bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rethinking the terms of tenure: A feminist critique of Mike Ball
Authors: Banion Maura , Stubbs Cherrie
Published: January 2010

In this article Maura Banim and Cherrie Stubbs offer a critique of Michael Ball's failure to address the question of gender relations in his work on housing tenure. They argue that gender relations are centrally created both in the production and consumption of housing and therefore must be seriously addressed if a socialist housing strategy which can overcome gender as well as class dominations is to be developed. The authors also examine the links between tenure, familism and gender domination, by drawing on material from research which they carried out in the North East of England.
Divestment and inflation accounting: an unemployment machine?
Authors: Bryer RA , Brignall T J
Published: January 2010

Inflation accounting is widely viewed as an irrelevant technicality. Bryer and Brignall argue, however, that its introduction facilitated mass divestment from UK companies by providing information to investors and managers to allow them to reassess the profitability of industry. The authors also contrast their controversial view of the role of inflation accounting with the traditional interpretation offered by academic accountants
Austerity packages and beyond: Turkey since 1980
Authors: Margulies Ronnie , Yildizoglu Ergin
Published: January 2010

This article outlines in some detail the austerity package put into implementation in Turkey in 1980 and the subsequent attempts to restructure the Turkish economy. It is argued that while the 1980 measures largely succeeded in removing the immediate obstacles to capital accumulation, particularly by breaking working class resistance and slashing real wages, no fundamental restructuring was achieved.
The Internationalisation of the State
Authors: Picciotto Sol
Published: January 2010

The national state was the basis of the regulatory framework of modern corporate capitalism. International coordination of state functions is based on bureaucratic corporatist bargaining through formal and informal structures. The globalisation of social relations puts increasing pressure on both national and international state structures, and requires a popular internationalist response.
Politics and Process in the making of Manufacturing, Science and Finance (MSF)
Authors: Carter Bob
Published: January 2010

Carter discusses the origins of and processes involved in the making of MSF. The politics of the merger between ASTMS and TASS which created MSF have had a lasting influence on the new union.
Neo-Gramscian Hegemony and the International Order
Authors: Burnham Peter
Published: January 2010

This paper assesses the neo-Gramscian analysis of the relation between states, arguing that it replicates the errors of Weberian pluralism. A capital relation approach is called for if we are to avoid over emphasising ideology in debates about capitalist restructuring.
On the Creation of Money and the Accumulation of Bank-Capital
Authors: Hall Mike
Published: January 2010

Mike Hall moves from Marx's circuits of capital in order to develop an understanding of Bank-capital and the creation of money.
Domestic Labour and Employment Status among Married Couples: A case study in Hartlepool
Authors: Morris Lydia
Published: January 2010

This article, partly in response to Wheelock's article in Capital & Class (1990), examines the issue of flexibility, with regard to domestic labour, between married couples with different patterns of employment/unemployment. Morris argues that women's role within the home will not be strengthened so long as they are restricted to part-time work–which, in essence, is designed to accomodate their ‘domestic obligations’.
The Flexibility Fetish A Review Essay on Flexible Specialisation
Authors: Curry James
Published: January 2010

This article questions the evidence for flexible specialisation and calls for a re-examination of the real conditions of industrial districts such as Third Italy and the notion of the flexible firm. Flexible specialisation is also challenged on its theoretical assumptions which are ahistorical in character and based on a false dichotomy between mass production versus craft paradigms.
Marx's Fourth Capital Circuit
Authors: Arthur Chris
Published: January 2010

In the first draft of Volume II of Capital Marx set out four circuits of capital, not three as in the final version. The fourth starts from ‘the factors of the labour process’. Here reasons for and against such a circuit are examined.
Offers that can be refused
Authors: Ruggiero Vincenzo
Published: January 2010

RECENT POLICE AND HOME OFFICE RESEARCH concludes that home grown crime groups pose more serious threats than their alien counterparts such as the Triads, the Yardies or the Mafia. Is Britain developing its own variety of organised crime? If this is the case the very definition and popular understanding of what organised is deserve careful revision.
Industrial Restructuring and the Reconstitution of Class Relations in Singapore
Authors: Yun A. H.
Published: January 2010

While the role of the state has been central to the development of Singaporean capitalism, state policies have gone through different transformations as the relationship of Singapore with other states and with multi-national capital changed. Moreover, a number of problems and social divisions have emerged in the process. In contrast to theorists who have seen only state dominance, the potential that these developments have for breaking the hegemony of the state over large sections of the population, in both middle and working classes, is illustrated and analysed.
The Politics of Labour Legislation Reform in Mexico
Authors: Patroni Viviana
Published: January 2010

