Distinct Asset Research Articles

Asymmetric, time and frequency-based spillover transmission in financial and commodity markets

The study examines asymmetric, time and frequency-based spillover transmission in financial and commodity markets by employing the VAR-based generalized forecast error variance decomposition framework. Daily prices of S&P-500 and the US Dollar- Euro exchange rate representing the financial markets and WTI, gold, silver, copper, corn and soybean representing the commodity markets for the period ranging from January 6, 2006 to February 25, 2021 are used. The empirical results show that aggregate spillover transmission in financial and commodity markets exhibit asymmetry as downside spillovers dominate upside spillovers. The time-varying spillover asymmetry plot shows that there is a domination of downside spillovers only during crisis events, such as the Global Financial Crisis, the European Debt Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. The cross-spillover measures reveal that the inclusion of distinct asset classes, such as corn and soybean with S&P-500 has the potential to reduce the risk associated with the portfolio due to lower cross-spillovers between them. The time and frequency-based spillover transmission results indicate that overall spillovers in financial and commodity markets increase during uncertain market conditions and are mostly driven by shorter horizons. The findings are helpful to various financial market participants and the regulatory authorities.

Differential Protein Expression in Berry Skin from Red Grapes with Varying Hybrid Character.

Protein expression from the berry skin of four red grape biotypes with varying hybrid character was compared at a proteome-wide level to identify the metabolic pathways underlying divergent patterns of secondary metabolites. A bottom-up shotgun proteomics approach with label-free quantification and MaxQuant-assisted computational analysis was applied. Red grapes were from (i) purebred Vitis vinifera (Aglianico cv.); (ii) V. vinifera (local Sciascinoso cv.) grafted onto an American rootstock; (iii) interspecific hybrid (V. vinifera × V. labrusca, Isabel), and (iv) uncharacterized grape genotype with hybrid lineage, producing relatively abundant anthocyanidin 3,5-O-diglucosides. Proteomics supported the differences between hybrids and purebred V. vinifera grapes, consistently with distinct phenotypic metabolite assets. Methanol O-anthraniloyltransferase, which catalyses the synthesis of methyl anthranilate, primarily responsible for the “foxy” odour, was exclusive of the Isabel hybrid grape. Most of the proteins with different expression profiles converged into coordinated biosynthetic networks of primary metabolism, while many possible enzymes of secondary metabolism pathways, including 5-glucosyltransferases expected for hybrid grapes, remained unassigned due to incomplete protein annotation for the Vitis genus. Minor differences of protein expression distinguished V. vinifera scion grafted onto American rootstocks from purebred V. vinifera skin grapes, supporting a slight influence of the rootstock on the grape metabolism.

An emotions-informed approach for digital documentation of rural heritage landscapes: Baojiatun, a traditional tunpu village in Guizhou, China

The application of digital technologies has greatly improved the efficiency of cultural heritage documentation and the diversity of heritage information. Yet the adequate incorporation of cultural, intangible, sensory or experimental elements of local heritage in the process of digital documentation, and the deepening of local community engagement, remain important issues in cultural heritage research. This paper examines the heritage landscape of tunpu people within the context of digital conservation efforts in China and the emergence of emotions studies as an evaluative tool. Using a range of data from the Ming-era village of Baojiatun in Guizhou Province, this paper tests an exploratory emotions-based approach and methodology, revealing shifting interpersonal relationships, experiential and praxiological engagement with the landscape, and emotional registers within tunpu culture and heritage management. The analysis articulates distinctive asset of emotional value at various scales and suggests that such approaches, applied within digital documentation contexts, can help researchers to identify multi-level heritage landscape values and their carriers. This methodology can provide more complete and dynamic inventories to guide digital survey and representation; and the emotions-based approach also supports the integration of disparate heritage aspects in a holistic understanding of the living landscape. Finally, the incorporation of community participation in the process of digital survey breaks down boundaries between experts and communities and leads to more culturally appropriate heritage records and representations.

International students in Portuguese higher education: who are they and what are their choices?

