Exploring the Intensive and Extensive Margins of World Trade

World trade evolves at two margins. Where a bilateral trading relationship already exists it may increase through time (intensive margin). But trade may also increase if a trading bilateral relationship is newly established between countries that have not traded with each other in the past (extensive margin). We provide an empirical dissection of post–World War II growth in manufacturing world trade along these two margins. We propose a “corner-solutions version” of the gravity model to explain movements on both margins. A Tobit estimation of this model resolves the so-called “distance puzzle”. It also finds more convincing evidence than recent literature that WTO-membership enhances trade. JEL no. F12, F15     

INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS: GOING BY THE BOOK

In the U.S., and increasingly in other countries as well, IPO securities are marketed to investors in a process known as "book-building"—one that amounts to polling institutional investors to establish a demand schedule for the issue and then allotting stock to individual investors according to the strength of their professed interest. Although book-building methods require use of discriminatory tactics that have attracted strong criticism from investors and regulators, this article defends such practices by demonstrating that book-building is more efficient than alternative methods. It effectively allows issuers to increase the net proceeds of their offerings by making better use of information about market demand conditions.
In the process of explaining the efficiency of the book-building method, this article also offers a plausible explanation for a phenomenon that has long puzzled economists: the systematic underpricing of IPOs. The key to the success of a book-building effort lies in the use of a strategic pricing and allocation policy designed to offset the investor's incentive to understate his or her interest in an IPO. By committing to favor investors who provide strong indications of interest with relatively large allocations of underpriced shares, the investment bank can limit the distortion of investor's incentives in bidding and so increase the level of proceeds the issuing firm can expect to generate from its IPO.     

A study of the effect of age and gender upon student business ethics

The present survey was voluntarily and anonymously completed by 2,196 students enrolled in business courses at the University of Southern Mississippi. The intent of the survey was to determine whether or not age or gender played a role in a person's perception of proper ethical conduct.The findings suggests that gender is a significant factor in the determination of ethical conduct and that females are more ethical than males in their perception of business ethical situations.Students were divided into groups according to age as follows: under 21 years, 22–30 years, 31–40 years, and 40 plus years. The results of this survey also suggest that age is a determining factor in making ethical decisions. The statistics suggest that those students falling in the 40 plus years age group were the most ethical, followed in order by the 31–40 group, the 22–30 group and those of 21 years of age and under.Durwood Ruegger is currently an Associate Professor of Finance and General Business at the University of Southern Mississippi. Prior to joining the University, he was a practicing attorney and former municipal judge. His publications have appeared in theJournal of Health and Human Resources Administration, Labor Law Journal, Business Insights, andThe Practical Real Estate Lawyer.Ernest W. King is an Assistant Professor of Finance and General Business at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is a member of the Florida and Washington, D.C. Bars. His publications have appeared inBusiness Insights, Nursing Administration Quarterly, and theCPCU Journal.     

中国"以电子政务拉动信息产业发展"政策的再评估

电子政务是中国信息化战略的重中之重，但其实际发展与预期间存在着明显差距。本文以中国“以电子政务拉动信息产业发展”政策为研究重点，把这一政策放在中国信息化历史中加以考察，分析中国信息化新阶段ICT市场的新变化和新挑战，针对电子政务实践与预期间的差距，对该政策提出我们的看法。     

Global Integration in Primary Equity Markets: The Role of U.S. Banks and U.S. Investors

We examine the costs and benefits of the global integrationof initial public offering (IPO) markets associated with thediffusion of U.S. underwriting methods in the 1990s. Bookbuildingis becoming increasingly popular outside the United States andtypically costs twice as much as a fixed-price offer. However,on its own, bookbuilding only leads to lower underpricing whenconducted by U.S. banks and/or targeted at U.S. investors. Formost issuers, the gains associated with lower underpricing outweighedthe additional costs associated with hiring U.S. banks or marketingin the United States. This suggests a quality/price trade-offcontrasting with the findings of Chen and Ritter, particularlysince non-U.S. issuers raising US$20 million–US$80 millionalso typically pay a 7% spread when U.S. banks and investorsare involved.     