The interest in the flexibilization of labour and the resulting challenge to the legal basis of the corporatism of the ‘official’ labour movement has revealed two critical problems facing neoliberalism in Mexico: the impossibility of developing a corporatist relation between state and labour along with any broad politics of labour inclusion when the state is no longer the guarantor of basic workers' rights, but must continue to control labour's demands; the failure of neoliberalism to generate a viable alternative social consensus based on present patterns of accumulation. This has contributed to the limits facing a range of traditional left positions in the country.
Addressing the World Economy: Two Steps Back
Authors: Fine Ben , Lapavitsas Costas , Milonakis Dimitris
Published: January 2010

This article reviews Robert Brenner's ‘The Economics of Global Turbulence’, New Left Review, May/June, 1998. Several decisive weaknesses of Brenner's contribution are identified. First, Brenner's theoretical treatment of capitalist competition and accumulation is in the spirit of Adam Smith and mainstream economics rather than Marx. Second, Brenner ignores the significance of credit for capitalist crisis. Third, he leaves entirely out of account the internationalisation of production and finance, phenomena which constitute the most salient feature of the contemporary global economy. Fourth, in short, Brenner's approach is not at all value-theoretic, a weakness that can also be found in some of his earlier historical work.
The 15th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party: Milestone in China's Privatization
Authors: Lau W. K.
Published: January 2010

China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have achieved significant growth and productivity gains without privatization. Despite that, the regime has since late 1993 been forced to put privatization on the agenda, a development that has reached an important milestone at the Party's 15th Congress of September 1997 and since. At the same time, the private sector has grown phenomenally, controlling close to half of the national economy in many respects by now. The regime has not only been ready to let private capital take over small SOEs, but has been desparate to woo private capital for capital injection into even the largest SOEs. While the regime hopes to retain control of these latter SOEs despite private equity participation, a very real possibility exists for the process to run out of the regime's control.
The Zapatistas and People's Power
Authors: Esteva Gustavo
Published: January 2010

In examining the Zapatista struggle, this article attempts to describe the content and implications of the Zapatista proposals. It focuses on its contribution to political theory and practice. It examines how the use of the expression ‘civil society’ by the Zapatistas alludes to a new organization of people's struggle, challenging both formal categories and the power structure of the modern nation-state. It also elaborates on the Zapatista notion of democracy, as people's power, and its critique of the ‘democratic’ society, within the nation-state, as a system of domination by capital.
Who Moved Asian-Pacific Stock Markets? A Further Consideration Of The Impact of the US and Japan
Authors: Durand Robert B. , Kee Koh Sze , Watson Iain
Published: January 2010

This paper extends prior research by jointly incorporating market indices, interest rates (both short- and long-term) and spot cross exchange rates, to investigate the relationship among seven Pacific-Rim (Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand) markets, to changes in financial variables in the US and Japan, We find that the US stock market Granger-caused movements in all the markets being considered and that the Japanese stock market had a significant effect in half of the markets included in the study. Other financial variables play no, or little, part in influencing the markets being studied.
The Role of Political Costs in the Deferred Tax Policy Choice
Authors: Sidhu Baljit K. , Whittred Greg
Published: January 2010

This paper demonstrates that (time- and context-specific) ‘political costs' were instrumental in the entry of deferred tax accounting into Australian GAAP in the early 1970's—a period in which high profits and low corporate taxes coincided in a volatile political mix. Politically exposed companies (of large size, with low effective tax rates, particularly in the mining industry) with the ability to reduce their exposure through deferred tax accounting (if it was tax-expense increasing), adopted the method. Companies for whom adoption would be tax-expense reducing, either deferred adoption to a less politically sensitive period or adopted with the average impact being such as to not lower their reported tax rate below that of the average rate of non-adopters.
Short-Term Autocorrelation in Australian Equities
Authors: Gaunt Clive , Gray Philip
Published: January 2010

This paper examines the statistical and economic significance of short-term autocorrelation in Australian equities. We document large negative first-order autocorrelation in individual stock returns. Preliminary results suggest this autocorrelation is economically significant, as two simple trading strategies based on the autocorrelation structure appear to yield large risk-adjusted returns. Further analysis, however, shows that these results are driven by the inclusion of smallcapitalisation and low-priced stocks which are vulnerable to a number of market-microstructure-related problems. After revising the dataset to mitigate these problems, little evidence of economic significance remains.
Are There Cognitive Dissonance Segments?
Authors: Soutar Geoffrey N. , Sweeney Jillian C.
Published: January 2010

Cognitive Dissonance has interested consumer researchers for many years. Until recently, however, there has not been an accepted consumer dissonance scale. Using a recently developed scale, the present study examined the presence of dissonance segments in two customer samples, in which a significant minority of respondents experienced dissonance. Similar segments were found in both clusters, suggesting they may be common across a number of purchase contexts. Further investigation found some background differences, although a number of suggested relationships (e.g. price would affect dissonance) were not supported. Given the potential negative effects of dissonance, managers need to give this construct their attention.
Returns to Australian Investment Newsletter Recommendations
Authors: Carson Elizabeth , da Silva Rosa Raymond , Maynier Richard
Published: January 2010

