Five ways coronavirus lockdowns increase inequality

First paragraph: There are still many things we do not yet know about coronavirus, including the mortality rate. We also do not know the ultimate economic effect of measures that governments across the world have implemented to slow the spread of the virus. Nonetheless, it’s safe to say that social distancing will increase social inequality.https://theconversation.com/five-ways-coronavirus-lockdowns-increase-inequality-13576

The relationship between concentration and realised volatility : an empirical investigation of the FTSE 100 Index January 1984 through March 2003

Few studies have examined the impact of portfolio concentration upon the realised volatility of stock index portfolios, such as the FTSE 100. Instead, previous research has focused upon diversification across industries, across geographic regions and across different firms. The present study addresses this imbalance by calculating the daily time series of four concentration metrics for the FTSE 100 Index over the period from January 1984 through March 2003. In addition, the value weighted variance covariance matrix (VCM) of daily FTSE 100 Index constituent returns is decomposed into four sub-components: two from the diagonal elements and two from the off-diagonal elements of the VCM. These consist of the average variance of constituent returns, represented by the sum of diagonal elements in the VCM, and the average covariance represented by the sum of off-diagonal elements in the VCM. The value weighted average variance (VAV) and covariance (VAC) are each subdivided into the equally weighted average variance (EAV) the equally weighted average covariance (EAC) and incremental components that represent the difference between the respective value-weighted and equally weighted averages. These are referred to as the incremental average variance (IAV) and the incremental average covariance (IAC) respectively. The incremental average variance and the incremental average covariance are then combined, additively, to produce the incremental realised variance (IRV) of the FTSE 100 Index. The incremental average covariance and the incremental realised variance are found to be negative during the 1987 crash and the 1992 ERM crisis. They are also negative for a substantial part of the study period, even when concentration was at its highest level. Hence the findings of the study are consistent with the notion that the value weighted, and hence concentrated, FTSE 100 Index portfolio is generally less risky than a hypothetical equally weighted portfolio of FTSE 100 Index constituents. Furthermore, increases in concentration tend to precede decreases in incremental realised volatility and increases in the equally weighted components of the realised VCM. The results have important implications for portfolio managers concerned with the effect of changing portfolio weights upon portfolio volatility. They are also relevant to passive investors concerned about the effects of increased concentration upon their benchmark indices, and to providers of stock market indices.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceUniversity of StirlingGBUnited Kingdo

Social engagement and stock market participation

We investigate the separate and joint influences of social engagement measures on stock market participation and find that socially engaged individuals are more likely to participate. Consistent with Granovetter's (1973) theory of social networks we find that a weak tie (measured by social group involvement) has a positive effect on stock market participation whereas a strong tie (measured by frequency of talking to neighbours) has no effect. More trusting individuals are more likely to participate in the stock market, as are those who identify with a political party. In contrast, the degree to which religion is important appears to have little impact

Bonding and the agency risk premium: An analysis of migrations between the AIM and the Official List of the London Stock Exchange

Firms that change their listing from the less regulated AIM to the more regulated main section of the London Stock Exchange exhibit positive abnormal returns on the announcement day. For firms moving in the opposite direction, both announcement and implementation day abnormal returns are negative. Following implementation, the pattern is reversed for both categories of firm. We show that differences in liquidity, conventional risk factors and in medium to long term firm survival rates between the two listing regimes do not explain the observed patterns of returns, suggesting that the answer lies in the different bonding requirements of the two market segments and an agency risk premium.JEL Codes: G12, G14, G15, G30, G32, G3

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN JAPAN AND THE UK: CODES, THEORY AND PRACTICE

We reflect on the evolution of corporate governance and the role of institutional investors in enhancing governance in Japan and the UK. Japan places emphasis on stakeholder capitalism, whereas the UK places emphasis on shareholder capitalism. Nonetheless, in both countries, institutional investors have exerted significant influence on the evolution of corporate governance. Institutional investors in the UK have more power over company management than their Japanese counterparts, although it is alleged that these powers are not exercised to their best potential in either country. Copyright 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation 2009 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

Capturing the role of societal affinity in cross-border mergers with the Eurovision Song Contest

This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of voting bias in the Eurovision Song Contest as a means of capturing societal affinity. More than 180 million viewers from more than 40 countries watch the Eurovision Song Contest every year and vote for their favorite songs. Societal affinity between participating countries leads to systematic bias in voting patterns as each song represents a country. Using cross-border mergers as a proxy for international business exchanges, we demonstrate how voting bias provides a simple, freely available, and dynamic means of capturing societal affinity between countries that complements other metrics of affinity and distance

Savings goals and wealth allocation in household financial portfolios

We investigate how savings goals relate to wealth allocation and how this relationship is moderated by financial advice and numerical ability. Using panel data from a large household survey we find that as the number and the time horizon of savings goals increases, portfolios shift from safe assets to both fairly safe assets and risky assets. We also find that households with access to multiple sources of financial advice and independent financial advice hold more fairly safe and risky assets and that independent financial advice enhances the influence of savings goals on wealth allocation to fairly safe and risky assets. Overall we find that the possession of savings goals is associated with long term saving activity, and this is particularly evident for those with low levels of numerical ability. By enabling the formation of savings goals, the financial planning process can facilitate long-term investment in risky assets