bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Selected transition and Mediterranean countries: an institutional primer on EMU and EU accession
Authors: Temprano‐Arroyo Heliodoro , Feldman Robert A.
Published: March 2003

The paper examines the institutional channels through which Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in the European Union (EU) can affect the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe and three Mediterranean countries that aspire to join the EU.

After describing the current institutional framework for relations between the EU and these countries, the paper considers two categories of institutional implications of EMU. The first stems from the need to satisfy the Maastricht convergence criteria before joining the euro area. Although the Maastricht criteria are not accession criteria, many of the countries reviewed are already formulating their macroeconomic policies in a way that will facilitate convergence toward the Maastricht targets. The second implication stems from the need to adopt the EU’s institutional and legal provisions in the area of EMU, such as those referring to the establishment of independent central banks, the prohibition of central bank financing of the government and the liberalization of capital movements. Finally, the paper discusses some of the key policy issues that EMU raises for the countries reviewed, in particular regarding exchange rate policy, capital account liberalization and the possible conflict between growth‐enhancing measures and the Maastricht criteria.
Bureaucracies in the Russian Voucher Privatization
Authors: Friebel Guido
Published: March 2003

The paper analyses the implementation of voucher privatization in Russia in the framework of incentive theory. The central government needs the support of local privatization agencies. These agencies possess private knowledge concerning: a) their personal reform attitude; b) local privatization conditions. According to the trade‐off between rent extraction and efficiency, the speed of privatization (the efficiency goal) is constrained by the informational rents that the government must pay to local agents. Through voucher privatization, the government learns about local privatization conditions. Surprisingly, this additional information does not necessarily lead to more privatization. In fact, the government may even slow down reforms in order to save on bureaucrats' rents. This result of the model matches with the facts of Russian privatization in the period 1992–93.
Hidden Economy – an Unknown Quantity? Comparative Analysis of Hidden Economies in Transition Countries, 1989–95
Authors: Lackó Mária
Published: March 2003

The study investigates the size of the hidden economy and related features, in post‐socialist countries. After dealing critically with the approach of Kaufmann and Kaliberda, a method based on household electricity consumption is used to estimate the ratio of the hidden economy to the official GDP in 20 countries. Following a uniform growth in the size of the hidden economy in all the countries at the beginning of their transition, stagnation or further increase was experienced in the CIS countries, while an explicit declining tendency could be seen in the remaining economies. Comparisons show that the ratio of the hidden economy in post‐socialist countries is significantly larger than in developed market economies. The paper analyses the relationships between the visible private economy, the advancement of reforms, corruption, and the size of the hidden economy.
Microfinance Beyond Group Lending
Authors: Armendáriz de Aghion Beatriz , Morduch Jonathan
Published: March 2003

Microlending is growing in Eastern Europe, Russia and China as a flexible means of widening access to financial services, both to help alleviate poverty and to encourage private‐sector activity. We describe mechanisms that allow these programmes to successfully penetrate new segments of credit markets. These features include direct monitoring, regular repayment schedules, and the use of non‐refinancing threats. These mechanisms allow the programmes to generate high repayment rates from low‐income borrowers without requiring collateral and without using group lending contracts that feature joint liability.
Central Bank Independence in Transition Economies
Authors: Maliszewski Wojciech S.
Published: March 2003

The paper discusses recent changes in central bank laws and the relationship between inflation and central bank independence in transition economies. Two indices of legal independence are constructed, covering political and economic aspects of independence. Most of the countries experienced high‐inflation episodes in the recent past and changes introduced to the laws after, or simultaneously, with stabilization programmes strengthened the position of the central banks. In further analysis, an inverse relationship emerges between inflation and indices of central bank independence. However, the robust relationship is present only at a high level of economic liberalization. This conclusion is supported by results from regressions on time‐aggregated and panel data, even after controlling for the government fiscal position and the absence/presence of an IMF stabilization package.
Market Efficiency, Thin Trading and Non‐linear Behaviour: Evidence from an Emerging Market
Authors: Antoniou Antonios , Ergul Nuray , Holmes Phil
Published: March 2003

Emerging markets efficiency has been widely investigated, with mixed results. However such evidence is only reliable if the methodology adopted accounts for the institutional features of the market. Unlike previous studies this paper corrects for thin trading and incorporates possible non‐linear behaviour and regulatory changes. Using Istanbul Stock Exchange data we show that in its early years the exchange was characterised by non‐linear behaviour and inefficient pricing. However, regulatory changes encouraged participation, improved information quality and led to prices impounding information more rapidly, suggesting markets become efficient with high trading volume, reliable information and an appropriate institutional framework.
Large UK Companies and Derivatives
Authors: Grant Kevin , Marshall Andrew P.
Published: March 2003

