Conditional higher order moments in metal asset returns

This study examines the role of higher order moments in the returns of four important metals, aluminium, copper, gold and silver, using the asymmetric GARCH (AGARCH) model with a conditional skewed generalized-t (SGT) distribution. Implications of higher order moments in metal returns are evaluated by comparing the performances of conditional value-at-risk measures obtained from the AGARCH models with SGT distributions to those obtained from the AGARCH models with normal and student-t distributions. With the exception of gold, the AGARCH model with the SGT distribution appears to have the best fit for all metals examined.     

Freedom of Entry,Market Size,and Competitive Outcome: Evidence from English Soccer

A primary prediction of the theory of sports leagues is that teams with higher revenues will have higher league positions or winning percentages than teams with smaller revenues. Behind this prediction lies the key influence of market size, yet this has been underexplored in the empirical literature on sports leagues. This paper combines detailed census of population data with panel data on team performance for an open sports league, the English Football League, to test the hypothesis that market size matters for team performance. We find a particularly important role for population close to the team's location. The impact of local population is reduced but not eliminated when allowance is made for entry in the form of competition from neighboring clubs. We assess implications of these findings for both European and North American sports league structures.     

Governmental Financial Reporting Reforms and Relationship Marketing: An Analysis of International Public Sector Accounting Standards Implementation

This study aims to investigate the effect of the implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) on corruption. This study utilizes a primary data approach based on survey design. The study uses a sample of 255 accountants and auditors in the Nigerian public sector. Multivariate regression analysis r is performed on data gathered from the field of study. The study finds that the implementation of IPSASs significantly affects transparency and accountability favorably at .05 level of significance. The analysis of the result based on the doctrine of Oli–eclectic paradigm, agency and culture theories indicates that improved transparency and accountability in the public sector will enhance relationship marketing.     

Impact of off-farm income on food security and nutrition in Nigeria

While the poverty implications of off-farm income have been analyzed in different developing countries, much less is known about the impact of off-farm income on household food security and nutrition. Here, this research gap is addressed by using farm survey data from Nigeria. Econometric analyses are employed to examine the mechanisms through which off-farm income affects household calorie and micronutrient supply, dietary quality, and child anthropometry. We find that off-farm income has a positive net effect on food security and nutrition. The prevalence of child stunting, underweight, and wasting is lower in households with off-farm income than in households without. Using a structural model, we also show that off-farm income contributes to higher food production and farm income by easing capital constraints, thus improving household welfare in multiple ways.     

A tale of two audiences: Spectators,television viewers and outcome uncertainty in Spanish football

This paper tests for the impact of match outcome uncertainty on two types of audience for Spanish football, fans at the stadium and television viewers. We find that fans inside the stadium prefer games that are less and not more likely to finish with a close score. This is contrary to much theoretical literature in sports economics which argues that fans prefer close contests and imposes this assumption in formal modelling. We also find that television viewers prefer close contests to more predictable contests. The different preferences of fans inside the stadium and television viewers need to be reconciled by the league when considering the effectiveness of policies to redistribute resources amongst teams in the league. We use our empirical model to consider how this tension might be resolved so as to maximise total audience and total league revenues.     

Stadium attendance and television audience demand in English league football

Demand studies of professional team sports have traditionally focused on stadium attendance; however, advances in broadcasting mean that teams generate revenue from stadium goers and broadcasters alike. Previous studies of demand have focused on stadium attendance and television audiences, but none have assessed the demand for match‐day attendances and demand by television audiences jointly. This study models match‐day attendances and television audiences using data from tier‐two of English league football. It shows that while televised matches depress stadium attendances, ceteris paribus, there is an important feedback in that larger stadium attendances have positive impacts on the size of television audiences. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the Effects of Employee Turnover on the Performance of Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises in Nigeria

The significant role small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) plays in growth and development is acknowledged universally. As a group, they generate more new jobs and introduce innovative ideas, products, and business methods. However, this important group is incapacitated by numerous factors militating against their growth, particularly in Third World countries such as Nigeria. In this study the authors identified major factors that affect the productivity of SMEs thereby hindering their growth. Their findings relate factors such as the dearth of skills, absence of managerial talents, and employee turnover to enterprise performance, productivity, and growth ability. Employee turnover is found to have a significant and negative correlation with SME performance. This indicates that the lower the employee turnover, the higher the performance of SMEs, and vice versa.     

Model Uncertainty in Characterizing Recreation Demand

A Bayesian variable selection procedure is used to control for uncertainty in the specification of a recreational demand model. Specifically, we propose a model that draws on the Bayesian paradigm to integrate the variable selection process into model estimation and to reflect the accompanying uncertainty about which is the best specification in subsequent counterfactual predictions. The advantage of this procedure over previous non-Bayesian approaches is that it overcomes the problem of pre-testing in specification searches. In our application, evaluating demand for recreational lake usage in Iowa, we find clear evidence that site attributes, such as lakes size, handicap facilities and wake restrictions, do impact lake usage. There is also evidence that water quality matters in household recreation choices. Indeed, contrary to Abidoye et?al. (Am J Agricult Econ, 2012), in which only a single functional form is considered, we find clear evidence that water quality matters, with posterior probability of less that 10 % associated with a model without any water quality variables. This suggests that the flexibility that the Bayesian variable selection model affords in capturing the linkage between recreation demand and site characteristics can be important.     

An Analysis of Consumer Response to Corruption: Italy's Calciopoli Scandal

The Calciopoli episode affecting Italian football in the 2005–6 season serves as an opportunity for an empirical investigation into consumer (fan) behavior, following league‐imposed punishments on clubs whose officials were found guilty of corrupt practices. Using a difference‐in‐differences estimation method, we find that home attendances for convicted teams fell by around 16%, relative to those clubs not subject to punishment. We show further that the fall in attendances resulted in non‐trivial gate revenue reductions. Our results suggest that a sizeable number of fans of the punished clubs were subsequently deterred from supporting their teams inside the stadium.