Value Discount of Business Groups Surrounding the Asia Financial Crisis: Evidence from Korean Chaebols

Asian Financial Crisis, Business Group, Chaebol, Diversification, Firm Value

The impact of UK household overconfidence in public information on house prices

We investigate if house prices are affected by overconfidence of households who predict house prices using imperfect public information about economic outlook. For this purpose, we develop a new measure of household overconfidence in the Bayesian framework. For the three variables we test – changes in consumption, stock returns, and changes in human capital, we find that UK households were overconfident about the signals of consumption regardless of regions. However, households in London were overconfident about the signals of stock markets whereas those remote from London were overconfident about the signals of human capital. The results of household overconfidence appear positive in the UK housing market for our sample period from 1980 to 2018, in particular, 0.5% per quarter in London

Ecotoxicity of heat-treated Kapur and Japanese larch

Kapur (Dryobalanops sp.) and Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) wood samples were heat-treated in air at 180 °C for 24 and 48 h. Leaching and toxicity tests were conducted to determine the ecotoxicity effect of these heat-treated woods on the aquatic environment due to heat treatment. The toxicity of conventional preservative-treated woods, i.e. chromated copper arsenate (CCA) and ammoniacal copper quat (ACQ), was also determined for comparison purposes. Acute toxicity tests were performed using two aquatic organisms, Daphnia magna and Vibrio fischeri according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development standard procedures and Microtox assay, respectively. Significantly low toxicity to D. magna was found for the heat-treated Kapur compared to that of untreated Kapur, while heat-treated Japanese larch did not show any toxicity effect. As expected, ACQ-treated samples showed the highest toxicity to D. magna, followed by that of CCA, though toxicity of both preservative-treated woods further reduced over time. Hence, heat treatment of Kapur and Japanese larch were believed to be not harmful to the aquatic ecosystem