Derivative securities have transformed the way treasurers view financial price risk and have been used to hedge risks that were previously left open. In this paper, we present the results of surveys of treasurers of large UK companies to questions about their derivative use. We examine the extent of derivative use, the reasons for their use, the perceived risks associated with derivatives, what sort of controls are in place to monitor the use of derivatives, and, finally, reporting practices which govern the disclosure of derivative practices. Results of the surveys indicate widespread use of derivatives like swaps, forwards and options. The primary reasons for their use are to manage interest rate and currency risk. There is a rather limited, but growing, use of derivatives to manage commodity and equity risk. Treasurers report that they are somewhat cautious about more exotic types of derivatives, primarily because of concern over the illiquidity of the underlying market for these derivatives. Interestingly, treasurers revealed that they view control and the nature of their counterparty as the main risks in using derivatives. Finally, the use of derivatives is accompanied by significant control mechanisms inside companies, and treasurers are using sophisticated procedures to quantify their derivative exposures before they are reported at board level.
A brief history of market efficiency
Authors: Dimson Elroy , Mussavian Massoud
Published: March 2003

Every finance professional employs the concept of market efficiency. The theory, evidence and counter‐evidence focus on a couple of dozen highly influential articles published during the twentieth century. We summarise the origins of and interlinkages between these contributions to the history of finance.
Financial architecture
Authors: Myers Stewart C.
Published: March 2003

G3, G31
Herding in analyst earnings forecasts: evidence from the United Kingdom
Authors: De Bondt Werner F. M. , Forbes* William P.
Published: March 2003

We present an empirical analysis of herding behavior in analyst forecasts of earnings‐per‐share. Herding is defined as ‘excessive agreement’ among analyst predictions, i.e., a surprising degree of consensus relative to the predictability of corporate earnings. The data are for U.K. companies between 1986 and 1997. We examine the effects of forecast horizon and analyst coverage on forecast accuracy and dispersion. The evidence supports overoptimism, overreaction, and herding in analyst forecasts.

G1, G14
Dual‐listings on international exchanges: the case of emerging markets’ stocks
Authors: Serra Ana Paula
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the effects on stock returns of dual‐listing on an international exchange. My sample consists of 70 firms from 10 emerging markets that dual‐listed on the NYSE, NASDAQ and SEAQ‐I (London) over the period 1991–1995. I evaluate whether an international dual‐listing has any significant effect on returns, for the particular case of emerging markets’ firms, and I proceed to investigate whether there is evidence to support an International Asset Pricing based explanation. In addition I compare the impact of US and London SEAQ‐I listings. My results confirm previous empirical findings on international listings: the firms in my sample experience significant positive abnormal returns before listing and a significant decline in returns following listing. Evidence seems to be supportive of the segmentation hypothesis: dual‐listing effects are more pronounced for emerging markets’ listings and that pattern is similar across exchanges.

G15
Does the one man show pay? Theory and evidence on the dual CEO revisited
Authors: Dahya Jay , Travlos Nickolaos
Published: March 2003

Contrary to the view expressed in several countries and the corresponding pressure exerted by shareholder activists and regulators to separate the titles of CEO and Board Chairman, this study proposes that there is an optimal board composition for each firm, which varies across firms and over time. A review of the extant empirical evidence reveals that most prior studies bypass this notion which raises serious implications for related empirical studies. In addition, this study documents striking differences in leadership structures between the US and the UK and calls for further research in an international context.
Risk management lessons from Long‐Term Capital Management
Authors: Jorion Philippe
Published: March 2003

The 1998 failure of Long‐Term Capital Management (LTCM) is said to have nearly blown up the world’s financial system. For such a near‐catastrophic event, the finance profession has precious little information to draw from. By piecing together publicly available information, this paper draws risk management lessons from LTCM. LTCM’s strategies are analysed in terms of the fund’s Value at Risk (VAR) and the amount of capital necessary to support its risk profile. The paper shows that LTCM had severely underestimated its risk due to its reliance on short‐term history and risk concentration. LTCM also provides a good example of risk management taken to the extreme. Using the same covariance matrix to measure risk and to optimize positions inevitably leads to biases in the measurement of risk. This approach also induces the strategy to take positions that appear to generate ‘arbitrage’ profits based on recent history but also represent bets on extreme events, like selling options. Overall, LTCM’s strategy exploited the intrinsic weaknesses of its risk management system.
Re‐assessing the long‐term underperformance of UK Initial Public Offerings
Authors: Espenlaub Susanne , Gregory Alan , Tonks Ian
Published: March 2003