Financial Challenges Facing Urban SMEs under Financial Sector Liberalization in Ghana

The paper examines the impact of financial sector liberalization (FSL) policies on the financial management of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Ghana, using six case studies. Its findings, which confirm and extend the conclusions of previous studies, are integrated into a framework that explains the impact of FSL and the factors at work. The main financial challenge facing SMEs is access to affordable credit over a reasonable period. This is determined by the financing needs of SMEs and the action of investors. SME financing needs reflect their operational requirements, while the action of investors depends on their risk perception and the attractiveness of alternative investment (which affects their willingness to invest). Government borrowing, the general economic climate, availability of collateral, quality of SME record keeping, and SME investor relations skills affect the way in which this challenge is managed. The impact of the activities and potential of enterprise development agencies are also discussed.     

Comparing classification accuracy of neural networks,binary logit regression and discriminant analysis for insolvency prediction of life insurers

Past studies have documented the failure of the Insurance Regulatory Information System (IRIS) to provide adequate warning of insurer financial distress or insolvency. As a result, scholars have examined alternative parametric and non-parametric models to predict insurer insolvency. This study uses a neural network, a non-parametric alternative to past techniques, and shows how this methodology predicts insurer insolvency more effectively than parametric models.     

Multilateral trade liberalization: Some general equilibrium simulation results for Austria

This paper uses the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade for a quantitative evaluation of the general equilibrium effects of various multilateral trade liberalization scenarios on the Austrian economy. The analysis is motivated by the recent incorporation into the model of an original input-output table for Austria, and by a severe shortage of knowledge on the effects of liberalization on the Austrian economy. In addition to the actual Tokyo-round tariff cuts, the paper concentrates on an almost complete multilateral elimination of post-Tokyo-round protection, including the most important non-tariff trade barriers. The paper also reports on some aggregate price and exchange rate effects, but the primary focus of the analysis will be sectoral adjustment, characterized by changes in employment, per-unit value added, and returns to sector-specific capital.

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Zusammenfassung In Österreich besteht ein gewisses Defizit an systematischen quantitativen Analysen der bestehenden Handelsprotektion bzw. der Effekte, die eine Beseitigung dieser Protektion — etwa im Rahmen der laufenden GATT-Verhandlungsrunde — haben kann. In dieser Arbeit wird das an der University of Michigan (USA) entwickelte Welthandelsmodell für eine solche Analyse verwendet. Mit Hilfe dieses viele Länder umfassenden und empirisch implementierten allgemeinen Gleichgewichtsmodells werden die Auswirkungen verschiedener Szenarien der multilateralen Liberalisierung des internationalen Handels, einschließlich der Beseitigung nichttarifärer Handelshemmnisse, auf die österreichische Volkswirtschaft untersucht. Diese Untersuchung wurde möglich durch die mittlerweile erfolgte Aufnahme der österreichischen Input-Output-Daten in das Michigan-Modell. Sowohl aggregierte als auch sektorale Effekte werden berechnet, wobei die letzteren Aufschluß geben können über allenfalls zu erwartende Anpassungsschwierigkeiten.

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All simulations reported on in this paper were carried out while I was visiting scholar at the University of Michigan in 1987–88. I am deeply indebted to Alan Deardorff and Robert Stern for having me participate in their ongoing research project on General Equilibrium Trade Policy Modeling, for offering me unlimited use of their computational model, and for their continuous support and encouragement. I am also grateful to John Alfaro and Jon Haveman for computational assistance. Thanks are due to Josef Richter and Gottfried Tappeiner for their cooperation in providing the Austrian input-output table in machine readable form.     

Financial Market Fragmentation and Reforms in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania

This article reports the findings from surveys of formal andinformal institutions and their clients in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria,and Tanzania. It investigates the hypothesis that reformingfinancially repressive policies would not be sufficient to overcomefragmentation of financial markets because of structural andinstitutional barriers to interactions across different marketsegments. The four countries have substantially fragmented financialmarkets, with weak linkages between formal and informal segmentsand interest rate differentials that cannot be adequately explainedby differences in costs and risks. Nevertheless, the relativelylow transaction costs and loan losses of informal institutionsindicate that they provide a reasonably efficient solution toinformation, transaction cost, and enforcement problems thatexclude their clients from access to formal banking services.The findings imply that financial liberalization and bank restructuringin the African context should be accompanied by complementarymeasures to address institutional and structural problems, suchas contract enforcement and information availability, and toimprove the integration of informal and formal financial markets.