Measuring stress in money markets: A dynamic factor approach

We extract an index of interest rate spreads from various money market segments to assess the level of funding stress in real time. We find that during the 2007–2009 financial crisis, money markets switched between low and high stress regimes except for brief periods of extreme stress. Transitions to lower stress regimes are typically associated with the non-standard policy measures by the Federal Reserve.     

Producing Localized Commodity Frontiers at the End of Cheap Nature: An Analysis of Eco‐scalar Carbon Fixes and their Consequences

There is no single ‘great’ commodity frontier whose exploitation under current socio‐technical conditions could fuel capital accumulation at the global scale. According to Jason Moore, this represents the ‘end of Cheap Nature’ and signals a terminal crisis for capitalism as we know it. In this article we complicate this assertion by showing how, in the context of global environmental governance frameworks of carbon control, a diverse range of actors situated at multiple scales are intensifying the use of cities and their hinterlands for the production/transgression of localized commodity frontiers. We draw on scholarship on uneven geographical development, state‐led restructuring and eco‐scalar fixes to present two case studies from different segments of the carbon cycle in the global South. The first case demonstrates how the introduction of waste‐to‐energy technology in Delhi facilitated the generation of ‘carbon credits’ while waste matter itself became a commodity. The second discusses attempts by the Brazilian state of Amazonas (Amazônia) aspiring to shift from rainforest exploitation to financialized conservation supported by the ‘green global city’ functions of metropolitan Manaus. These cases demonstrate that although the global carbon‐control regime may enable accumulation, implementation remains speculative, and localized commodity frontiers provoke social resistances that jeopardize their durability.     

Super returns to Super Bowl ads?

This paper uses a natural experiment—the Super Bowl—to study the causal effect of advertising on demand for movies. Identification of the causal effect rests on two points: 1) Super Bowl ads are purchased before advertisers know which teams will play; 2) home cities of the teams that are playing will have proportionally more viewers than viewers in other cities. We find that the movies in our sample experience on average incremental opening weekend ticket sales of about $8.4 million from a $3 million Super Bowl advertisement.     

Consequences of Mutual Ownership for Building Societies

This paper argues that the mutual ownership of building societies entails, in principle, different objectives from those of a company. It considers whether members' interests are best served by maximising either surpluses or growth and reviews evidence on economies of scale and effciency compared with banks. Conversion seems unlikely to result in great improvements in effciency and it is hard to say whether members benefit from free shares by more than they may lose as customers. The case of Abbey National is examined in the light of the reasons it gave for conversion.     

Futures studies in India putting down roots

Since the 1970s the Indian government's Department of Science and Technology has been working to spread futures studies throughout the country's educational institutes, governmental policy-making groups, and corporations. Satish Seth has been involved in this effort from the beginning, and here reports on the progress and achievements to date.     

State lotteries and externalities to their participants

The degree of participation in state lotteries can either increase or decrease expected returns. It is theoretically possible for unfair bets to become more than fair as participation in lotteries changes. In addition, the purchase of every combination of numbers can be more than a fair bet and such a purchase may increase the expected return to other lottery players.     

Strategic Quality Decisions under Heterogeneous Resource Endowments

The literature on product competition advocates a differentiation strategy assuming firm homogeneity in resources. However, firm heterogeneity in resource endowments has long been recognized in economics. Merging these two perspectives, we show that the increase in consumer preference for quality leads to firms' aggressive price competition instead of quality differentiation. As consumers look for higher quality, the cost advantage arising from superior resources increases and makes head-to-head competition more profitable than accommodating a less efficient rival. When consumers are highly concerned about quality, even a small resource difference leads a more efficient firm to initiate cutthroat price competition for market dominance.     

Strategy and the research process: A comment

The purpose of this paper is to expand the discussion of the ‘state-of-the-science’ in strategy research. We critically examine the role that theory plays in strategic research, and describe the principles underlying good theory. From a philosophy of science perspective, we argue that: (1) both inductive and deductive methods are valid ways of generating theory; (2) the falsificationist perspective provides an inadequate model for describing the process of theory testing; and (3) managers, researchers, public policy-makers, the popular press, and the public at large all have important roles to play in the knowledge development process.     

A note on odds in the cattle futures market

This paper investigates the odds of generating a 100-fold return in the cattle futures market. We employ cattle futures data for the period October 11, 1978, through July 31, 1979, to compute the probability of obtaining such a return. The tests are constructed to give the investor the benefit of the doubt whenever doubt exists. The most conservative finding is that the probability is one in approximately thirty-one trillion. Assuming that the return is made in the most efficient way possible, this probability falls to approximately 1.5×10⁻¹⁶.