Essays in Financial Economics

In Chapter 1, we generalize the concept of systematic risk to a broad class of risk measures potentially accounting for high distribution moments, downside risk, rare disasters, as well as other risk attributes. We offer two different approaches. First is an equilibrium framework generalizing the Capital Asset Pricing Model, two-fund separation, and the security market line. Second is an axiomatic approach resulting in a systematic risk measure as the unique solution to a risk allocation problem. Both approaches lead to similar results extending the traditional beta to capture multiple dimensions of risk. The results lend themselves naturally to empirical investigation. For Chapter 2, note that substantial cross-sectional variation in entrepreneurial compensation has been documented in prior literature, although explanation is scarce. The uniqueness of small businesses, in particular the intrinsic difference between entrepreneurs and corporate managers, calls for additional insights aside from that on executive compensation. This study takes an asymmetric-information perspective, where a continuous-time game-theoretic model is developed, incorporating an interesting trade-off between current and future payoffs. A breakdown in the market of entrepreneurial ventures will not occur, but both separating and pooling equilibria are possible, and consequently an equilibrium is not necessarily informationally consistent. Furthermore, when an equilibrium is indeed revealing, the dissipativeness of the signal emitted by entrepreneurs is completely endogenous. These findings correspond naturally to empirical predictions about entrepreneurial pay, especially on the cross-industry differential in compensation structure. In terms of Chapter 3, notice that life insurance often embeds a surrender option that gives the policy holder a right to exchange an existing contract for its cash surrender value. Similar to mortgage prepayment option that imposes a cash-flow risk to MBS investors, this surrender option is a source of concern for life insurers. While prior studies have attempted to quantify this surrender risk by pricing the surrender option, a common theoretical assumption imposed is fully rational response of policy holders to only interest rates. However, actual surrender experience indicates that interest rates are just one of the multiple factors that drive the surrender decision and policy holder response is not necessarily optimal. This research therefore integrates an empirical surrender function into the option pricing framework by employing a novel data set from a large life insurance industry experience study. It shows, for the first time in the literature, that policy vintages are a particularly significant and meaningful factor in addition to macroeconomic variables that impact surrender activity. Using these empirics, I find that the experience-based value of the surrender option is substantially less than its fully rational counterpart. In addition, the competitive landscape of the life insurance industry and the interest rate environment both play an important role in assessing the surrender risk exposure of life insurers

Generalized Systematic Risk

We generalize the concept of .systematic risk to a broad class of risk measures potentially accounting for high distribution moments, downside risk, rare disasters, as well as other risk attributes. We offer two different approaches. First is an equilibrium framework generalizing the Capital Asset Pricing Model, two-fund separation, and the security market line. Second is an axiomatic approach resulting in a systematic risk measure as the unique solution to a risk allocation problem. Both approaches lead to similar results extending the traditional beta to capture multiple dimensions of risk. The results lend themselves naturally to empirical investigation

Infrared High-Index Coating Materials, PbTe and Pb1−xGexTe: Properties and Applications

The greater value of refractive index for high-index layers in thin-film interference filters operating in the infrared has an incomparable advantage. Lead telluride (PbTe), which is much superior to other infrared high-index coating materials due to its high index and advantage of fundamental absorption edges, has played an important role in filters employed in the infrared radiometer and other instruments launched in space atmosphere sounding research projects. In this chapter, we summarized some recent achievements in the investigations into another infrared high-index coating material—lead germanium telluride (Pb1−xGexTe), a pseudo-binary alloy of PbTe and GeTe. It can be revealed that the layers of Pb1−xGexTe exhibit the tunable optical properties, such as temperature coefficient of refractive index and fundamental absorption edge, as well as mechanical properties, such as the hardness and Young’s modulus, corresponding to its intrinsic ferroelectric phase transition. Some important applications in thin-film interference filters were also demonstrated for its tremendous potential, such as a stable narrow bandpass interference filter without temperature-induced wavelength shift and a tunable infrared short wavelength cutoff filter. Furthermore, it is also revealed that electron beam evaporation is a more effective congruent-transfer technique to deposit the layers of Pb1−xGexTe

Effect of tenofovir disoproxil and telbivudine on the growth and development of infants by blocking mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus