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the patterns of international student enrolments in Portugal to understand what makes Portuguese higher education attractive. Employing a database of enrolments in Portuguese higher education institutions in 2017/2018, it uses correspondence analysis to characterise the flows of students coming from different countries and the variation by institution type, qualification level, disciplinary area and location. Attractiveness is not homogeneous. Portuguese-speaking students from Africa tend to enrol in undergraduate degrees, but depending on country of origin they prefer certain institution types. European students are attracted to Health-related programmes in private institutions. Chinese and Brazilian students seek primarily postgraduate qualifications in public universities. Thus, different publics choose Portuguese higher education for different reasons, suggesting that attractiveness is multifaceted and varies by students’ country of origin. The implications are that institutions in countries which are emerging players in international student recruitment need to carefully identify their target publics and distinctive assets.

Municipal Bond Mutual Fund Performance and Active Share

This article evaluates the performance of actively managed US open-end municipal bond mutual funds between 1999 and 2020. Fund classifications span national short, intermediate, and long-term, as well as high-yield and single-state portfolios. An initial investigation reveals that municipal securities manifest characteristics of a distinct asset class. Performance measures include benchmark-adjusted returns and single- and multifactor pricing models. During the sample period, only 8% of funds generated returns that beat their benchmark indexes, and 29% produced positive excess returns (alpha) based on a four-factor pricing model. Longer-maturity funds generally performed better than short-maturity funds. Based on portfolio performance, managers specializing in single-state issues do not manifest unique knowledge or insight. Active share for the aggregate sample was 25%, implying an active expense ratio exceeding 3% and annualized active alpha below −3%. The evidence overall suggests that active management of municipal bond portfolios is not a value-enhancing activity. <b>TOPICS:</b>Mutual funds/passive investing/indexing, fixed income and structured finance, factor-based models, performance measurement <b>Key Findings</b> ▪ Municipal bonds possess several characteristics that satisfy traditional criteria qualifying them as a distinct asset class. In this first evaluation of the performance of actively managed open-end municipal security mutual funds, the authors find that the vast majority of funds underperform their benchmark indexes. They also document significant underperformance when accounting for four fixed-income market systematic risk factors. ▪ The performance results vary by fund type, with short-term funds underperforming more acutely than intermediate- or long-term funds. Single-state funds are among the worst performers, suggesting that managers do not possess unique insight about the issuer domicile and its securities. ▪ Portfolio active share for muni bond funds is about 25% (similar to what extant work finds for equity funds), which implies an annualized active expense ratio of about 3% (similar to fees charged by some hedge funds).

Стратификация по нефинансовому богатству российских домохозяйств: высота, профиль, детерминанты

Цитирование: Богомолова Т.Ю., Черкашина Т.Ю. (2020) Стратификация по нефинансовому богатству российских домохозяйств: высота, профиль, детерминанты // Мир России. Т. 29. № 4. С. 6–33. DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2020-29-4-6-33&#x0D; Богатство (wealth) наряду с доходами и расходами является измерением экономического статуса индивида или домохозяйства. Понимание социальной стратификации, ее особенностей и тенденций, механизмов накопления и межпоколенной передачи собственности без изучения неравенства по богатству будет неполным. Если в экономически развитых странах данные позволяют изучать масштабы неравенства по богатству на основе денежных (количественных) оценок, то открытые данные об активах российских домохозяйств делают возможной лишь структурную оценку стратификации по богатству. Из составляющих богатства – финансовых и нефинансовых активов – объектом исследования являются находящиеся в собственности членов домохозяйства материальные (нефинансовые) активы. В статье на данных Комплексного наблюдения условий жизни населения представлены дифференциация российских домохозяйств по обладанию нефинансовыми активами; выделены слои, образующие стратификацию домохозяйств по нефинансовому богатству; выявлены социально-демографические детерминанты, определяющие шансы домохозяйств оказаться в слоях, относительно обеспеченных нефинансовым богатством. Ограничением данных можно считать неполную представленность верха и низа стратификации, что характерно для массовых обследований. С использованием процедур факторного и кластерного анализа выделены семь слоев, отличающихся по наличию, количеству и составу нефинансовых активов. Установлено, что профиль имущественной иерархии российских домохозяйств смещен в сторону низкой обеспеченности нефинансовыми активами: самый большой по численности (47%) – малообеспеченный слой, портфель активов которого включает только жилье, в трети случаев дополненное автомобилем; портфель следующего слоя (19%) с выраженным сельским профилем включает, помимо жилья, земельный участок и в трети случаев автомобиль. Вместе с домохозяйствами без нефинансовых активов эти слои составляют 70% совокупности. Четыре верхних имущественных слоя имеют три и более нефинансовых актива, они отличаются комбинацией активов в портфеле. Влияния социально-демографических и экономических детерминант на шансы оказаться в верхних слоях стратификации по нефинансовому богатству проявляются по тем же образцам, которые установлены зарубежными исследованиями богатства на основе стоимостных показателей: они выше для домохозяйств с устойчивым брачным ядром, при относительно высоком текущем доходе, в старшем возрасте (50–70 лет) при более низких шансах для молодых и самых пожилых. В целом более значимыми детерминантами оказываются, скорее, условия сохранения накопленной собственности, чем условия ее формирования.&#x0D;