Previous work has identified that IPOs underperform a market index, and the purpose of this paper is to examine the robustness of this finding. We re‐examine the evidence on the long‐term returns of IPOs in the UK using a new data set of firms over the period 1985–92, in which we compare abnormal performance based on a number of alternative methods including a calendar‐time approach. We find that, using an event‐time framework, there are substantial negative abnormal returns to an IPO after the first 3 years irrespective of the benchmark used. However, over the 5 years after an IPO, abnormal returns exhibit less dramatic underperformance, and the conclusion on negative abnormal returns depends on the benchmark applied. Further if these returns are measured in calendar time, we find that the (statistical) significance of underperformance is even less marked.
Valuation Effects of Greek Stock Dividend Distributions
Authors: Papaioannou George J. , Travlos Nickolaos G. , Tsangarakis* Nickolaos V.
Published: March 2003

This study analyses the price reaction to stock dividend distributions by firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange on both the announcement and the ex‐dividend day. It also analyses earnings per share, dividends per share and trading volume in the pre‐ and post‐announcement periods. The findings show statistically insignificant abnormal returns on both the announcement and the ex‐dividend day. The analysis does not reveal any significant change in earnings per share and dividends per share, but it does reveal a significant decline in the market‐adjusted trading volume in the post dividend period. The findings, based on a different institutional environment, expand the empirical evidence on the value effects of stock dividends.
Short‐run Returns around the Trades of Corporate Insiders on the London Stock Exchange
Authors: Friederich Sylvain , Gregory Alan , Matatko John , Tonks Ian
Published: March 2003

Previous work examined the long‐run profitability of strategies mimicking the trades company directors in the shares of their own company, as a way of testing for market efficiency. The current paper examines patterns in abnormal returns in the days around these trades on the London Stock Exchange.

We find movements in returns that are consistent with directors engaging in short‐term market timing. We also report that some types of trades have superior predictive content over future returns. In particular, medium‐sized trades are more informative for short‐term returns than large ones, consistent with Barclay and Warner’s (1993) ‘stealth trading’ hypothesis whereby informed traders avoid trading in blocks.

Another contribution of this study is to properly adjust the abnormal return estimates for microstructure (spread) transactions costs using daily bid‐ask spread data. On a net basis, we find that abnormal returns all but disappear.
Performance and Policy of Foundation‐owned Firms in Germany
Authors: Herrmann Markus , Franke Günter
Published: March 2003

This paper compares performance and policy of foundation‐owned firms and of listed corporations in Germany. Foundations have no owners so that there exist no individuals with financial ownership claims on firms which are wholly owned by foundations. This suggests weaker outside control of foundation‐owned firms implying lower profitability. The empirical findings show a slightly better performance of foundation‐owned firms compared to corporations. Foundation‐owned firms display higher labour intensity, lower labour productivity, and lower salary levels. This policy promotes job security without endangering the viability of foundation‐owned firms.
The Impact of Macroeconomic and Financial Variables on Market Risk: Evidence from International Equity Returns
Authors: Patro Dilip K. , Wald John K. , Wu Yangru
Published: March 2003

Using a GARCH approach, we estimate a time–varying two–factor international asset pricing model for the weekly equity index returns of 16 OECD countries. We find significant time–variation in the exposure (beta) of country equity index returns to the world market index and in the risk–adjusted excess returns (alpha). We then explain these world market betas and alphas using a number of country–specific macroeconomic and financial variables with a panel approach. We find that several variables including imports, exports, inflation, market capitalisation, dividend yields and price–to–book ratios significantly affect a country’s exposure to world market risk. Similar conclusions are obtained by using lagged explanatory variables, and thus these variables may be useful as predictors of world market risks. Several variables also significantly impact the risk–adjusted excess returns over this time period. Our results are robust to a number of alternative specifications. We further discuss some economic hypotheses that may explain these relationships.
The European Parliament and Comitology: On the Road to Nowhere?
Authors: Bradley Kieran St C
Published: March 2003

Abstract: The European Parliament has generally been deeply distrustful of the comitology system, primarily on the grounds that it allows the national administrations to undermine its supervisory role in the area of implementing legislation. Parliament has therefore sought to use the political, budgetary and jurisdictional means at its disposal to counteract the spread of comitology, or at least to promote the less intrusive forms of committee procedure. These initiatives have not, for the most part, been wholly successful; neither the interinstitutional agreements nor Parliament's arguments before the Court of Justice have produced the results it had hoped for. Parliament has been able, however, to use its Maastricht powers to influence the choice of committee procedure included in legislation adopted under codecision, and its budgetary tactics have forced the Commission to rationalise somewhat the annual expenditure on committees of all kinds and to bring a modicum of transparency into their operation. The imminence of the intergovernmental conference led to a suspension of hostilities towards the end of 1996.
Directly‐Deliberative Polyarchy
Authors: Cohen Joshua , Sabel Charles
Published: March 2003

