Information processing and measures of integration: New York, London and Tokyo

Equity markets do not pass all overnight information into prices instantaneously at the opening of trade. The New York market takes up to 30 minutes after the opening time to absorb overnight foreign news, Tokyo takes about 90 minutes, and London about 120 minutes on average. These delays in information absorption are not commercially significant but do have implications for measures of market integration. We adjust intra-daily return series for non-instantaneous news absorption and then use adjusted series to predict opening price variation in three major equity markets. Because the adjusted daytime returns series are uncorrelated, we can accurately measure the size, and identify the sources, of transmissions. Overnight news, as represented by foreign daytime returns, explains 12% of opening price variation (close-open returns) in New York, 14% in Tokyo and 30% in London. For New York and Tokyo, the largest influences come from the market that trades immediately prior (London and New York respectively) whereas opening price variation in London is linked closer with New York than Tokyo. Foreign volatility spillovers are also significant, and subject to asymmetry effects.GARCH; spillover; integration; transmission; efficiency

Valuing Volatility Spillovers

forecasting, adcc, volatility spillovers, valuing

The Effects of Temporary Services and Contracting Out on Low-Skilled Workers: Evidence from Auto Suppliers, Hospitals, and Public Schools

We examine why employers use temporary agency and contract company workers and the implications of these practices for the wages, benefits, and working conditions of workers in low-skilled labor markets. Through intensive case studies in manufacturing (automotive supply), services (hospitals), and public sector (primary and secondary schools) industries, we define the circumstances under which these workers are likely to be adversely affected, minimally affected, or even benefitted by such outsourcing. Adverse effects on compensation are clearest when companies substitute agency temporaries or contract company workers for regular employees on a long-term basis because low-skilled workers within the organization receive relatively high compensation and employment and labor law or workers and their unions do not block companies from such substitution. Often, however, organizations only contract out management functions or utilize agency temporaries for brief periods of time, with little direct effect on in- house, low-skilled workers. Moreover, employers often use temporary agencies to screen workers for permanent positions. Because temporary agencies lower the cost to employers of using workers with poor work histories or other risky characteristics, agencies may benefit these workers by giving them opportunities to try out for positions they otherwise might not have had.temporary, contingent, contract, workers, low-skilled, Houseman, Erickcek, Kalleberg, Upjohn

The debt crisis: obstacle to development or path to democracy?

The debt of Third World nations exceeds $1.3 trillion. This paper analyses the factors which combined to bring about this situation and reveals the devastating effects that the debt crisis and 'stabilisation' policies are having on the Third World's poor and on the world's environment. The author suggests some imaginative solutions, which address the debt crisis in ways designed to contribute both to democratisation and environmental rehabilitation

MF2456

Susan George, Stroke is a brain attack, Kansas State University, April 2000

THE ROLE OF URBAN PARKS AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: CASE STUDY OF KISUMU KENYA

Urban parks are now viewed as an important part of the broader structure of urban and neighborhood development rather than just recreation and leisure facilities. While most of the world has recognized the multifunctional use of urban parks for development; the parks in Kenya and Kisumu Township in particular are suffering from lack of attention, poor maintenance, lack of development and underutilization. Also evident in most parks of Kisumu Township is lack of activities and basic utilities like public toilets, litterbins, benches and notice boards. The stakeholders of Kisumu Town do not seem to realize that parks can contribute to enormous social, cultural and economic development of the poverty stricken region. The aim of the study was to assess the utilization, investigate the benefits and analyze the factors influencing use of urban parks in Kisumu. Descriptive, cross-section research design was used where multistage cluster sampling technique was applied in sampling households and park users within seven wards of Kisumu Township and seven urban parks respectively. The study indicates that the poor maintenance and lack of adequate facilities had hindered optimal social, economical, environmental and educational benefits of the parks.urban parks, urban development, cross-section research

DRAFT Report:Community Systems Strengthening Toward a Research Agenda

Communities have a long history of acting to preserve and promote the health of their members. Public health researchers, programmers, and funders are increasingly recognizing that community involvement is essential to improving health, especially among populations that are disproportionately affected by HIV. The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, together with civil society organizations and other development partners, created the Community Systems Strengthening (CSS) Framework to help Global Fund applicants frame, define, and quantify efforts to strengthen community contributions engagement (Global Fund 2011). Although the use of a CSS approach in health programming implementation shows promise, it lacks a theoretical framework to guide collaborations with communities. Additionally, it suffers from a paucity of program designs and evaluation practices, an incomplete evidence-based rationale for investing in CSS, and imprecise definitions (e.g., what is meant by “community” and “CSS”).The purpose of this paper is to highlight promising areas for future research related to CSS. Toward this objective, we propose to lay a foundation for a CSS research agenda by using theories and approaches relevant to CSS, reinforced with evidence from projects that employ similar approaches