bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bond pricing with a surface of zero coupon yields
Authors: Murik Vijay A. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractWe present a new method for consistent cross‐sectional pricing of all traded bonds in the fixed income market. By applying thin plate regression splines (Wood, 2003) to bootstrapped zero coupon bond yields (Hagan and West, 2006), the method decomposes traded yields into a risk‐free component plus premia for credit and liquidity risks, where the decomposition is consistent with the market valuations and underlying cash flows of the bonds. We apply the framework to end of quarter yield data from 2008 to 2011 on Australian dollar denominated semi‐government, supranational and agency (SSA) bonds, and find that the surface provides an excellent fit to the underlying zero coupon yield curves. Further, the decomposition of selected yield time series and cross‐sections demonstrates how credit premia increased for Australian SSA bonds through the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), but were counterbalanced by liquidity discounts as investors sought safe haven securities.
Is prior director experience valuable?
Authors: Gray Stephen , Nowland John 
Published: April 2012

AbstractPrevious studies have investigated the effectiveness of directors in performing their monitoring and advising functions by examining characteristics such as independence, qualifications and professional expertise. In this study, we propose a more direct measure of director effectiveness – prior experience as a director. Using hand‐collected data from Australia, we find that both the depth (number of prior years) and breadth (number of current directorships) of a new appointee’s director experience is valued by shareholders at appointment. In particular, the market reaction is highest for appointees with the most prior director experience (two or more other current directorships in listed companies and four or more years of director experience) and when experienced appointees join less‐experienced boards.
The Impact of Aid for Trade Facilitation on the Costs of Trading
Authors: Busse Matthias , Hoekstra Ruth , Königer Jens 
Published: April 2012

SummaryThere have been ongoing discussions within the WTO Doha Round on Trade Facilitation and the wider Aid for Trade agenda to assist developing countries in reducing behind‐the‐border restrictions and to help them benefit from trade reform. Our paper contributes to this debate by analyzing the impact of foreign aid spent on Aid for Trade and Trade Facilitation on the costs of trading. In our empirical investigation, we conduct a panel data estimation for a sample of 99 developing countries for the period 2004–2009. Overall, we find that our aid measures are negatively associated with the costs of trading.
Biology, Immigration, and Public Policy
Authors: Christainsen Gregory B. 
Published: April 2012

SummaryThis paper discusses recent scientific research that has shifted the terms of the debate about the respective roles of nature and nurture in shaping behavior. The research includes literature in the areas of biology, psychometrics, evolutionary psychology, and behavioral genetics. The paper then shows the relevance of this literature for ongoing concerns about mass immigration in developed countries. The literature has implications not only for the personal success of the immigrants, but rates of social dependency and the outlook for political and social cooperation in increasingly diverse societies. Efforts to remediate IQ deficits or behavioral problems in some immigrant groups are seen to be problematic.
Pursuing Happiness
Authors: Schubert Christian 
Published: April 2012

SummaryWhile positive research on the determinants of happiness (or ‘subjective well‐being’) abounds, comparatively little thought has been given to its practical policy implications. Two approaches to derive policy advice seem to emerge in the literature: The first, most prominent one, is organized in terms of the idea to maximize a hedonic social welfare function. The second focuses on the design of constitutional rules to facilitate the individuals' self‐determined ‘pursuit’ of happiness. We suggest to substantiate what it means to ‘pursue’ (rather than merely ‘enjoy’) happiness in order to provide the constitutional approach to happiness politics with deeper psychological foundations and a more refined policy focus. Specifically, the pursuit of happiness is seen as being constituted not only by the satisfaction of innate needs for self‐determination (generating procedural utility), but also by (i) the enjoyable anticipation of hedonically valuable outcomes, and (ii) the use of these outcomes within the context of an overarching process of preference learning. If extended in this direction, a notion of the pursuit of happiness has interesting conceptual and policy implications. The latter are exemplified by suggestions on how to re‐focus public decision‐making mechanisms.
How to Measure the Rule of Law
Authors: Voigt Stefan 
Published: April 2012