Risk, asset pricing and monetary policy transmission in Europe: Evidence from a threshold-VAR approach

This paper investigates in how far monetary policy shocks impact European asset markets, conditional on different risk states. We distinguish between macroeconomic risk, economic-policy risk, and financial risk and separately extract three factors via principal component analysis from a set of candidate variables. These factors augment a threshold-vectorautoregressive model that contains assets and a short-rate. Impulse responses show that we indeed see state-dependency in the reaction of asset prices to monetary policy shocks. This indicates that asset markets distinguish between different types and states of risk. Investment-grade corporate bond yields show the most pronounced state-dependency if we distinguish between states of high and low economic-policy risk. Non-investment-grade corporate bond yields as well as equity of industrial firms face the strongest state-dependency for macroeconomic risk. Financial equity shows state-dependency for financial risk regimes. Further on, we illustrate that during periods of severe crisis, different risk regimes coincide. This impedes a clear delimitation among these three types of risk. As a consequence of our findings, monetary policy transmission via distinct asset prices highly depends on the degree of these different kinds of risk inherent in Europe.

Urban resilience and sustainability of the city of Gondar (Ethiopia) in the face of adverse historical changes

ABSTRACT Resilience and sustainability are concepts that are widely used in socio-ecological literature to assess the capacity of social and ecological systems to cope with hardship. Lately, these two concepts have gained importance in the planning literature as they are used in evaluating the resilience and adaptability of urban systems. Urban resilience refers to the ability of an urban system to adapt and fully function to maintain its form, structure and identity irrespective of hardship. Adaptability helps to understand the historical and cultural transformation of cities as they go through recovery after a major historical crisis. Based on concepts of resilience and sustainability, this paper analyses the historical transformation of the city of Gondar (Ethiopia) including the crises it faced in the 19th and early twentieth century. In the last hundred years, Gondar has struggled to maintain its historic identity and economic significance. This paper also identifies the strategic development measures that historic cities can take to revamp their economy and build a sustainable community. With a strong leadership and a visionary plan, historic cities can resort to their distinctive cultural resources and rich natural assets as they adapt to spur their economy and maintain their historic identity.

Improving productivity of a financial firm: business model evolution in the Caribbean

PurposeThis study explores the role of business model as a state variable during transformation of a financial institution to become a multinational enterprise. Prior studies of the Uppsala model overlooked business model evolution for cross-border productivity and performance.Design/methodology/approachThe research design employs the resource-based view for an in-depth case study of JMMB, a family-managed Jamaica-based financial firm, using data from primary and secondary sources, covering the period 1992 to 2014.FindingsJMMB's business model was the channel through which resources and capabilities gave rise to an innovative product for successful positioning in an international network. This was augmented by strong family orientation toward customer service, a distinctive asset that shaped the nature and trajectory of the business model. Cross-border alliancing and risk management were crucial dynamic capabilities for replicating the business model in foreign markets.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the observations are not generalizable to other firms, they indicate that a business model is a key unit of analysis for understanding how the firm makes the transition to become a multinational enterprise.Practical implicationsFinancial institutions may internationalize in a small island, developing stages through a strategy of focused product differentiation based on disruptive innovation with cross-border partnerships for ease of market entry and experiential learning.Social implicationsThe research has identified opportunities for effective and efficient work methods in pursuit of productivity gains.Originality/valueThe study is the first to illustrate business model as a state variable in the Uppsala model of multinational enterprise evolution for a financial firm.

Effectual Resource Allocation using Auction Mechanism in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing(CC) is one of the fastest emerging technology. As we all know, cloud is a wide pool of resource which provides resources based on the users request. Any service can be provided as a service through cloud. As the cloud contains many resources, there may also wastage of resources. To reduce this wastage, cloud providers enter into auctioning of resources when the demand is high. Cloud computing includes distinct resources. Because of the complementary and supplementary effects between distinct assets, bidders have preferences not for just a single resource but also for a set of resources. Auctioning for a bundle of resources is called mergeable auction (MA). Dynamic resource allocation in on demand for a bundle of resource is proposed by using MA – PROVISION algorithm and the scenarios are simulated using Cloudsim, a simulator meant for cloud computing analysis.

