Should there exist secondary markets for executive stock options?

This paper investigates the potential disadvantages of the secondary markets for executive stock options (ESOs). The benefits of such markets are evident, but they might also have negative effects for shareholders. Executives might, for example, use inside information to time their ESO selling. We investigate two personal motives of managers that can be assumed to affect their optimal selling decision, that is, managers' personal portfolio management issues and the use of inside information. We explore these motives by analyzing unique data from Finland, where there are secondary markets for ESOs. The results of the study support the traditional portfolio diversification hypothesis according to which managers tend to sell their ESOs when holding an ESO is equivalent to holding the underlying stock; that is, in such a case a manager's wealth is closely tied to the stock price of the firm. With respect to the use of inside information the results indicate that ESO selling activity is not related to future stock price behaviour, suggesting that managers do not use inside information to determine the selling time of their ESOs. These results imply that the existence of secondary markets for ESOs does not weaken the usefulness of ESOs as the management compensation, although the benefits of such markets are evident.     

SUPPLY CHAIN INFORMATION SHARING IN A VENDOR MANAGED INVENTORY PARTNERSHIP

Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) involves the vendor making the replenishment decision for products supplied to a customer based on various inventory and supply chain policies. Information sharing between supply chain members is required in VMI. Sometimes VMI decisions are delayed and/or the information shared is inaccurate. This research examines the effects of information delay and accuracy, and the sharing of sales and forecast information in a VMI environment facing stationary and nonstationary demand. The simulation experiments show the impact of information delay, information inaccuracy, and information sharing on a variety of performance measures, including inventory levels and fill rates.     

EXPRESSING INVENTORY CONTROL POLICY IN THE TURNOVER CURVE

Estimation of the inventory level for an entire class of items is a valuable time saver when control of inventories at the aggregate level, rather than the item level, is of interest. Inventory approximation by location in supply chain network configuration and evaluation of inventory control policy shifts, are two examples of application. In this article, various popular inventory policies are related to a general function known as an inventory turnover curve that expresses inventory levels from the combined demand of multiple items. By knowing some basic item characteristics of representative items in a product class, the type of inventory policy being used, and the current aggregate inventory level, an inventory turnover curve can be constructed. This resulting turnover curve can be used to estimate inventory levels within 4.6%, on the average, of theoretically predicted ones.     

AN EVALUATION OF PROCESS‐ORIENTED SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS

Supply chain management (SCM) is implemented by integrating corporate functions using business processes within and across companies. Several process‐oriented frameworks for SCM have been proposed but only two of these provide sufficient detail to enable implementation. We evaluate the Supply‐Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) framework and The Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF) framework using four criteria and identify their relative strengths and weaknesses.     

论债转股

我国银行与企业之间的不良债务越来越多。如果这种情况继续下去,将导致企业破产,也会将银行拖垮,最终导致金融危机。债转股作为一种延缓矛盾和风险爆发时间应急性措施的债务重组手段,成功的关键在于是否能以此为契机,彻底转变企业经营管理机制和治理结构,使企业的产权明晰,将企业推向市场,在市场中生存和发展。     

Most-Favored Treatment Provisions as Nondiscrimination Guarantees

A firm employs suppliers who make specific investments. Because output demand is uncertain and the cost of enumerating contingencies high, the firm retains some unilateral control over the input quantities it purchases. To allay suppliers’ concerns over potential opportunism the firm must commit not to pit them against one another ex post by threatening to buy less from those who refuse to discount their prices. By extending most-favored treatment guarantees the firm commits not to discriminate. In some circumstances this generates efficient and opportunism-free outcomes. In others it is less effective but may remain attractive relative to other options. Evidence from field market contracts for natural gas corroborates this nondiscrimination hypothesis.     

Effect of credible quality investment with Bertrand and Cournot competition

We show how credible revelation and ability to commit to quality choice effect equilibrium qualities and welfare when product market is either Bertrand or Cournot competition. We show that results depend on the type of competition but not generally on the cost of quality function. We show that with Bertrand competition, the equilibrium qualities are lower with credible commitment. Competition is moderated and producer surplus is higher and consumer surplus lower. With Cournot competition, higher quality will be better but lower quality will be worse with credible commitment. Consumer surplus is always greater with credible commitment and if cost does not increase too quickly with quality, producer surplus will also increase. Thus credible commitment is a collusive device with Bertrand competition but it can improve social welfare with Cournot competition. Received: February 8, 2000; revised version: February 14, 2002 RID="*" ID="*" The idea of this paper originated in the weekly workshops of Mordecai Kurz at Stanford. I am forever in debted to Mordecai and fellow students – Luis Cabral, Peter DeMarzo, John Hillas, Michihiro Kandori, Steve Langois, Patrick McAllister, Steve Sharpe, Peter Streufert, Steve Turnbull and Gyu-Ho Wang – for their criticism and encouragement. I also benefited from comments from Yi-Heng Chen, Jin-Li Hu, Kala Krishna, Jinji Naoto, Thomas J. Prusa, and Shyh-Fang Ueng at various later stages of this work. Last but not least, I am grateful for the detailed comments of the referee.     

论养老基金平衡机制--基于辽宁试点模式对养老基金平衡的透视

我国处于转轨中的养老模式面临着人口老龄化和转轨成本的双重压力,为此,2001年7月开始在辽宁省进行社保改革试点。本将以试点模式为研究起点,并将养老基金平衡剖析为两个收支平衡：一是横向平衡,二是纵向平衡。就横向平衡而言,笔认为难关的突破在于强化政府的社会保险责任,而纵向平衡的难关在于基金收益率。为此,本提出一些拓展性的社保改革思路,并认为在此基础之上养老基金的平衡是可以实现的。     

信用风险水平与宏观经济变量的实证研究——基于中国、美国、日本部分银行的比较分析

基于1999～2007年中国、美国和日本部分银行的不良贷款率数据,本文对影响银行信用风险的宏观经济因素进行了实证研究和比较分析。结果表明:(1)中国的银行信用风险水平与失业率呈现显著的负相关关系;(2)表面上美国的银行信用风险水平极低,而且不受宏观经济变量波动的影响,但是实际上其风险被金融衍生工具隐藏并积累起来;(3)日本的银行信用风险水平与CPI呈现显著的负相关关系。最后本文提出了几点建议。     

信息技术在海关风险管理中的应用

长期以来,中国海关监管工作始终面临着一个突出的矛盾,即严格执法与高效运作的矛盾。借鉴国际海关通行的做法,提出了利用海关信息平台,构筑一个科学、系统、完善的风险管理体系,全面推进海关各项业务改革,加快海关现代化建设的步伐,提高海关管理水平。