We investigate the recommendations made by four high profile Australian investment newsletters during 2001. Five issues are investigated: (1) The clarity of newsletter recommendations; (2) the return that might have been earned by following newsletter recommendations; (3) the liquidity of shares recommended; (4) the relative success of recommendations on small, medium and large stocks; and (5) the extent newsletters make recommendations consistent with momentum and contrarian investing strategies. We find that newsletters contain a varying mix of clear and less clear recommendations. The clear recommendations we evaluated earned exceptionally high return, relative to control samples matched on size and holding period and relative to the ASX300 index. The exceptional performance was driven by recommendations on stocks ranked outside the top 150, by market capitalization, and was consistent with a momentum based selection strategy.
Cognitive Representations of Negotiation
Authors: Olekalns Mara , Smith Philip L.
Published: January 2010

Using a bilateral negotiation, we examined the relationship between motivational orientation, mental maps and negotiators' outcomes. Cooperative and competitive negotiators bargained with a counterpart who held either the same or a different orientation. Compared to negotiators in mixed dyads, those in same-orientation dyads placed greater emphasis on cooperation, flexibility and trust; and less emphasis on competition. Flexibility was critical to joint gain when at least one negotiator held competitive goals, but detrimental when both negotiators held cooperative goals. Negotiators in same-orientation dyads reported a more positive experience than negotiators in mixed-orientation dyads.
An Examination of the Role of Time and its Impact on Price Revision
Authors: Allen David , Peiris Shelton , Yang Joey Wenling
Published: January 2010

We consider a new class of time series models (introduced by Engle & Russell 1998) used in statistical applications in finance. These models treat the time between events (durations) as a stochastic process and the corresponding durations are modelled using a theory similar to that of autoregressive processes On a sample of six stocks listed on the ASX, we find evidence in support of the important role that both the deterministic and stochastic components of time play in both our quote revision and signed trade equations, and it is the stochastic indicator of time that has a greater influence than the time-of day periodicities.
Is the Ex Ante Risk Premium Always Positive? Further Evidence
Authors: Walsh Kathleen D.
Published: January 2010

An implicit assumption of the conditional CAPM is that the ex ante equity risk premium is positive in all states of the world. Studies on US portfolios by Boudoukh, Richardson and Smith (1993) and on world portfolios by Ostdiek (1998) find violations of this assumption. This paper seeks to test the sign of the equity risk premium in the Australian market using two parallel tests. First, the series is examined for the presence of two regimes using a test developed in Bayesian inference. Truncated normal priors are applied to the means in this test to specifically detect means of opposite sign. Once a negative regime is identified in the risk premium, we try to identify it ex ante using the test developed by Boudoukh, Richardson and Smith (1993). This test allows the moments implied by the model to be conditioned on observable information. We were able to reject the null of a single regime in favour of the two-regime model using the regime-switching test. In addition the inequality tests on contemporaneous data rejected the restriction of a positive risk premium.
Ownership, Competition, and Financial Disclosure
Authors: Birt Jacqueline L. , Bilson Chris M. , Smith Tom , Whaley Robert E.
Published: January 2010

A firm's incentive to disclose has been linked empirically to a range of variables, including information asymmetry, agency costs, political costs, and proprietary costs. While the intuition underlying each of the variables seems plausible, Verrecchia (2001) argues that disclosure models can be characterized as an eclectic mingling of highly idiosyncratic economic-based models, and challenges researchers to take the first steps to unification. First, we investigate the role of ownership and competition variables in explaining voluntary segment disclosures in Australian firms and find support for both these variables. Second, drawing on theory supported by the corporate governance, strategic management and industrial organization literatures, we introduce a new economic variable that unifies both ownership and competition variables. We find that the unifying variable performs better than our model focusing on ownership and competition variables alone. We conduct a series of robustness tests on the model and find that its significance is not affected by the inclusion of disclosure control variables identified in prior literature, the change in standard, and acquisitions and disposals of physical assets.
Are Australian Investors Smart?
Authors: Gharghori Philip , Sujoto Charly , Veeraraghavan Madhu
Published: January 2010

This paper examines the smart money effect on Australian superannuation funds. Specifically, we investigate whether Australian investors make smart choices in selecting funds. We build on previous research which shows that sophisticated investors have the ability to invest in funds that subsequently perform well. Our findings deviate from the existing literature in that we fail to uncover supporting evidence for a smart money effect in the Australian superannuation fund industry. However, we do find some evidence of investors who are able to identify funds whose future performance will be poor and who disinvest accordingly. Our findings have serious policy implications, as we show that investors generally are not able to recognise high performing superannuation funds.
An Insight into Overconfidence in the Forecasting Abilities of Financial Advisors
Authors: van de Venter Gerhard , Michayluk David
Published: January 2010