This essay by Joshua Cohen and Charles Sabel promotes visions of democracy, constitutionalism and institutional innovations which may help to open up new dimensions in the search for legitimate European governance structures and their constitutionalisation. Faced with Europe's legitimacy problems, proponents of the European project often react by pointing to the many institutional failings in the (national) constitutional state. These reactions, however, seem simplistic, offering no normatively convincing alternatives to the once undisputed legitimacy of a now eroding nation state. The essay by Cohen and Sabel forecloses such strategies. Summarising and endorsing critiques of both the unfettered market system and the manner of its regulatory and political correction, it concludes that the many efforts to establish new equilibria between well‐functioning markets and well‐ordered political institutions are doomed to fail, and opts instead for fundamental change: conservative in their strict defence of fundamental democratic ideals, such ideas are radical in their search for new institutional arrangements which bring democratic values directly to bear. How is the concept of directly‐deliberative polyarchy complementary to and reconcilable with our notions of democratic constiutionalism? To this question the readers of the essay will find many fascinating answers. Equally, however, how might the debate on the normative and practical dilemmas of the European system of governance profit from these deliberations? Which European problem might be resolved with the aid of the emerging and new direct forms of democracy identified in this essay? How might direct democracy interact with the intergovernmentalist and the functionalist elements of the EU system? Although this essay contains no certain answers to these European questions, its challenging messages will be understood in European debates.
Democracy and Discourse in an Integrating Europe and a Globalising World
Authors: Schmidt Vivien A.
Published: March 2003

Globalisation and Europeanisation represent challenges not only to national economies and institutions but also to national legitimating discourses. This paper first outlines the theoretical requirements for such discourse, by considering it along two dimensions: ideational, which encompasses cognitive and normative functions, and interactive, which encompasses co‐ordinative and communicative functions. The paper illustrates these through empirical discussions of the post‐war construction of discourses in France, Britain and Germany. It then examines how the discourses have responded to the challenges to traditional conceptions of economic organisation, social welfare, and political democracy from European and globally‐related economic and institutional changes. The paper concludes that while France remains in search of a legitimating discourse, Britain is in the process of renewing its Thatcherite discourse, and Germany is in the process of recasting its post‐war liberal social‐democratic discourse.
The Kohonen self‐organizing map: an application to the study of strategic groups in the UK hotel industry
Authors: Curry Bruce , Davies Fiona , Phillips Paul , Evans Martin , Moutinho Luiz
Published: March 2003

This paper examines a neural network method known as the self‐organizing map (SOM). The motivation behind the SOM is to transform the data to a two‐dimensional grid of nodes while preserving its ’topological’ structure. In neural network terminology this involves unsupervised learning. The nearest related statistical technique is cluster analysis. We employ the SOM in the task of identifying strategic groups of companies, using data which relate to the generic strategies suggested by Porter. Following identification of different groups of hotels with certain strategic emphases, the study investigates correlations between strategies followed and hotel performance. We compare and contrast the ’feature map’ generated by the SOM with the results of a standard cluster analysis using the k‐means method. The data also cover performance indicators and the results indicate that performance varies between strategic groups.
Overview of ship‐design expert systems
Authors: Park Jin‐Hyung , Storch Richard L.
Published: March 2003

Expert systems constitute a branch of artificial intelligence, and their unique characteristics enable computer systems to perform at the level of a human expert by the use of algorithms that can capture domain‐specific knowledge. Through an extensive survey of research about ship‐design expert systems, we conclude that although development and implementation of expert systems for ship design offer substantial barriers, the shipbuilding industry needs them nonetheless. We examine the major reasons that use of expert systems in this industry has lagged behind. These include the problems of integration with existing computer‐aided design systems, problems of knowledge representation and sizable development costs. We discuss in detail some key factors that can lead to the solution of these problems.
A prototype store choice and location modelling system using Dempster–Shafer theory
Authors: Beynon Malcolm , Griffiths Benjamin , Marshall David
Published: March 2003

This paper concerns the study of destination choice modelling, more specifically identifying within some area (e.g. a city) the region where a particular store is the most favourable to be visited by individuals. An influence measure is constructed for each individual, which incorporates the modern technique known as Dempster–Shafer theory. Based on the evidence of the shopping destinations of individuals, geographical regions are found for levels of largest belief and plausibility (within Dempster–Shafer theory) for specific stores being the most favourable to visit. Additionally, this method may be used to identify the possible position of new stores, based on regions of most uncertainty or conflict in store choice. A prototype choice modelling system is introduced to enable the series of associated results to be easily visualized and analysed.
Application of Accrual Accounting in the Australian Public Sector – Rhetoric or Reality
Authors: Guthrie James
Published: March 2003

