances de l'ALENA, il a été entravé par la récession et une sécurité frontalière accrue. L'effet polarisant de la mondialisation est réävélé par l'émergence d'un puissant groupe de technocrates du secteur privé et de lÉtat mexicain, aux dépens de la majorité des salariés dont les emplois restent médiocres. Négligeant les petits et moyens fournisseurs nationaux, le gouvernement a facilité l'essor de secteurs capitalistiques de l'électronique, tout en se montrant incapable d'assurer la sécurité publique. La faible extensibilité ou la concentration des maquiladoras sur une bande Est‐Ouest longeant la frontière, ainsi que l'implantation de la plupart de leur propriétaire dans le sud de la Californie, marquent le caractère fortement régional de ce type d'économie. Toutefois, un petit nombre de très grosses usines capitalistiques viennent d'Asie, contribuant à la mondialisation via des liens intercontinentaux. Les résultats corroborent les modèles de transformation et sceptique de la mondialisation.     

Combining information for prediction in linear regression

This article deals with the prediction problem in linear regression where the measurements are obtained using k different devices or collected from k different independent sources. For the case of k=2, a Graybill-Deal type combined estimtor for the regression parameters is shown to dominate the individual least squares estimators under the covariance criterion. Two predictors ŷ _c and ŷ _p are proposed. ŷ _c is based on a combined estimator of the regression coefficient vector, and ŷ _p is obtained by combining the individual predictors from different models. Prediction mean square errors of both predictors are derived. It is shown that the predictor ŷ _p is better than the individual predictors for k≥2 and the predictor ŷ _c is better than the individual predictors for k=2. Numerical comparison between ŷ _c and ŷ _p shows that the former is superior to the latter for the case k=2.     

Comparative Advantage in Demand: Experimental Evidence of Preferences for Genetically Modified Food in the United States and European Union

The United States (US) exports more than US$6 billion in agricultural commodities to the European Union(EU) each year, but one issue carries the potential to diminish this trade: use of biotechnology in food production. The EU has adopted more stringent policies towards biotechnology than the US. Understanding differences in European and American policies towards genetically modified (GM) foods requires a greater understanding of consumers’ attitudes and preferences. This paper reports results from the first large‐scale, cross‐Atlantic study to analyse consumer demand for genetically modified food in a non‐hypothetical market environment. We strongly reject the frequent if convenient assumption in trade theory that consumer preferences are identical across countries: the median level of compensation demanded by English and French consumers to consume a GM food is found to be more than twice that in any of the US locations. Results have important implications for trade theory, which typically focuses on differences in specialization, comparative advantage and factor endowments across countries, and for on‐going trade disputes at the World Trade Organization.     

The Lowry Model Revisited: Incorporating a Multizonal Input-Output Model into an Urban Land Use Allocation Model

This paper formulates a new generation of Lowry-style models that combine a multizonal input-output model and an urban land use allocation model. Three different types of models are proposed: 1) an unconstrained model, 2) a primal of a linear programming approach that includes land supply constraints, and 3) a modified dual of the linear programming approach that allocates land based on additional conditions of economic efficiency. The modified dual formulation improves upon the limitations of Lowry models and their derivatives. First, the proposed model has sound theoretical underpinnings that incorporate the production theory of input-output models and the behavioral theory of optimization models. Second, the proposed model allocates land on the basis of economic efficiency by imposing a procedure that equalizes shadow prices. And third, the proposed model is an optimization model that fully accounts for the spatial and sectoral relationships of multiplier effects determining land use demand.     

Integration of collective bargaining and formal worker participation processes: Boon or barrier to worker rights?

Many employers are extending workplace rights by allowing for more employee voice in decision making. Numerous unionized organizations have established formal worker participation processes to help achieve this end and to improve organizational performance. Based largely on theory, such processes are normally designed to operate independently from the bargaining process. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participation and bargaining processes, and the effect of this relationship on workplace satisfaction. A total of 712 Midwest union officials were surveyed, and the results indicate that the processes tend to become integrated in the workplace. Further, union officials' workplace satisfaction was greater where formal worker participation is institutionalized within the bargaining process.     

Deregulation,news releases,and price discovery

We hypothesize that the firm’s regulatory environment influences the sensitivity of its equity value to information. Using intraday stock price data of utilities operating in differing regulatory environments we test for systematic differences between the responsiveness of stock prices of utility firms operating in deregulated and regulated environments to a common information set. Our findings reveal sharp differences in responses, with those of utilities operating in deregulated environments the strongest, and the responses of utilities in highly regulated environments the weakest. While the evidence supports our hypothesis, in a broader sense, the evidence suggests that deregulation aids in the process of price discovery. We also find evidence that suggests that deregulation, per se, does not lead to higher stock price volatility.      

Misperceiving the value of information in predicting the performance of others

Economic models typically allow for “free disposal” or “reversibility” of information, which implies non-negative value. Building on previous research on the “curse of knowledge” we explore situations where this might not be so. In three experiments, we document situations in which participants place positive value on information in attempting to predict the performance of uninformed others, even when acquiring that information diminishes their earnings. In the first experiment, a majority of participants choose to hire informed—rather than uninformed—agents, leading to lower earnings. In the second experiment, a significant number of participants pay for information—the solution to a puzzle—that hurts their ability to predict how many others will solve the puzzle. In the third experiment, we find that the effect is reduced with experience and feedback on the actual performance to be predicted. We discuss implications of our results for the role of information and informed decision making in economic situations. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10683-006-9128-y. JEL Classification C91, D83