The demographic impact of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa: short- and long-term projections

"This paper describes the methodology used to incorporate AIDS mortality in recently revised World Bank population projections....The paper first reviews different approaches for projecting AIDS and its demographic consequences. This is followed by a summary of an epidemiological model that simulates the spread of HIV used in this analysis, and a demographic model that translates mortality from AIDS into population outcomes. These models are then used in a set of simulations, from which the effect of current HIV prevalence on projected future mortality is extracted. Finally, the extracted equations linking current HIV prevalence with future mortality indicators are applied to sub-Saharan countries with a measurable level of current HIV prevalence."     

Dory & Nemo Early Learning Center

The case requires students to evaluate the current situation and growth options of a small business, Dory & Nemo Early Learning Center (D&N), which provides intergenerational programming to preschool children at a retirement home. The learning center was opened in September 2014, and it was able to make a small profit each year. However, it is projected that there would be a 75 percent decrease in net income from $8,072 in Fiscal 2016 to $1,819 in Fiscal 2017. Davis and Nathans, business partners of D&N, met to discuss the following growth options: (i) Mosaic Retirement Residences' proposal to set up two learning centers at their retirement homes each year for a total of six in three years and (ii) Harmony Retirement Residences' proposal for leasing space to set up learning centers at their retirement homes, one new learning center a year for a total of three in three years. Furthermore, Davis and Nathans had decided to increase the program fee from $320 to $350 per week for the 2017–18 academic session in September. They would also like to reduce their workload from 50 to 40 hours per week, increase their vacation time from two to three weeks, and increase their salaries and bonuses. Students must consider personal objectives of business partners and mission of D&N in the analysis. They learn to identify relevant information for decision making, apply appropriate analytical tools for quantitative analysis, integrate qualitative and quantitative factors in decision making, and make recommendations consistent with analysis.     

关于《国际金融实务》实验课教学改革的探讨

论述了《国际金融实务》课程在实验教学中存在的问题,并对这些问题的解决提出了改进的措施.这种改革后的实验教学模式可以使学生在模拟的环境和条件下进行相对真实的业务训练,起到更好的实验教学效果.     

The trading behavior of institutions and individuals in Chinese equity markets

This paper employs a unique data set to analyze the trading behavior of 4.74 million individual and institutional investors across Mainland China. Results show that groups of individual investors with varying trade values (as proxies for wealth levels) engage in different trading strategies. Chinese institutions are momentum investors, while less wealthy Chinese individual investors at large are contrarian investors. The results also indicate that a small group of wealthiest Chinese individuals tend to behave like institutions when they buy stocks, and behave like less wealthy individuals when they sell. Furthermore, only the trading activities of institutions and of wealthiest individuals can affect future stock volatility, but those of Chinese individual investors at large have no predictive power for future stock returns.     

Accounting for distress in bank mergers

Most bank merger studies do not control for hidden bailouts, which may lead to biased results. In this study we employ a unique data set of approximately 1000 mergers to analyze the determinants of bank mergers. We use undisclosed information on banks’ regulatory intervention history to distinguish between distressed and non-distressed mergers. Among merging banks, we find that improving financial profiles lower the likelihood of distressed mergers more than the likelihood of non-distressed mergers. The likelihood to acquire a bank is also reduced but less than the probability to be acquired. Both distressed and non-distressed mergers have worse CAMEL profiles than non-merging banks. Hence, non-distressed mergers may be motivated by the desire to forestall serious future financial distress and prevent regulatory intervention.     

Corporate sustainability and innovation in SMEs: Evidence of themes and activities in practice

Recently, innovation processes towards sustainable development have received increasing attention in academic literature. This research introduces the combination of insights from innovation theory, sustainable development practice and small business characteristics to unlock new knowledge on factors that influence the translation of sustainable innovation within small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) into practice. The sustainability themes and activities as described for large companies (i.e. in the sustainability reporting and management literature) were used as starting point in this study. It presents empiric results of the PRIMA Project conducted within the rubber and plastics industry (RPI) on sustainable innovation activities. It will show that many sustainable innovations are directed at the improvement of technological processes (eco‐efficiency) and to lower costs of production. These innovations can be seen as incremental. Companies with sustainability integrated in their orientation and innovation processes show value creation: the development of products new to the market (radical innovations) and cooperation with stakeholders. The PRIMA project shows that more insight in SME innovative characteristics and (e)valuation of sustainable innovation efforts provides opportunities to improve the sustainability performance of SMEs. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

COMPETITION POLICY AND CARTEL SIZE

This article examines endogenous cartel formation in the presence of a competition authority. Competition policy is shown to make the most inclusive stable cartels less inclusive. In particular, small firms that might have been cartel members in the absence of a competition authority are no longer members. Regarding the least inclusive stable cartels, competition policy can either decrease or increase their size and, in the latter case, the collusive price can rise.