Finance - Research Publications

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    Evaluation and management of patients with noncardiac chest pain.
    Shekhar, C ; Whorwell, PJ (Hindawi Limited, 2008)
    Up to a third of patients undergoing coronary angiography for angina-like chest pain are found to have normal coronary arteries and a substantial proportion of these individuals continue to consult and even attend emergency departments. Initially, these patients are usually seen by cardiologists but with accumulating evidence that the pain might have a gastrointestinal origin, it may be more appropriate for them to be cared for by the gastroenterologist once a cardiological cause has been excluded. This review covers the assessment and management of this challenging condition, which includes a combination of education, reassurance, and pharmacotherapy. For the more refractory cases, behavioral treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or hypnotherapy, may have to be considered.
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    Explicit neural signals reflecting reward uncertainty
    Schultz, W ; Preuschoff, K ; Camerer, C ; Hsu, M ; Fiorillo, CD ; Tobler, PN ; Bossaerts, P (ROYAL SOC, 2008-12-12)
    The acknowledged importance of uncertainty in economic decision making has stimulated the search for neural signals that could influence learning and inform decision mechanisms. Current views distinguish two forms of uncertainty, namely risk and ambiguity, depending on whether the probability distributions of outcomes are known or unknown. Behavioural neurophysiological studies on dopamine neurons revealed a risk signal, which covaried with the standard deviation or variance of the magnitude of juice rewards and occurred separately from reward value coding. Human imaging studies identified similarly distinct risk signals for monetary rewards in the striatum and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), thus fulfilling a requirement for the mean variance approach of economic decision theory. The orbitofrontal risk signal covaried with individual risk attitudes, possibly explaining individual differences in risk perception and risky decision making. Ambiguous gambles with incomplete probabilistic information induced stronger brain signals than risky gambles in OFC and amygdala, suggesting that the brain's reward system signals the partial lack of information. The brain can use the uncertainty signals to assess the uncertainty of rewards, influence learning, modulate the value of uncertain rewards and make appropriate behavioural choices between only partly known options.
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    Markowitz in the brain?
    Preuschoff, K ; Quartz, S ; Bossaerts, P (Editions Dalloz, 2008)
    Brain-scanning (fMRI) evidence is presented that activity in certain sub-cortical structures of the human brain correlate with changes in expected reward, and with risk. Risk is measured by variance of payoff, as in Markowitz’ theory. These brain structures form part of the dopaminergic system (which consists of the neurons that emit a crucial chemical, namely, dopamine, and the areas to which the dopamine neurons project). The dopaminergic system has been known to regulate reward expectation. We show that it is involved in risk perception as well. As such, our findings support for the human brain what recently had been discovered in the primate brain (using single-neuron analysis instead of fMRI).
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    THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE, REPUTATION AND MANAGEMENT EARNINGS FORECASTS
    Chan, H ; Faff, R ; Mather, P ; Ramsay, A (Virtus Interpress, 2008)
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    Takeovers, Ownership, and Shareholder Wealth — The Australian Evidence
    Shekhar, C ; Torbey, V (Emerald, 2005-03-01)
    We examine the relationship between value, ownership, and governance structures for a set of acquisitions by Australian companies over the period of 1994–2001. We find that the propensity to diversify increases with the equity ownership of firms' directors, whereas the composition of the board, the presence of block holders and their ownership does not materially affect the decision to diversify. Board size has a positive but weak impact on the tendency to diversify. We also find no significant negative wealth effects for the shareholders of diversifying firms, although in comparison the shareholders of non‐diversifying acquirers experience significantly positive upward revisions of firm values. Although method of payment influences acquirer returns, ownership and governance do not have any impact on announcement period returns. Our results support the notion that capital markets may consider the ownership and governance structures as exerting enough influence to overcome any costs imposed by diversification strategies, hence limiting value loss to the shareholders.
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    Credit Unions and Demutualisation
    Davis, K (EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD, 2005)
    This paper reviews experience with credit union demutualisation to date in the light of increasing discussion about whether demutualisation is a likely (or inevitable) future stage in the evolutionary process. It is argued that the credit union industry faces an inherent demutualisation bias which emerges as the sector develops maturity. Contributing factors include the emergence of professional management pursuing personal objectives, together with the economic realities of technological change, financial liberalisation, increased competition, and prudential regulation based on minimum capital requirements. Demutualisation incentives may partially reflect the unsuitability of the mutual form of governance in larger, more sophisticated financial institutions, but there is also a significant risk of demutualisation based on wealth expropriation motives. Alternative policies and strategies which might avoid this demutualisation bias are examined.
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    The market impact of trends and sequences in performance: New evidence
    Durham, GR ; Hertzel, MG ; Martin, JS (BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, 2005-10)
    ABSTRACT Bloomfield and Hales (2002) find strong evidence that experimental market subjects are influenced by trends and patterns in a manner supportive of the shifting regimes model of Barberis, Shleifer, and Vishny (1998). We subject the model to further empirical scrutiny using the football wagering market as our price laboratory. Sports betting markets have several advantages over traditional capital markets as an empirical setting, and commonalities with traditional markets allow for useful insights. We find scant evidence that investors behave in accordance with the model.