Technological Innovation, Intangible Capital, and Asset Prices

We review research on the asset pricing implications of models with innovation and intangible capital. In these models, technological innovation shocks propagate differently than standard total factor productivity shocks—and therefore have qualitatively distinct asset pricing implications. We discuss recent approaches to measuring intangible capital and innovation, many of which rely on the prices of financial securities. Last, we review models that explore the economic differences between intangible and innovation relative to other forms of investments—focusing on the role of human capital and cash-flow appropriability.

A Access of MBFD, Logo Allocator, MINLP and MWFDVP VM Placement Algorithm on Cloud Datacenter

allotted computing offers the distinct assets oninterest for the prevent customers on pay with regards to utilize via net affiliation. This has advanced the interest for figuring sources precept to the development of power intake inward datacenters. the most important undertaking is the means via which to dependability the blessings by diminishing the power usage associated with SLA. Powerfully merging the advanced contraption, which places the inert hubs to paintings hubs or switches off the unused host tool in datacenters by way of methods for relocating the virtual gadget stay from underloaded or over-burden have device. in this paper we've in examination 4 diverse advanced system arrangement set of concepts for the electricity intake, scope of VM relocation, SLA infringement (SLAV), execution debasement in light of Migration (PDM), SLA infringement Time according to dynamic host (SLATAH) and strength SLA infringement (ESV). to evaluate the association of ideas we've utilized the CloudSim activity toolbox and actual international works of art burden traces of planet lab VMs for our trial.

Load balancing in cloud computing using water wave algorithm

SummaryCloud computing as of late is a rising innovation for giving various administrations through internet to fulfil the requisites of clients dependent on needs with minimal expense. The client can benefit all kind of administration without building, observing, and keeping up the assets. Researchers developed distinctive asset planning calculation to satisfy the client requisites as per their condition. This article proposes a Water Wave Algorithm (WWA) for resource scheduling in cloud environment. The results for throughput, Response time, Turnaround time, Migration time, Resource utilization, Fault tolerance, and scalability over FCFS, MCT, MET, and OLB algorithms and the results prove that WWA provides better results for throughput, response time, resource utilization, and scalability.

The Concept of ‘Investment’ in the Digital Economy: The Case of Social Media Companies

Abstract The digitalization of commercial and private relations has seen the rise of companies – among the most valuable corporations in the global economy – that have operations in nearly every country in the world, while maintaining an almost exclusively digital (online) presence there. Using the example of social media companies, like Facebook and Twitter, this article argues that the component parts of companies’ digital operations, whether viewed as distinct assets or as an economic unit, may qualify as an “investment” in the countries where such companies offer their services, even though digital operations do not conform to conventional understandings of investment activity for purposes of international investment law.

Market risk and Bitcoin returns

Bitcoin is emerging as a distinct asset class among investors given its seemingly detached price behavior relative to market and economic fundamentals. Its incomparably high returns in recent years has further fuelled intense interest and investment into Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies at large. This paper cautions that Bitcoin prices, despite their seemingly attractive independent behavior relative to economic variables, may still be exposed to the same types of market risks which afflict the performance of conventional financial assets. Using a Markov regime-switching model to distinguish between regimes of high and low Bitcoin price volatility, this paper shows that while returns on the aggregate market portfolio cannot explain Bitcoin returns, other asset pricing risk factors, such as interest rates and implied stock market and foreign exchange market volatilities, are important determinants of Bitcoin returns. Distinguishing between periods of high and low Bitcoin price volatility reveals heterogeneity in the explanatory power of market risk factors; in particular, Bitcoin returns are more difficult to explain during periods of high volatility relative to periods with low volatility. This finding can partially explain why extant studies, which neglect to distinguish between exchange rate regimes in Bitcoin, have difficulty linking Bitcoin prices to economic fundamentals.