Financial market participants exercise judgment in decision making and psychological studies have shown that individuals are overconfident about their ability to evaluate financial securities. Range estimation calibration studies indicate that individuals tend to estimate narrow intervals in their estimation of unknown future quantities, suggesting overconfidence. Financial planners have an inherent duty of care and this may lead these individuals to behave differently in their estimation methodology and behaviour. From a survey of Australian financial planners, we find extensive overconfidence in respondents' ability to make judgements under uncertainty as shown by a narrow range of forecasts and a substantial number of inaccurate predictions. The overconfidence is present both when comparing estimates to the ex-post outcome of a predicted quantity and to an interval based on historical return volatility.
Pricing Bonds in the Australian Market
Authors: Bilson Christopher M. , Brailsford Timothy J. , Sullivan Luke J. , Treepongkaruna Sirimon
Published: January 2010

This paper provides an examination of term structure models in the Australian bond market. Specifically, we examine the comparative ability of various models to forecast at the short, medium and long ends of the yield curve. Overall, we find that model performance varies along the yield curve. Out-of-sample pricing tests show that most of the term structure models underprice a bond at the short and medium ends of the term structure and generally overprice bonds at the long end. Further, the level of mispricing is related to time-to-maturity, coupon payments and interest rate volatility. The results have implications for bond pricing in relatively illiquid markets like Australia's.
Share Purchase Plans in Australia: Issuer Characteristics and Valuation Implications
Authors: Brown Philip , Ferguson Andrew , Stone Kate
Published: January 2010

Share purchase plans (SPPs) are offered exclusively to a company's registered shareholders, who may purchase up to $5,000 worth of shares in a 12-month period at a discount to the market price and without any brokerage charge. They have become one of the most frequently used mechanisms for raising publicly traded equity capital in Australia, yet little is known about them from a financial markets perspective. We address this deficiency by documenting the characteristics of Australian firms that have adopted SPPs and assessing their short-term and long-term valuation implications. We find that SPPs are more likely to be issued by firms with lower levels of liquidity and relatively large numbers of shareholders. They have a negative announcement effect, which is associated with the size of the issue, the prior share-price runup, the issue-price discount, the firm's industry, and whether there is enough time for non-shareholders to buy shares in order to participate. Long-run underperformance is also found over extended periods, consistent with much of the seasoned equity offering (SEO) literature. The SPP-issuer did not perform as badly if it was in the mining industry, if it was audited by a ‘Big-N’ firm, or if the issue was underwritten. Conversely, the greater the issue discount, the worse the issuer's long-run performance.
Employee Entitlements and Secured Creditors: Assessing the Effects of the Maximum Priority Proposal
Authors: Anderson Jeannette , Davis Kevin
Published: January 2010

Corporate failures and consequent default on obligations have, in some circumstances, led to significant losses for employees with accumulated unpaid leave entitlements. The Australian government responded initially to this problem by implementing a government-funded compensation scheme. Subsequently it announced a proposal involving legislating for seniority (maximum priority) of entitlements in corporate liquidation which has not been implemented. This paper analyses and provides quantitative estimates of the consequences of changing creditor priority in this manner. Contrary to conventional wisdom and arguments mounted in opposition to such a change, the effect on corporate funding costs would be extremely small. The paper argues that legislation to effect such a change warrants further consideration as a complement to the existing compensation scheme.
Capital Rationing and Market Discount Rates: Some Common Fallacies
Authors: Finn Frank J.
Published: January 2010

Arguments proposing the use of market discount rates for optimal investment criteria under conditions of “capital rationing” are examined. Several recent analyses assume one side of the capital market, either firms or individual investors, is subject to capital rationing while the other side is not. It is argued here that all market participants face perfect market opportunities or that none do. Several recent “solutions” are shown either to be consistent with the perfectly competitive market solution in which the familiar present value criterion is appropriate, or else to be fallacious.
The Commission of Inquiry into Land Tenures
Authors: Parish Ross
Published: January 2010

The Commission of Inquiry into Land Tenures has proposed that the Crown should displace much of the private sector's role in land development, and that the Crown should reap many of the gains from changes in land use. If implemented, these proposals would create an administrative bureaucracy, which would need to make arbitrary imposts upon individuals, which would have an incentive to act as a monopolist contrary to the public interest, which would require considerable legislative or judicial rule-making in order to estimate different components of land value, and which would effectively remove private incentive to use land efficiently. It is difficult to understand why land is singled out for such special treatment.
Corporate Financial Statements, A Product of the Market and Political Processes
Authors: Watts Ross L.
Published: January 2010