SummaryI argue that the rule of law consists of many dimensions and that much information is lost when variables proxying for these dimensions are simply aggregated. I draw on the most important innovations from various legal traditions to propose a concept of the rule of law likely to find general support. To make the concept measurable, an ideal approach is contrasted with a pragmatic one. The pragmatic approach consists of eight different dimensions. I show that the bivariate correlations between them are usually very low, evidence that more fine‐grained indicators of the rule of law, rather than a single hard‐to‐interpret one, are necessary for its measurement. The paper presents a list of desirable variables that could improve the measurement of various aspects of the rule of law.
Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership in Latin America: Female Owners vs Household Heads
Authors: Diana Deere Carmen , Alvarado Gina E. , Twyman Jennifer 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACT Most studies that incorporate a gender dimension into the study of poverty or other development outcomes focus on the sex of the household head. This article argues that a headship analysis gives only a partial view of gender inequality since it does not take into account the position of women within male‐headed households. Drawing primarily on the Living Standard Measurement Studies for Latin America and the Caribbean, the authors present baseline indicators of the degree of gender inequality in asset ownership for the eleven countries in the region that have collected individual‐level data on asset ownership. Disaggregated data on asset ownership within households suggest that the distribution of property by gender is more equitable than a headship analysis alone would imply. But the degree of gender inequality also varies according to the specific asset and among countries. Further comparative work on asset ownership requires attention to the marital regimes governing property rights in marriage. Finally, the authors suggest how household surveys could be improved by standardizing the collection of individual‐level asset data across countries.
Hope Movements: Naming Mobilization in a Post‐development World
Authors: Cecilia Dinerstein Ana , Deneulin Séverine 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACT Social mobilizations that are devoted to contesting development and creating alternative economic arrangements conducive to the pursuit of a dignified life have recently sprung up. Not only do they criticize the current state of affairs but they actively seek and experience new ways of living, inspired by what Bloch calls the anticipatory consciousness of the ‘not‐yet‐become’, that is, another reality not yet materialized but which can be already experienced. This article argues that these mobilizations are not adequately captured by the term ‘social movements’. The uniqueness of these mobilizations requires a conceptual and epistemological turn that is able to accommodate the post‐development critique of development as well as their emancipatory dimension. We propose to name them ‘hope movements’ to account for the collective action directed to anticipate, imperfectly, alternative realities that arise from the openness of the present one. We conclude by discussing the political relevance of hope movements for the pursuit of the good life as an alternative to development.
Development Strategy of the MAS in Bolivia: Characterization and an Early Assessment
Authors: Molero Simarro Ricardo , José Paz Antolín María 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to describe and evaluate the development strategy launched by the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) in Bolivia when it came to power in 2006. The origin of this strategy can be found in the desire to tackle the economic and political transformations caused by the structural adjustment programme launched in 1985. The main economic measures taken by MAS are analysed in the context of the new development plans implemented in Latin America. This allows us to focus on the results achieved in Bolivia in two areas of major importance in the MAS strategy: productive transformation and income distribution. It is argued that, despite the progress achieved, the government of Evo Morales has so far been unable to alter the primary export model and the associated distribution pattern that have characterized the Bolivian economy.