This paper presents a contextual. historical analysis of recent accrual accounting developments in the Australian Public Sector (APS). It takes a critical stance in that it questions the accrual accounting developments on a number of grounds. The paper examines changes in public sector financial management and accountability in four distinct settings, being: accrual financial reporting, accrual management systems, whole of government reporting, and accrual based budgeting. The findings show that already in Australia accrual accounting has made significant encroachments into some areas of annual financial and budget reporting. This influx has meant that terms such as ‘deficit’, ‘debt’, ‘liabilities’, ‘operating results’, ‘assets’, etc. have begun to change in meaning, which it is argued has important implications for the current process of transformation of aspects of the APS.
Evaluation of Efficiency in Primary Health Care Centres: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis
Authors: García Florencio , Marcuello Carmen , Serrano Diana , Urbina Olga
Published: March 2003

The aim of this paper is to analyse one of the principal problems in primary health care management: the evaluation of efficiency in primary health care centres. Given the special characteristics of measuring outcome in primary care it is necessary to evaluate the performance of centres from a quality perspective too. The methodology used, DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis), allows us to introduce quantitative and qualitative variables in a sample of primary care centres in a Spanish province. Once the efficiency of the different centres is known, we investigate the sensitivity of the methodology to changes in the definition of outputs used.
Hospital Costing: Experience from the VHA
Authors: Carey Kathleen , Burgess James F.
Published: March 2003

The government administered Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the USA. As health care dollars are becoming tighter nationwide, VHA faces the dual challenge of achieving cost reductions and improving quality, while operating in an increasingly competitive marketplace. This places new demands on cost accountability within the agency. This paper identifies the cost accounting procedures currently used by VHA as it responds to internal budgetary curtailment and to external competitive pressures. Understanding the different costing approaches taken by the organization along with their associated problems offers lessons of interest to financial managers within and outside VHA.
A Two‐country Comparison of Public Sector Performance Reporting: The Tortoise and Hare?
Authors: Christensen Mark , Yoshimi Hiroshi
Published: March 2003

Recent Australian and Japanese second tier public sector performance measurement changes are compared and contrasted. The case analyses are presented within a theoretical structure derived from Hood’s depiction of NPM which predicts an increased emphasis on explicit performance reporting. Significant differences and similarities are identified in terms of performance reporting effort and output; motivation for changed performance reporting; role of central agencies; and degree of resultant accountability discharge. NPM is a useful analytical framework and is enhanced by Luder’s Contingency Model, epistemic community influence and governance. The explanatory factors identified reinforce views that NPM is a term best used solely in the context of the governmental traditions of each relevant public sector.
Modernisation or Failure? IT Development Projects in the UK Public Sector
Authors: Brown Tom
Published: March 2003

The notable lack of success in UK public sector IT development projects has been recently recognised in policy making circles and considerable efforts are now being made to improve the situation. However, the lessons officially being drawn from the UK public sector’s IT development failures, while eminently sensible, do appear simplistic and even superficial. This paper applies permanent failure theory to the stream of IT development failures in an attempt to offer some alternatives to the official lessons.
Adoption of Environmental Reporting and Management Practices: An Analysis of New South Wales Public Sector Entities
Authors: Frost Geoffrey R. , Seamer Michael
Published: March 2003

This paper analyses the level of environmental disclosure and the corresponding adoption of environmental management practices by New South Wales public sector entities in 1996. From the analysis of 35 entities, it was found that the development of environmental management practices and the level of environmental disclosure were significantly associated. The results suggest that entities were responding to increased political visibility through higher levels of environmental disclosure, however they were also responding through the development of environmental management practices.
Management or Politics – or Both? How Management by Objectives May be Managed: A Swedish Example
Authors: Brunsson Karin Holmblad
Published: March 2003

Rather than manage the government administration in a systematic fashion, the Swedish Government reacts to all sorts of unsystematic information. Thereby, it ignores the decision‐model that it has decided to employ. This situation has been criticised, and a coupling of practice to the decision‐model has been recommended. However, while the political leaders have not found arguments to renounce a management approach to government, neither have they found means to employ it. In this article, it is suggested that a situation with two decision‐models – one that is discussed but not used, and one that is used but not discussed – is a functional solution to this dilemma. Frequent criticism of this situation may help sustain it.
Do Banks Follow Their Customers Abroad?
Authors: Seth Rama , Nolle Daniel E. , Mohanty Sunil K.
Published: March 2003