An outline for a theory of financial statements is presented. Financial statements are viewed as products of both markets and political processes and the interactions among individuals and groups in these processes. Individuals are assumed to maximize their self-interests. Various hypotheses and data are provided to illustrate the theory. It relies heavily on theories of agency, economic regulation and public choice. At this stage, the theory has great promise in explaining the form and contents of financial statements. The theory contrasts with earlier “normative” theories of financial statements and offers an explanation for the forms they take.
Imperialism in Planning: A Reply
Authors: Gregory R. G.
Published: January 2010

Obviously more than economics should be involved in government policy and Manufacturing Green Papers. The difficult problem is to achieve a good balance. Judgements are made and supported as to the elements of a better balanced Manufacturing Green Paper.
Asset Pricing in the Australian Industrial Equity Market: Reply
Authors: Ball Ray , Brown Philip , Officer R. R.
Published: January 2010

In reply to Graham, Johnson and Schnabel (1977), we point out that they have raised a relatively difficult question in scientific method. Provided our earlier work is accepted as operating in the context of the two-period model, we reassert that it revealed no anomalous evidence.
The Time Series Behaviour of Corporate Earnings
Authors: Whittred G. P.
Published: January 2010

Existing evidence indicates that the time-series behaviour of corporate annual earnings is well approximated by a random-walk, or some similar process. There is, however, little Australian evidence on this issue.

This note presents the results of an investigation into the time-series behaviour of the annual earnings of a sample of relatively large Australian corporations. The conclusion, that successive changes in such earnings are well approximated by a random-walk, is consistent with the existing evidence.
An Analysis of the Variance and Distribution of Commodity Price Changes
Authors: Taylor Stephen J. , Kingsman Brian G.
Published: January 2010

A method of jointly estimating the time-dependent variance of daily commodity price changes and their distribution is presented. The data are copper spot prices (1966-74) and sugar futures prices (1961-73), for London contracts. Much of the leptokurtosis observed in the price change distributions is shown to result from the mixinq of non-normal distributions whose variances differ substantially. There are important consequences for conventional autocorrelation tests, which falsely assume a constant variance. The usefulness of the logarithmic transformation of prices is assessed statistically and it is found that the transformation does help to equalise the variance of price changes.
Risk and Return from Equity Investments in the Australian Mining Industry: January 1958 — February 1979
Authors: Ball Ray , Brown Philip
Published: January 2010

In the spirit of Fisher and Lorie (1968), the authors constructed a data base comprising monthly rates of return on 1029 separately-listed Sydney mining equities over the period January 1958 to February 1979. The data base should stimulate further research. The first use of the data is a study by the authors of historical risks and returns from equity investments in Australian mining. The value-weighted average return over the period was found to be 11.9% per year, continuously-compounded. Mining equities were considerably riskier (considered by themselves) than industrial equities and a surprisingly large amount of their risk did not appear to be diversifiable. There was little correlation between size (measured by market capitalization) and subsequent rate of return, though size and standard deviation of rate of return were significantly negatively correlated. The seemingly unfavourable risk/return comparison for mining is anomalous and requires further investigation.
Monetary Policy in Australia
Authors: Adam Christopher M. , Adam Christopher M.
Published: January 2010

Practical Personnel and Industrial Relations Management in Australia
GMAT Scores and Performance: Selecting Students into a Graduate Management School
Authors: Marks Robert , Watt Peter , Yetton Philip
Published: January 2010

Research shows that scores on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) are positively correlated with academic performance at graduate management schools. This study replicates this finding on Australian data and extends the analysis to cover performance at the individual course level as well as for aggregate grade point average. This traditional treatment of the data while directed at the admission decision is in fact structured to explain variance in performance. A novel analysis is presented in parallel which investigates the trade–off between Type I errors (rejecting a student who would pass) and Type II errors (accepting a student who fails). This reveals that, while GMAT may be a good predictor of performance, it is an inefficient discriminator for selection purposes.
Life Style and Radio Listening Patterns in Perth, Western Australia
Authors: Soutar Geoffrey N. , Clarke Yvonne M.
Published: January 2010

A random sample of 400 homes in Perth responded to a life style instrument and to a series of questions on radio listening patterns. Respondents were clustered into a number of groups based upon their self reported listening frequencies of the radio stations in Perth. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to determine whether these groups were significantly different in terms of their life styles and demographic characteristics. Unlike previous research in this area relating to television viewing, the implications of the present study suggest that media targeting via radio stations is a feasible strategy for the marketing manager in Perth.
Inside Branch Councils: A Study of Six Unions
Authors: Davis Edward
Published: January 2010

This paper reports on aspects of the decision-making process within the management committees of six unions. The following issues are explored: the extent to which a democratic climate prevails within the meetings; the differences and similarities in the experience of large and small unions; and the differences and similarities in the experience of white and blue collar unions.
Monetary Targeting
Authors: Davis Kevin
Published: January 2010

Editor's Note: It is a policy of this Journal to present occasional articles on subjects of significant interest in management research or applications. The following paper has been commissioned as a contribution to the series. The paper discusses the topic of monetary targeting, a major issue in macroeconomic policy over the past decade, especially in Australia. From being an academic concern in the mid-1970s, monetary targeting moved to having a role as a frontline strategy in macroeconomic management for the Federal Government by the early 1980s. Then, amid some controversy, the policy was abruptly abandoned at the end of 1984.