Developing Climate Adaptation: The Intersection of Climate Research and Development Programmes in Index Insurance
Authors: Peterson Nicole D. 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACT Using a case study from Ethiopia, this article examines the ways in which climate information and economic development interact in climate adaptation programmes. Microinsurance programmes have become very popular as an adaptation strategy but there has been little attention paid to the social, economic and political aspects of implementation. Examining one case in relation to the broader literature on climate adaptation projects suggests that greater attention needs to be paid to existing coping strategies, introduction of additional market risks, local capacity building and the socio‐political context of implementation. Climate change cannot be viewed as a technical problem only; it has a social dimension as well.
Building Cross‐Sector Careers in India's New Service Economy? Tracking Former Call Centre Agents in the National Capital Region
Authors: Vira Bhaskar , James Al 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACT This article presents findings from a labour mobility survey of 250 former call centre agents in India's National Capital Region (September 2008) exploring individuals’ employment before, during and immediately after leaving India's high‐profile call centre ‘industry’. These data are combined with forty‐two in‐depth interviews conducted in India's NCR (July 2006 to August 2008) with call centre agents, managers, ex‐call centre agents, labour organizers and economic development officials, as well as representatives from different labour market intermediaries. The study gives a cautiously optimistic account about the call centre work and employment opportunities on offer in India's ‘IT Enabled Services – Business Processing Outsourcing’ (or ITES‐BPO) industry, and their implications for young urban middle class graduates based on: (i) the movement of around one fifth of the ex‐call centre agent sample into further study, facilitated by relatively high call centre salaries; (ii) the movement of ex‐call centre agents into higher paying job roles in a wide range of sectors including banking, IT, insurance, marketing, real estate and telecommunications; and (iii) the development of transferable skills in Indian call centres that are recognized by ex‐call centre agents and their subsequent employers as conferring a labour market advantage in other sectors of India's new service economy relative to colleagues without prior call centre work experience.
In Search of an Innovative State: The Development of the Biopharmaceutical Industry in Taiwan, South Korea and China
Authors: hwan Wang Jenn , Chen Tsung‐Yuan , Tsai Ching‐Jung 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACT Recent developments in the biopharmaceutical industry in Taiwan, South Korea and China bear witness to the transformation of these states in nurturing an innovation‐based industry. This article argues that the segmentation of the value chain of the biopharmaceutical industry has provided industrializing countries with a window of opportunity. These East Asian states have modified their former catching‐up approaches by establishing a more effective institutional platform that can attract knowledge‐creation players to the industry. Through case studies, the authors show that the Taiwan state's promotion of the biopharmaceutical industry has been based on an incremental approach; existing state policies have been modified to cope with the demands of the industry, which has resulted in the continuation of its SME‐based industrial structure. The methods of the Korean state have been more radical, in that the policies that previously favoured the chaebols have gradually been reoriented toward the promotion of smaller, science‐based firms that now co‐exist alongside the chaebols. Finally, the Chinese state and local governments have sought to promote this innovation‐based industry by building biotech parks. This approach has resulted in a boom in new science firms, which have become increasingly isolated from the flourishing domestic SOE‐led market.
RESOURCE PRODUCTIVITIES FROM A SAMPLE OF LIGHT PLAINS FARMS — CANTERBURY, NEW ZEALAND
Authors: Mason George 
Published: April 2012