A Network for Computing Value Equilibrium in the Human Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Humans and other animals make decisions in order to satisfy their goals. However, it remains unknown how neural circuits compute which of multiple possible goals should be pursued (e.g., when balancing hunger and thirst) and how to combine these signals with estimates of available reward alternatives. Here, humans undergoing fMRI accumulated two distinct assets over a sequence of trials.Financial outcomes depended on the minimum cumulate of either asset, creating a need to maintain "value equilibrium" by redressing any imbalance among the assets. Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) tracked the level of imbalance among goals, whereas the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) signaled the level of redress incurred by a choice rather than the overall amount received. These results suggest that a network of medial frontal brain regions compute a value signal that maintains value equilibrium among internal goals.

Asset Market Equilibria in Cryptocurrency Markets: Evidence from a Study of Privacy and Non-Privacy Coins

This paper explores whether asset market equilibria in cryptocurrency markets exist. In doing so, it distinguishes between privacy and non-privacy coins. Most recently, privacy coins have attracted increasing attention in the public debate as non-privacy cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, do not satisfy some users’ demands for anonymity. Analyzing ten cryptocurrencies with the highest market capitalization in each sub-market in the 2016–2018 period, we find that privacy coins and non-privacy coins exhibit two distinct market equilibria. Contributing to the current debate on the market efficiency of cryptocurrency markets, our findings provide evidence of market inefficiency. Moreover, the asset market equilibrium of privacy coins appears to be unrelated to the market equilibrium in the non-privacy coin markets, implying that the privacy coin market is emerging as a distinct asset market among cryptocurrency markets.

Marine pigmented bacteria: A prospective source of antibacterial compounds

Antimicrobial properties of several nonpigmented bacteria isolated from the marine environment have been well understood. However, marine bacteria with distinct asset of pigmentation have not been studied intensively and explored unlike nonpigmented bacteria. Recently, several studies have found multidrug-resistant microbes against various diseases. Therefore, search for alternative novel and natural bioactive compounds is in demand at current research. Furthermore, the application of synthetic colorants in the food industry has several harmful effects; thus, exploring pigments from natural environments is important to substitute synthetic colorants. This review emphasizes marine pigmented bacteria as a potential alternative source of natural compounds as well as natural colorants. The antibacterial potential of marine bacterial pigmented compounds reported from the year 2000 to hitherto is detailed cogitatively in this review, along with the best-known paradigms of pigments such as prodigiosin and violacein. In parenthesis, some other important applications of well-studied prodigiosin and violacein pigment molecules are highlighted briefly.

Thinking like Capital markets – Financialisation of the Australian Construction Industry

The concept of financialisation has not yet become a major subject in mainstream construction economics research. This is surprising since construction risk, risk management and project financing have long been important issues for researchers and practitioners. This paper introduces the concept of financialisation, outlines its causes in the construction industry and identifies some effects. An important dimension of financialisation in the construction industry can be seen in the growing conversion of illiquid built assets into liquid financial instruments that have become a distinct global asset class. These liquid construction assets have become important to current risk management and profit strategies of developers, major construction firms and capital market investors. Five key drivers of financialisation in the construction industry are identified. The article finds that a principal effect of financialisation in construction is to intensify competition for access to global capital, which in turn reinforces long-established tendencies for risk shifting in the contractual chain. The Australian construction industry has been an early adopter of the key drivers of financialisation and is used in this article as a case study. In developing the case study analysis the article also draws on observations by major Australian construction industry associations and financial institutions.

Criticism in the History of the Modern Humanities: The Case of Literary Studies in the Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Netherlands

Critical thinking and delivering criticism of cultural products, practices, and events are traditionally considered a distinctive asset of humanities research and education. Today, the notion of critical thinking is still highly prevalent in humanities’ self-description. At the same time, the question of whether criticism should have an intrinsic role within humanities practice remains highly disputed, especially within disciplines such as literary studies and art history. This article traces the development of the debate surrounding criticism and scholarship in order to historically contextualize the contemporary discussion on the presumed critical task of the humanities scholar. It focuses on the history of literary studies in the Netherlands in order to investigate the specific ways literary scholars in the past have articulated and shaped criticism through their academic practice. Two case studies are analyzed in depth: the practice of W. J. A. Jonckbloet (1817–85) in the formation period at the end of the nineteenth century, and the practice of N. A. Donkersloot (1902–65) in the first half of the twentieth century. The analysis shows the profound fluidity of the term criticism and sheds light on the constant negotiation of the boundaries of scientific objectivity (when critical judgment is understood in terms of textual editing or as part of the quest for aesthetic laws) and artistic subjectivity (when critical judgment is understood in terms of artistic interpretation and evaluation of the object of study).