With such a sudden end and no subsequent adoption of other monetary targets, the period of monetary targeting confronts the analyst with a set of data which almost represents that rara avis, an experiment in economic macropolicy. In this paper, Dr. Davis reflects on the experience of monetary targeting, reviewing the arguments for and against such policy management in the light of its adoption and progress in the Australian economy. A future paper in this series has been commissioned from Professor Tom Valentine, Centre for Studies in Money, Banking and Finance at Macquarie University, to explore implications in the change in policy from direct to indirect Reserve Bank controls over banks. Professor Valentine's paper will be published in the next issue.
Arbitrage Pricing, Factor Structure, Eigenvectors and all That—An Exposition
Authors: Luedecke Bernd P.
Published: January 2010

This paper re-presents the essentials of Ross' (1976) derivation of his Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) and explains the empirical implications of recent extensions to the APT due to Chamberlain & Rothschild (1983). The natural statistical methodology for empirically testing Ross' for Mulation is to factor-analyze a certain variance-covariance matrix. This factor analysis bears a close relationship to the natural empirical counterpart of Chamberlain & Rothschild's generalisations of the APT: computation of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors. An important implication is that this new method for testing the APT is simpler than factor analysis but perfor Ms as well, is much less of a computational burden, and includes a new way to count the factors.
Partial Takeovers: Are They Coercive?
Authors: Bishop Steve , Dodd Peter
Published: January 2010

Considerable publicity has been given to the call for further regulating partial takeover bids in Australia. This call is largely based on a premise that they coerce shareholders into accepting a takeover offer which will decrease their wealth. An alternate argument is that in a competitive market for corporate control partial takeovers will increase the wealth of shareholders, not decrease it. In this paper, data reported in the Companies and Securities Law Review Committee's Discussion Paper No. 2 is extended and evaluated in a conceptual framework. The evidence is consistent with partial takeovers being shareholder-wealth-increasing events.
Factors Related to Membership Participation in Public Sector Trade Union Activities
Authors: Griffin Gerard , Benson John
Published: January 2010

The issue of rank-and-file membership participation in the affairs of their trade union has received little attention in Australia. In this paper we focus on possible correlates of such participation. Based on a questionnaire survey of members of a public sector union (N=752) we devise three measures of participation and assess the contribution of a range of personal, job-related and union-related factors to participation levels.
How Much Are Exchange Rate Forecasts Worth?
Authors: Manzur Meher
Published: January 2010

This paper undertakes empirical tests of the ability of foreign exchange market participants to forecast the future value of the Australian dollar for one- and four-week horizons. A new set of survey data published in The Australian newspaper is used for this purpose. The accuracy of the forecasts is compared with that of the forecasts given by the random walk model which corresponds to no-change extrapolation. In general, the results indicate that no-change extrapolation is almost as good as the survey forecasts.
Financial Reporting to the Industries Assistance Commission: A Study in the Rôle of Accounting Information in Regulatory Decision Making
Authors: Arthur Neal
Published: January 2010

This paper investigates the relative rôle of accounting numbers in influencing decisions regarding the level of Australian government assistance to import competing firms. An analysis of a variety of documents which relate to both the infor Mation requirements and a description of the decision making process indicates that accounting measures are influential in determining outcomes of the regulatory process. It is also concluded that regulators appear to have recognised the influence of choice of accounting policy on the measurement and reporting of certain “economic variables” and to some extent specify the measurement rules/accounting policies to be employed however, much accounting discretion remains with management.
Empirical Evidence on Put-Call Parity in Australia: A Reconciliation and Further Evidence
Authors: Brown R. L. , Easton S. A.
Published: January 2010

The results of the put-call parity studies by Loudon (1988) and Taylor (1990) are in direct conflict despite the authors reporting the use of virtually identical models and methods. Employing an improved version of Taylor's data collection procedures, we test the parity theorem in the period studied by Loudon. The results are similar to those of Loudon. As a result, we run separate checks of Taylor's data and analysis. The check of the data reveals that over sixty per cent of Taylor's observations are invalid. The check of the analysis reveals that the lower boundary of the put-call parity relation was incorrectly calculated by Taylor. Correcting this error results in fundamentally different conclusions.
The Compliance Costs of Taxation in Australia and Tax Simplification: The Issues
Authors: Pope Jeff
Published: January 2010