The market share of US business loans made by foreign‐owned banks has increased dramatically since 1980. At the same time, foreign direct investment in the US rose, so that much of the growth in foreign‐owned US‐based bank lending to businesses in the US could conceivably be accounted for by an increase in loans to the nonbank US affiliates of firms headquartered abroad, an expectation consistent with the conventional wisdom that banks “follow their customers” abroad. Our study investigates the lending patterns of US‐based banks from Japan, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK, countries that account for the vast majority of foreign bank activity in the US. Simultaneously, we look at the borrowing patterns of nonbank US affiliates of firms from those countries. We find that banks from four of the six countries (Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, and the UK) allocated a majority of their loans to non‐home‐country borrowers for some or all of the 1981–1992 period. These findings suggest that the “follow the customer” hypothesis may have a more limited applicability than previously supposed.
The Microstructure of the Federal Funds Market
Authors: Furfine Craig H.
Published: March 2003

Unique transaction‐level data for nearly every federal funds transaction made during the first quarter of 1998 forms the foundation for this in‐depth exploration of the federal funds market. Unlike previous studies that have relied on aggregate and typically infrequent measures of federal funds market participation, the transaction‐level data exploited here allows a closer look at the microstructure of the market. The paper explores the relationship between bank size and participation in the funds market and discovers that even the largest banks are frequently net sellers of funds. A time‐of‐day pattern is uncovered, as is significant market concentration. Preliminary exploration into trading patterns, or networks, is conducted, and the existence of relationship lending in the interbank market is investigated.
International Banking Centers, Geography, and Foreign Banks
Authors: Tschoegl Adrian E.
Published: March 2003

This essay reviews much of the recent literature on international financial centers from both economics and geography and critiques the thesis of an “end of geography.” Banks have dispersed from traditional centers those activities involving frequent routine, standardized, and small‐scale transactions. At the same time, the banks have kept in the international financial centers those activities involving innovative, customized, and large‐scale transactions. In all of this, place still matters, but different places matter for different activities. Finally, foreign banks make their greatest contribution to their host center when the presence of foreign banks enhances domestic competition and innovation. The innovation that the rivalry between institutions induces makes the environment in international financial centers a turbulent one.
Corporate Risk Management as a Lever for Shareholder Value Creation
Authors: Bartram Söhnke M.
Published: March 2003

Firm value is influenced in many direct and indirect ways by financial risks which consist in unexpected changes of foreign exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices. The fact that a significant number of corporations are committing resources to risk management activities, however, represents only an indication for the potential of corporate risk management to increase firm value. This paper presents a comprehensive review of positive theories and their empirical evidence regarding the contribution of corporate risk management to shareholder value. It is argued that because of realistic capital market imperfections, such as agency costs, transaction costs, taxes, and increasing costs of external financing, risk management on the firm level (as opposed to risk management by stock owners) represents a means to increase firm value to the benefit of the shareholders.
Bank Capital Regulation in Contemporary Banking Theory: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Santos João A. C.
Published: March 2003

This paper reviews the theoretical literature on bank capital regulation and analyzes some of the approaches to redesigning the 1988 Basel Accord on capital standards. The paper starts with a review of the literature on the design of the financial system and the existence of banks. It proceeds with a presentation of the market failures that justify banking regulation and an analysis of the mechanisms that have been suggested to deal with these failures. The paper then reviews the theoretical literature on bank capital regulation. This is followed by a brief history of capital regulation since the 1988 Basel Capital Accord and a presentation of both the alternative approaches that have been put forward on setting capital standards and the Basel Committee's proposal for a new capital adequacy framework.
International Portfolio Investment: Theory, Evidence, and Institutional Framework
Authors: Bartram Söhnke M. , Dufey Gunter
Published: March 2003

At first sight, the idea of investing internationally seems exciting and full of promise because of the many benefits of international portfolio investment. By investing in foreign securities, investors can participate in the growth of other countries, hedge their consumption basket against exchange rate risk, realize diversification effects and take advantage of market segmentation on a global scale. Even though these advantages might appear attractive, the risks of and constraints for international portfolio investment must not be overlooked. In an international context, financial investments are not only subject to currency risk and political risk, but there are many institutional constraints and barriers, significant among them a host of tax issues. These constraints, while being reduced by technology and policy, support the case for internationally segmented securities markets, with concomitant benefits for those who manage to overcome the barriers in an effective manner.
With This Body I Thee Worship: Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity
Authors: Beard Mary , Henderson John
Published: March 2003