Purpose: To investigate the effect of tenofovir disoproxil and telbivudine on the growth and development of infants after blocking mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Methods: Seventy pregnant women with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) were recruited and allocated to tenofovir disoproxil group (n = 35) and telbivudine group (n = 35) using random number table method. Tenofovir disoproxil group was given 300 mg tenofovir disoproxil orally four times daily, while telbivudine group was given telbivudine 600 mg orally four times daily. Results: After treatment, both groups showed no significant differences in serum HBV-DNA and ALT levels before delivery and 3 months after delivery (p > 0.05). Both groups showed no remarkable differences in the incidence of hypohydramnios, cholestasis, hypothyroidism, anemia, prolonged labor, fetal distress, and placental adhesions (p > 0.05). Both groups showed no significant differences in the rates of premature rupture of membranes, preterm birth, vaginal delivery, and cesarean section (p > 0.05). Both groups showed no significant differences in neonatal sex, gestational age at birth, weight, length, and Apgar scores (p > 0.05). The differences in the positive rates of HBVsAg, HBsAb, and HBeAg at birth and at 12 months were not statistically noticeable (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Tenofovir disoproxil and telbivudine reduce HBV-DNA levels, effectively blocks MTCT, and have a similar safety profile for infants. Further investigations to confirm t

A data-driven model to quantify the impact of river discharge on tide-river dynamics in the Yangtze River estuary

Understanding the role of river discharge on tide-river dynamics is of essential importance for sustainable water management (flood control, salt intrusion, and navigation) in estuarine environments. It is well known that river discharge impacts fundamental tide-river dynamics, especially in terms of subtidal (residual water levels) and tidal properties (amplitudes and phases for different tidal constituents). However, the quantification of the impact of river discharge on tide-river dynamics is challenging due to the complex interactions of barotropic tides with channel geometry, bottom friction, and river discharge. In this study, we propose a data-driven model to quantify the impact of river discharge on tide-river dynamics, using water level time series data collected through long-term observations along an estuary with substantial variations in river discharge. The proposed model has a physically-based structure representing the tide-river interaction, and can be used to predict water level using river discharge as the sole predictor. The satisfactory correspondence of the model outputs with measurements at six gauging stations along the Yangtze River estuary suggest that the proposed model can serve as a powerful instrument to quantify the impacts of river discharge on tide-river dynamics (including time-varying tidal properties and tidal distortion), and separate the contribution made by riverine and tidal forcing on water level. The proposed approach is very efficient and can be applied to other estuaries showing considerable impacts of river discharge on tide-river dynamics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Training of Chinese-Russian Interpreters in the System of Vocational Education in a Modern University

Данная статья представляет исследования, которые могут быть интересны для преподавателей, которые обучают лингвистов-переводчиков в вузе. Важно понимать, как правильно обучать лингвистов-переводчиков в вузе к современным реалиям рынка труда. После длительных исследований и практики было выявлено большое количество проблем в обучении лингвистов-переводчиков в вузе. Модель обучения переводчиков предполагает обучение специалистов с двуязычным и общим уровнем языковой подготовки. Необходимо разрабатывать определенную систему обучения для повышения качества обучения специалистов разных уровней подготовки, что может удовлетворить потребности современного международного рынка труда. Обучение переводу в традиционном понимании сосредоточено на улучшении способности студентов к двуязычному переводу и способности межъязыкового общения, и большинство преподаваемых курсов ограничиваются рамками их собственной профессии. В данной статье будут указаны проблемы, существующие в обучении лингвистов-переводчиков в вузе, и приведены некоторые положения улучшения их подготовки.This article presents research that may be interesting for teachers who will train linguist-translators at the university. It is important to understand how to train linguists-translators at a university properly to meet the current realities of the labor market. After lengthy research and practice, a large number of problems have been identified in teaching of linguist-translators at the university. There is the demand for specialists in various fields of translation training. The translator training model involves the training of specialists with a bilingual and general level of training. It is necessary to create a specific system for high-quality training of different levels specialists to meet the needs of today's international market. The training model will help to raise the quality of the professionals in the field. Traditional translation education focuses on improving students' ability to translate bilingually and interlingually, and most of the courses are limited to their own profession. This article will point out the problems that exist in the training of linguist-translators in the university, and some provisions for improving the training of linguist-translators in the university in order to create the right direction for students and teachers