The study described in this article is concerned with the derivation of an average production function for 50 sheep farms on an area of light land in the Malvern County, Canterbury Plains, New Zealand.It is based on farm survey data for the 1955/6 season. The locality of the survey was chosen chiefly because it contained 51,000 acres of essentially similar soils, the Lismore series, and an adequate number of farms exhibiting a fairly high degree of homogeneity in their management.Although there are variations in farm management in the area, the predominant pattern consists of the maintenance of half bred, threequarter bred, or Romney‐cross ewe flocks for the production of Downcross fat lambs. Most of the replacements for ewe flocks are purchased from other areas but some of the larger properties breed their own.The average winter carrying capacity of the sheep farms in the area was 1.7 ewe equivalents per acre for 1956.The system of farming is practically confined to a pastoral one due to the desiccating effect of the north west Fohn type winds which prevail during the summer. These conditions, combined with a shallow shingly soil, result in unreliable yields of cash crops and small seeds.
EFFECTS OF MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE ECONOMY*
Authors: Snape Richard H. 
Published: April 2012

R. G. Gregory's article on the effects of mineral discoveries on the Australian economy (Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, August 1976) has attracted much attention. While the partial‐equilibrium nature of his model has enabled it to be absorbed readily, it has the usual theoretical limitations of such analyses. Allowing for general equilibrium repercussions, but still accepting his general assumptions, some of Gregory's conclusions regarding the impact of new mineral discoveries require modification or extension:
Although production of goods other than minerals can be expected to decline, the production of some goods in this category may rise;
A social gain is still possible even if outputs of other goods do not change;
While the price of non‐tradeable goods can be expected to rise, production of non‐tradeables may increase or decrease.
We also show the magnified effect of mineral discoveries on the rents of factors specific to minerals, and the squeeze exerted on the rents of factors specific to other tradeables.
A NOTE ON BIAS IN THE ESTIMATED EFFECTS OF BEEF IMPORTS ON U.S. MEAT PRICES
Authors: Ryan Timothy J. 
Published: April 2012

The impact of beef imports on United States meat prices is a highly emotional and controversial issue. Congressmen representing urban districts, and to a lesser extent the Administration, look towards beef imports as a way of containing rapid increases in meat prices. Congressmen and Senators from beef‐producing States regard beef imports as a direct attack on the U.S. beef‐producing industry.These differing views are being reconciled through Congress considering amendments to the Meat Import Law (Public Law 88‐482). The impacts and the amendments are of vital interest to Australia because about 25 per cent of Australia's beef production is sold on the lucrative U.S. market.In this note it is argued that, in general, the reported impacts on U.S. meat prices are overestimates because the analysts misspecify the structure of the U.S. beef industry.
BOOK REVIEWS
Authors: MORELLI EMERY A. 
Published: April 2012

Book reviewed in this article:Why Economists Disagree‐ The Political Economy of Economics. By KEN COLE, JOHN CAMERON and CHRIS EDWARDS.Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics. By LESTER C. THUROW.Reason in Human Affairs. By HERBERT A. SIMON.Stubborn Survivors: Dissenting Essays on Peasants and Third World Development. By REX MORTIMERE. Edited by HERBERT FEITH and RODNEY TIFFEN.The World Rice Market:. Structure, Conduct and Performance. By AMMAR SIAMWALLA and STEPHEN HAYKIN.Farmers of Five Continents. By DON PAARLBERG.Enterprise and the Scope of the Firm. By MORRIS SILVER.
BOOK REVIEWS
Authors: MORELLI EMERY A. 
Published: April 2012

Book reviewed in this article:Economics Made Easy, Revised Edition. By BERT KELLY.Farm Policy in Australia. By R. K. HEFFORD.Australia and Argentina: On Parallel Paths. By TIM DUNCAN and JOHN FOGARTY.The Economics of Production. By BRUCE R. BEATTIE and C. ROBERT TAYLOR.Commodity Models for Forecasting and Policy Analysis. By WALTER C. LABYS and PETER K. POLLOCK.Rural Financial Markets in Developing Countries. By J. D. VON PISCHKE, DALE W. ADAMSand GORDON DONALD
UNDERWRITING ASSISTANCE TO THE AUSTRALIAN WHEAT INDUSTRY — AN APPLICATION OF OPTION PRICING THEORY
Authors: Bardsley Peter , Cashin Paul 
Published: April 2012

For the ten crop seasons 1979‐80 to 1988‐89, returns to producers in the Australian wheat industry were underwritten by a government‐guaranteed price floor. Similar schemes operate in other rural industries (dairy, apples and pears, dried fruits). Although the underwriting provisions have only been triggered once (in the 1986‐87 season), the provision of this scheme has acted to reduce the risk normally associated with returns to producers of wheat in all years of its operation. This reduction in risk has been granted free‐of‐charge by the Commonwealth Government.The guaranteed price can be viewed as a put option taken out by the Government on behalf of growers — it gives growers the option to sell to the Australian Wheat Board at this floor price. The aim of this paper is to apply to this underwriting arrangement the Black‐Scholes formula for valuing options, in order to estimate the cost that growers would otherwise have had to pay to obtain cover (through put options) equivalent to the guaranteed price. We also estimate the magnitude of this form of assistance to the industry, which (until now) has not been taken into account unless the returns to growers fell below the guaranteed price.
LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION POLICIES AND MEAT PROCESSING MARGINS: THE CASE OF NEW ZEALAND, 1967‐1988*
Authors: Griffith Garry R. , Moore Walter B. 
Published: April 2012