Why do ancient writers tell us that sacred prostitutes massed on the citadel of ancient Corinth? What are we to make of Herodotus’ famous account of the ancient customs of Babylon? Beard and Henderson examine the formation of the discourse of sacred, or cultic, prostitution both in classical texts and modern scholarship. They take a sceptical position on the existence, in Greece and the Near East, of institutions traditionally envisaged as ‘sacred prostitution’ and explore the uses which have been, and are still, found for such myth‐making with the bodies of women, whether in the form of a ‘marriage‐market’ or of various kinds of ‘sacred prostitution’.
Race, Gender, Science and Citizenship
Authors: Leys Stepan Nancy
Published: March 2003

This paper argues that the history of embodiment of human racial and gendered differences must be seen as part of the history of liberal citizenship and its limits. The author suggests that a science of similarity and difference can never be a reliable guide to questions of rights. The consequences of this conclusion for our understanding of science and the gendered body are addressed in the second half of the paper, in an effort to clear the way for a more adequate and inclusionary model of citizenship and rights.
‘Patriotic Femininity’: Women's Morals and Men's Morale During the Second World War
Authors: Goodman Phil
Published: March 2003

The Second World War was a period which witnessed struggles for the definitions of appropriate ‘patriotic’ feminine identities and behaviours as much as it placed demands on men and their masculinities. The disruption to normality led to a heightened sense of heterosexuality. There were contests for the definition of femininity, contests which contradicted the centrality of discourses constructing domesticity and passivity. The way history has been constructed the heroic myths of the Second World War are male, thus there is a need for other kinds of critical knowledge to provide an understanding of women's lives and another, feminine, kind of heroism.
Searchers of the Dead: Authority, Marginality, and the Interpretation of Plague in England, 1574–1665
Authors: Munkhoff Richelle
Published: March 2003

Searchers of the dead, women pensioners hired to examine and codify diseased bodies, were significant figures in the management of early modern plague epidemics, but have remained seriously neglected by scholars. This essay reclaims the searchers by investigating archival material such as parish records, legal documents, and bills of mortality. Active members of their parishes, the searchers occupied a paradoxical relationship to authority: subjected to the dangers of plague because of their economic dependence, the searchers also commanded tremendous power to define matters of life and death by literally naming plague on the bodies of their neighbours.
Giving Masculinity a History: Some Contributions from the Historiography of Colonial India
Authors: Sinha Mrinalini
Published: March 2003

Contemporary historiography, especially in North American, European and Australian history, now includes a fairly respectable body of literature on men and masculinity. While this literature has produced important contributions to the usefulness of gender as a category of historical analysis, there has also been some wariness within feminist scholarship on the grounds that the issue of the gendered organisation may be evaded. Reflecting on the question ‘what is involved in writing a history of masculinity?’, this article considers the potential contribution that the historiography of colonial India offers to the study of masculinity
The Queen and her ‘Minister of Fashion’: Gender, Credit and Politics in Pre–Revolutionary France
Authors: Crowston Clare Haru
Published: March 2003

This article examines the economic, cultural, and political role of credit in Old Regime France through the career of the fashion merchant Rose Bertin. It addresses three aspects of Bertin’s credit practices: her involvement in networks of trade credit, her use of reputation as a form of credit, and the way critics used her credit relations with Marie–Antoinette to discredit the political economy of the Old Regime. Using Bertin as a case study, the article reveals women’s involvement in multiple facets of credit and underlines the practical and conceptual links between credit and other gendered forms of circulation, such as fashion and sex.
The Haunting of Susan Lay: Servants and Mistresses in Seventeenth–Century England
Authors: Gowing Laura
Published: March 2003

At Easter 1650, Susan Lay, a servant in an Essex alehouse, saw the ghost of her mistress, who had been buried three days before. This article explores the history that lay behind her experience: of sexual relationships with both her master and his son, the births and deaths of two bastard children, and beneath it all, a relationship of antagonism, competition, and intimacy with her mistress. It uses this and other legal records to examine the relationship between women in early modern households, arguing that, while antagonisms between women are typically part of effective patriarchies, the domestic life and social structures of mid seventeenth–century England bound servants and mistresses peculiarly tightly together, giving servants licence to dream of replacing their mistresses and mistresses cause to feel threatened by their servants, and making the competitive relations between women functional to patriarchal order. It suggests, finally, that at this moment in time and in this context, seeing a ghost was the best, perhaps the only, way this servant had to tell a suppressed story and stake a claim to a household that had excluded her.
Pocketing the Difference: Gender and Pockets in Nineteenth–Century Britain
Authors: Burman Barbara
Published: March 2003

