On the importance of clean accounting measures for the tests of stock market efficiency

Tests of the semi-strong form of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) typically use earnings and book value of equity as benchmarks of fundamental value. Accounting earnings, however, are contaminated by noise due to their transient component and book value of equity tends to be biased downwards due to accounting conservatism. We investigate whether controlling for these effects impacts on the implications concerning the information efficiency of the Swedish stock market. We conclude that relevant adjustments increase both the magnitude and the consistency of the value premium earned on a contrarian investment strategy that buys (shorts) stocks with low (high) relative market valuation. The existence of the value premium cannot be explained by common risk proxies or transaction costs argument. Using cleaner accounting proxies thus strengthens the evidence on the imperfect efficiency of the Swedish stock market.market efficiency, investment, contrarian strategy, transitory earnings, accounting conservatism, Sweden, Scandinavia

Benefits of a marketing cooperative in transition agriculture: Mórakert purchasing and service co-operative

The paper analyses the potential benefits of marketing cooperatives in Hungary, employing a transaction cost economics framework. We found that the purchased quantity, the existence of contracts, flexibility and trust are the most important factors farmers consider when selling their products via a cooperative. The most striking result is that diversification has positive influences on the share of cooperatives in farmers’ sale. Furthermore, farmers with larger bargaining power have less willingness to sell their product to the cooperative. Surprisingly, asset specificity has rather negative effects on the share of cooperatives in members’ sales