The New Zealand export meat industry has been through a considerable number of changes in the 1980s. The deregulation of export slaughter facilities, Supplementary Minimum Prices, Producer Board intervention, declining livestock numbers and domestic cost pressures have all affected the performance of the domestically based processing sector. Major changes in market access and demand have influenced off‐shore marketing operations, particularly for sheepmeats. Additionally, there has been a change in the type of meat exported with a greater proportion of further processed product shipped in recent years. As an example of the impact of these developments on livestock producers, the producer share of the United Kingdom wholesale market return for a representative prime lamb carcase has fallen from 40 per cent in 1978 to 25 per cent in 1988.In this article the pattern of intervention in the New Zealand pastoral meat industries from the mid‐1960s is detailed, emphasising the different environments of the beef and sheepmeat enterprises. Then the principal factors influencing domestic processing margins for these products are empirically examined. Alternative model specifications and alternative estimation techniques are compared and contrasted. The results of these analyses are discussed in terms of the historical patterns of assistance and structural change, and in terms of current rationalisation pressures on the meat processing sector.
ECONOMIES OF THROUGHPUT AND TRANSPORT BOTTLENECKS IN GRAIN DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
Authors: Brennan Donna C. 
Published: April 2012

In this paper, a model is presented which shows the relationship between country grain storage costs and transport bottlenecks that exist in the harvest period. It is shown that transport bottlenecks limit the amount of grain that can be transported from receival points in the peak receival period. This constraint means that the cost of operating country receival points is high because the turnover of storage capacity is limited. However, system costs can be reduced by focusing the peak transport task at sites that are less intensive users of scare transport capacity. This allows more grain to be transported out of the system in the peak period, decreasing the need for costly long term storage at country sites.In the longer term, differences in the intensity of transport use means that optimal levels of investment in storage capacity (relative to grain receivals) will differ between sites. Relatively more storage should be constructed at sites that are intensive users of transport capacity (eg. those sites that are furthest from the port). Less storage capacity is needed at sites that are less intensive users of transport because a large depot‐to‐port transport task will be concentrated at these sites in the peak period.
RESPONDENTS TO CONTINGENT VALUATION SURVEYS: CONSUMERS OR CITIZENS (BLAMEY, COMMON AND QUIGGIN, AJAE 39:3) — A COMMENT
Authors: Rolfe John , Bennett Jeffrey W. 
Published: April 2012

Blarney, Common and Quiggin (1995) (BCQ) suggest that responses to contingent valuation (CV) questionnaires may be framed either according to the extent of individual benefits received, or according to wider views about ethical frameworks, impacts on other people, or desired societal levels. They characterise the individual benefit approach as a consumer model, and responses indicating wider concerns as citizen preferences. Citizen value responses are held to invalidate the economic assumptions underlying the use of CV. Hence, they hypothesize that the incorporation of CV results into benefit‐cost analysis is problematic.In this comment we suggest that there are several flaws with the citizen value hypothesis. These can be grouped into arguments about the existence of citizen values based on ethical or altruistic grounds, and arguments about the identification of citizen values.
BOOK REVIEWS
Authors: MORELLI EMERY A. 
Published: April 2012

Book reviewed in this article:EC Agricultural Policy for the 21st Century, European Economy, Report No. 4Sacred Cows and Hot Potatoes, by WILLIAM P. BROWNE, JERRY R. SKEES, LOUISE. SWANSON, PAUL B. THOMPSOANN D LAURIAN J. UNNEVEHRisk Analysis in Dryland Farming Systems. By JOCK R. ANDERSON and JOHN L. DILLON.Methods for Development Work and Research: A Guide for Practitioners. By BRITHA MIKKELSEN