Asymmetric information consolidation and price discovery: Inferring bad news from insider sales

Due to the paucity of sources of negative firm‐specific information, US capital markets have more difficulty identifying and incorporating bad news into stock prices than they do good news. Even though insider selling is a potentially important proxy for undisclosed bad news, researchers have difficulty ex ante identifying information‐based sales due to an inability to separate liquidity‐motivated from information‐based insider trades. We hypothesize that when insiders in multiple firms sell shares of one firm in which they are insiders and at the same time buy shares of other insider portfolio firms, the sale is more likely to be information‐based, since the proceeds are reinvested. Conversely, when an insider sells one firm without purchasing others or sells multiple insider firms the sale is likely liquidity‐motivated. We find that insider sales identified as information‐based using this algorithm are followed by significant negative abnormal returns. Information‐based sales are also more likely to be associated with delistings, earnings declines and earnings restatements. Analysts are also more likely to revise their earnings forecasts downwards for these firms. It is thus possible to ex ante identify insider sales with information content. Our results will be of interest to investors and also to regulators designing insider trading rules.     

A Conceptual Model of the Household's Housing Decision–Making Process: The Economic Perspective

At some stage in every household's family life cycle, the household is likely to make certain decisions with regard to its housing environment. Although the household's housing decisions essentially comprise the decision to move, and the selection of a new residence, the process from which these decisions are derived is very complex because varying circumstances could produce a multitude of different housing decisions. Due to the sheer complexity of the household's housing decision–making process, researchers have generally focused on individual decision–making stages rather than on the process as a whole. This paper therefore attempts to conceptualize the entire household housing decision–making process using theoretical concepts from the economic perspective, and then tests the conceptual model with empirical evidence drawn from the moving population within the multi–racial society in Singapore.     

Pandemic risk disclosure in integrated reports: after COVID-19 is hindsight 2020?

We examine whether, and to what extent companies disclosed pandemic risk and likely impact as part of their key risks or material matters immediately prior to 2020. The integrated/annual reports of 489 companies from six global regions were examined, finding that despite clear warnings from multiple fronts that highlighted the inevitability and imminence of a global pandemic, only 15.5 percent of companies disclosed anything related to pandemic risk. Of these, 71.1 percent were boilerplate in nature, providing minimal useful information to stakeholders. This study contributes to our understanding of integrated reporting, specifically regarding the adequacy of the disclosure of material risks.     

Regreso al futuro. Continuidad del diálogo sobre el trabajo y la tecnología en la OIT

La preocupación por el desempleo tecnológico no es nueva. Los debates que tuvieron lugar en el decenio de 1960 sobre la automatización reflejaban tanto optimismo como preocupación por la potencial destrucción de empleo causada por la tecnología. Al estudiar los archivos de la OIT, y en particular la información recopilada por su ṢOficina de Automatizaciónṣ, se observa que muchas propuestas actuales se debatieron durante aquel periodo, aunque nunca se tradujeron en políticas de reglamentación. La autora reabre este antiguo debate, como un buen punto de partida para abordar los problemas actuales en consonancia con el mundo del trabajo que aspiramos a construir.     

Unpacking the black box of successful ICT-enabled service transformation: how to join up the vertical,the horizontal and the technical

This paper aims to understand what goes on in the black box of successful, joined-up ICT-enabled service transformation, where complex interactions and integration must occur among the horizontal processes internal to a joined-up service delivery network, the vertical top-down processes of the organizations involved, and the change processes caused by using ICTs. A new conceptual framework is developed and applied to an illustrative case study of successful, joined-up service transformation in New Zealand.     

Gold dinar for the Islamic countries?

The Malaysian state of Kelantan has made a historical launch of Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham on 12th August 2010. For the first time in almost 100 years since the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate, a Muslim government introduces Shariah currency. In the eyes of many Muslim scholars, the present interest-based fiat monetary system is flawed as it is incompatible with the objectives of the Islamic law or the Shariah. There have been calls for the resurgence of Islamic Gold Dinar (together with the silver dirham) as it is deemed to be the most appropriate medium of exchange to be used in the Islamic economies. Using data from 1970 to 2007, this paper assesses the empirical desirability of the Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) countries to an alternative monetary system (Islamic Gold Dinar) that can potentially enhance the exchange rate stability and credibility. The Structural Vector Autoregression (VAR) method is employed to assess the nature of macroeconomic disturbances among the OIC countries. Specifically, the symmetry in macroeconomic disturbances of the OIC economies is examined as satisfying one of the preconditions for forming an Optimum Currency Area (OCA). In addition, this paper also investigates the output and price responses of OIC countries of the underlying structural shocks used to shed light on the suitability of these countries to form a monetary union. The preliminary findings of this study suggest the lack of broad linkages within the entire OIC, although there exists scope among some smaller clusters for potential monetary integration based on the symmetry of their business cycles.     

CSR 2.0 — Die Kommunikation von Nachhaltigkeit in Sozialen Medien

Das Soziale Internet (Web 2.0) macht jeden potenziell zum Kommunikator — die Agenda-Setting-Funktion verlagert sich von den Massenmedien zu den Teilnehmern Sozialer Netze. Damit sehen sich Unternehmen einer zunehmend vielf?ltigen, selbstbewussten und kritischen ?ffentlichkeit gegenüber. Um Nachhaltigkeit glaubhaft zu kommunizieren, sollten Unternehmen sich daher als dialogbereiter Gespr?chspartner in Sozialen Netzen etablieren. Der vorliegende Beitrag leitet aus aktuellen Beispielen vier Spielregeln für die CSR-Kommunikation im Web 2.0 ab.