This paper identifies six phases in the development of the compliance costs of taxation, in an Australian context. Estimates of the compliance costs of personal and public companies' income taxation are presented, and an international comparison cautiously made. Major policy issues related to compliance costs are considered. Cost-reducing measures are identified and classified. Specific proposals for Australia's income-tax system are considered. The paper concludes that the compliance costs of income taxation in Australia are high, and that simplification of income tax is likely to lead to significant economic resource savings. The prognosis for reform is mixed, but the overall view is not optimistic.
The View from the Top: Chief Executives' Perceptions of Total Quality Management
Authors: Fisher Tom
Published: January 2010

The chief executives of 49 member companies in Total Quality Management Institute (Australia) were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the effects of the Total Quality Management (TQM) processes in their companies.

Average costs associated with implementing TQM were reported as steady over time, at around 0.5% of sales, while the average value of the benefits gained was around 2% of sales, giving an average benefit to cost ratio of 4:1. Just under 30% of the respondents indicated that TQM had resulted in a culture change in their company. About a quarter reported increased customer focus and satisfaction, and improved productivity, competitiveness and profits. Significant numbers also reported increased workloads and time commitment, and a high need for training.

Many executives commented that implementing the TQM philosophy was difficult and that they needed to actively lead and drive the process. Many also commented that TQM is a central philosophy which is basic to all aspects of company operations.
Research Method and the Long‐Run Perfor Mance of Acquiring Firms
Authors: Brown Philip , Rosa Raymond da Silva
Published: January 2010

The long‐run perfor Mance of successful bidders in a takeover has been controversial. We assess their long‐run perfor Mance by controlling for survival, firm size, and measurement bias in return cumulation. Measures of the perfor Mance of acquiring firms relative to control firms are sensitive to survival constraints implicit in the sampling process and to share return characteristics empirically associated with trading frequency In the pre‐bid and bid periods, the strong share market perfor Mance of acquiring firms masks the bias; it is more salient after the bid. Controlling for survival mitigates the new‐listing and delisting biases in the pre‐ and post‐bid periods.
The Pricing of Low Exercise Price Options
Authors: Easton Stephen A. , Pinder Sean M.
Published: January 2010

This paper examines the pricing of Low Exercise Price Options (LEPOs) listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. The cost of carrying model is used to calculate theoretical prices which are then compared to the price at which actual trades occurred. The results indicate that LEPO trades, that are unaffected by dividends, may be underpriced relative to the underlying shares. A possible reason for this may be the difficulty associated with short‐selling shares in the Australian market.
Doing What They Say or Saying What They Do? Australian Organisations' Signals of Perfor Mance and Attitudes
Authors: Devinney Tim , Kabanoff Boris
Published: January 2010

This paper investigates the role of words, i.e. text content, in annual reports. Using word counts of references to different geographic regions over seven years as an indicator of the level of attention companies are giving to regions, we investigate three issues. (1) is level of attention related to firms' level of investment and profitability in a region; (2) is level of attention related to future investment and profitability in a region, and (3) what are some of the environmental drivers of the level of attention firms give to a regions? Although this research asks a very limited set of questions—how does a firm's attention to a region (reflected in the number of references to a region) relate to its investment decisions and perfor Mance in that region—it utilises a methodology—content analysis—that provides us with a straightforward way of quantifying qualitative strategic infor Mation Future research should help us understand the value of words as indicators of attitudes and intentions and ultimately, perfor Mance.
Is It Fitting To Use the Telephone Directory as a Frame Population in Surveys? an Analysis of the Case in Spain
Authors: Diaz de Rada Vidal
Published: January 2010

Peut-on utiliser l'annuaire téléphonique comme population de référence dans une enquête? Analyse d'un cas en Espagne. Quand la population cible est une collectivité spécialisée (docteurs, avocats, directeurs d'entreprises, etc.), on utilise habituellement des annuaires professionnels pour chacune de ces collectivités. Mais que peut-on faire si la population entière est la cible? L'objectif de cet article est de répondre à cette question en étudiant la validité de l'utilisation de l'annuaire téléphonique public comme population de référence pour une enquête par courrier, comme cela est vrai pour les enquête en face-à-face ou par téléphone. A cette fin, nous présentons les résultats d'une enquête par courrier dans la Navarre, une région du nord de l'Espagne, au printemps de 1998. Notre hypothèse était que le problème majeur dans l'utilisation de l'annuaire comme population de référence était d'obtenir une représentation adéquate de la véritable population cible.
L'analyse de données tabulaires avec les modèles lineaires et loglineaires
Authors: Aris Emmanuel , Aris Henri
Published: January 2010