This study situates pockets as significant gendered objects in the dress and lives of men and women in the period from the 1790s to 1914. Using surviving examples and a diverse range of visual and documentary sources, it examines the role of pockets in the consumption of personal possessions and money, and explores how pockets occupied a special place in relation to the body and its gestures. By revealing differences in the way men and women used their pockets, the study concludes that pockets embodied change and complexity within the consumption of fashion and the construction of gender.
Cockpits, Hangars, Boys and Galleys: Corporate Masculinities and the Development of British Airways
Authors: Mills Albert J.
Published: March 2003

This article sets out to examine the role of masculinity in the development of a gendered organizational culture over time. The development of images of masculinity within one company — British Airways — is examined through content analysis of company newsletters, advertising copy, annual reports, internal memoranda, and written rules and regulations. Exploring the notion of ‘multiple masculinities’, the article traces the prominent forms of masculinity that emerged in British Airways and assesses their impact on the ways that organizational practices were developed, maintained and understood. Four key corporate images of masculinity are examined — the pilot, the steward, the engineer and the ‘native boy’— and it is argued that those images contributed to the exclusion of women and people of colour from those occupations by laying down cultural rules about the ideal typical characteristics of the job holder. The article concludes by raising questions about the value of a multiple masculinities focus in explaining changing and contradictory practices of discrimination; the primacy of extra‐organizational over organizational practices; and the relationship between multiple masculinities and hegemonic masculinity. Further research is suggested into the extent to which hegemonic masculinity is undermined, over time, by changing and contradictory forms of masculinity within definite sites of gender construction.
The Future of ‘Gender and Organizations’: Connections and Boundaries
Authors: Acker Joan
Published: March 2003

‘Gender and organizations’, a fruitful connection between two previously separate areas of study, has had a relatively short but bountiful history. Much of the research and theorizing within the general rubric of ‘gender and organizations’ has required the breaking of conceptual boundaries and the forging of new connections that go beyond the coalescence of two fields of inquiry. We have not exhausted the possibilities suggested by broken boundaries and new connections. This may be a particularly auspicious time to be breaking boundaries, for the apparent worldwide changes in work and organizing are not well enough understood with many of our old intellectual tools. In this paper I discuss briefly what our studies of gender and organization have, in my view, accomplished so far, and then review some issues and questions stimulated by thinking about broken boundaries and new connections, possibilities that, for me, represent part of the future for ‘gender and organizations.’
‘Something to Deal With’: Customer Sexual Harassment and Women's Retail Service Work in Canada
Authors: Hughes Karen D. , Tadic Vela
Published: March 2003

While sexual harassment in the workplace has been extensively researched over the past two decades, the majority of studies have focused on employer–employee or co‐worker relationships. In contrast, the issue of ‘customer sexual harassment’ (i.e. the sexual harassment of employees by customers) has been less explicitly explored. This paper examines customer sexual harassment in the Canadian context, drawing on a study of 63 female retail service workers and 20 security workers. It focuses on the nature, prevalence, and consequences of this form of harassment for women who work in various jobs in retail sales (e.g. flower shops, book shops). Findings from the study suggest that customer sexual harassment is a significant problem. Not only have a majority of women been sexually harassed by customers in their current job, but they appear to be highly constrained in dealing with such behaviour. To the extent that the work environment privileges the customer, through its emphasis on customer satisfaction, women are reluctant to confront harassers and may engage in behaviours (e.g. avoiding male customers, being less friendly) which potentially impact their performance on the job. The paper examines the dilemmas facing female workers and the policy issues raised.
Organizing Sexualities, Organized Inequalities: Lesbians and Gay Men in Public Service Occupations
Authors: Humphrey Jill C.
Published: March 2003

This article examines the experiences of lesbians and gay men who are employed in a variety of public service occupations in the UK, drawing upon interview material gathered during a broader research project on lesbian and gay self‐organization within the public sector trade union UNISON. It forges pathways through hitherto unexplored territories by concentrating upon career trajectories beyond the closet, arguing that those who dare to come out and proud in public sector workplaces will tread a precarious tightrope between being out and pursued for their specialist knowledges and out and persecuted for their presumed perversities. Although many public sector employers have endorsed equal opportunities policies which include lesbians and gay men, and although these have been vital in alleviating some forms of discrimination, it is argued that such measures have been incapable of resolving the more profound double‐binds etched into our organizations, whereby sexualities are reproduced as inequalities, while sexuality itself is eclipsed from the organization's self‐consciousness. It is claimed that in virtue of their unique positions and perspectives, lesbian and gay employees have become the carriers of the sexual consciousness of their organizations. However, it is also acknowledged that the political agenda on lesbian and gay rights will not remedy deeper ignorances and broader injustices, unless the heterosexual majority and other non‐heterosexual minorities are also parties to these debates.