Analysis of Cross-Tabulation Data with Linear and Loglinear Models. Several models have been proposed to evaluate the strength of the relationships between observed variables, some dependent on others. In particular, when the variables are categorical, models in which the effects are considered additive (linear models), or multiplicative (loglinear/logit models) are often used. In the most complète version of these models, dependence relationships between several categorical dépendent and independent variables can be modelled. The aim of this article is to provide basic knowledge of these models to be able to apply them satisfactorily. The fundamental dependency equations, the construction of the complete models, and récent developments are presented. Further, références to programs that may be used to apply these models, and to more technical works, are provided. This présentation is based on the analysis of an example.
Tension, Adventure, and Risk (Tar) and the Classification of Occupations: a Multidimensional Analysis
Authors: Cohen Erik H. , Meir Elchanan I. , Segal Hila , Amar Reuven
Published: January 2010

Tension, aventure et risque (TAR) et la classification des métiers - Une analyse multidimensionnelle: La grande étendue des métiers peut être catégorisée de plusieurs manières. Cette étude utilise la classification de Roe (1956) basée sur les différences psychologiques qui distingue huit grands types de métiers: Affaires, Organisation, Culture générale, Service, Arts et spectacle, Plein aire, Science, et technologie. Ces grands types ont été retrouvés dans plus de 25 études (Meir, 1975) et décrivent une structure circulaire. Cependant, un autre type de métiers, appelé Tension, aventure et risque (TAR), ne figure pas comme type séparé dans les classifications de métiers comme celle de Roe. L'objectif de cette étude est de déterminer si les TAR constituent un type séparé (hypothèse 1) ou une dimension, une différenciation à l'intérieur des autres types (hypothèse 2). En suivant le processus de L. Guttman (1968) et d'autres en utilisant l'analyse discriminante (smallest space analysis ou SSA) et un module pour variables externes, nos résultats confirment la seconde hypothèse. Les implications théoriques et pratiques de ces résultats sont présentées.
Second RC33 Cologne 2000 Social Science Methodology Conference Report
Authors: van Meter Karl M.
Published: January 2010

Second rapport sur la conférence Méthodologie en sciences sociales du RC33 à Cologne en 2000: A l'occasion de la seconde édition du CD sur cette conférence, nous analysons le contenu de ce CD et l'évolution de la production de cette conférence qui passe de 167 contributions (19,8 Mo) à 241 (34,2 Mo), et la comparons avec ce que vous avons présenté dans le BMS n. 68 (octobre 2000).
Utilisation des cartes d'auto-organisation dans la classification, illustration par des exemples
Authors: Rousset P. , Guinot C. , Vero J.
Published: January 2010

Self-organising maps used for classification, illustration with several examples: The aim of this paper is to illustrate, with several examples, the possible uses of self-organizing maps (som), especially in classification and data-set visualization purposes. This classification method, based on the unsupervised leaming algorithm of Kohonen, is presented here in a practical manner, and applied in the following fields : characterisation of human skin, Polish national daily consumption of electricity, training supply and professional careers. The diversity of the examples, in thèse application fields and for various statistical purposes (typology, classification of curves), illustrate many self-organizing map characteristics as compared to more traditional methods. In particular, we should mention, firstly, that the clustering method and its représentation system are complementary; secondly, that som are sensitive to small distances and, finally, that they can be pertinent when the data set is large. Thèse properties make it possible to visualize cluster proximities, local effects (restricted to a part of the population) and integrate many variables into the analysis (for example, as in data mining). Apart from clustering, self-organizing maps can also be used as a visualization tool for the représentation of data-set intrinsic structure. In this case, as with projections to principal planes of the factorial analysis, this data-set représentation can be considered a graphical support for any analysis method. To illustrate its characteristics, we use it to represent two hierarchical classification results. In this instance, the particularity of this technique comes from the specificity of its own symbolic représentation. It gives to som a freedom that allows it to be well adapted to complex structures such as non-linear ones. In this paper, self-organizing maps are presented first as a clustering method, and then as a tool for the visualization of dataset intrinsic structure.
Le Grand Oral De Dominique De Villepin
Authors: Marchand Pascal
Published: January 2010

Dominique de Villepin's Maiden Speech: This article analyzes the last 26 maiden parliamentary speeches (« déclarations de politique générale ») of French prime ministers since that of J. Chirac, given on 5 June 1974, to that of Dominique de Villepin, on 8 June 2005. This corpus represents 181,094 lexical forms, representing 2,074 distinct forms. A statistical table is constructed by cross-tabulating the 2,074 lexical forms as the lines and the 26 speeches as the columns to do a factorial correspondence analysis of the data. The resulting graph allows us to situate, in a chronological manner, each of the maiden speechs given by a French prime minister from 1974 to today.