The value of dividend imputation tax credits in Australia

A dividend imputation tax system provides shareholders with a credit (for corporate tax paid) that can be used to offset personal tax on dividend income. This paper shows how to infer the value of imputation tax credits from the prices of derivative securities that are unique to Australian retail markets. We also test whether a tax law amendment that was designed to prevent the trading of imputation credits affected their economic value. Before the amendment, tax credits were worth up to 50% of face value in large, high-yielding companies, but Subsequently it is difficult to detect any value at all. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electronic commerce investments, the resource-based view of the firm, and firm market value

Firms have embraced electronic commerce as a means of doing business, either because they see it as a way to improve efficiency, grow market share, expand into new markets, or because they view it as essential for survival. Recent research in the United States provides some evidence that the market does value investments in electronic commerce. Following research that suggests that, in certain circumstances, the market values noninnovative investments as well as innovative investments in new products, we partition electronic commerce investment project announcements into innovative and noninnovative to determine whether there are excess returns associated with these types of announcements. Apart from our overall results being consistent with the United States findings that the market values investments in electronic commerce projects, we also find that noninnovative investments are perceived as more valuable to the firm than innovative investments. On average, the market expects innovative investments to earn a return commensurate with their risk. We conclude that innovative electronic commerce projects are most likely seen by the capital market as easily replicable, and consequently have little, if any, competitive advantage period. On the other hand, we conclude from the noninnovative investment results that these types of investments are seen as being compatible with a firm's assets-in-place, in particular, its information technology capabilities, a view consistent with the resource-based view of the firm.

Regression to the mean: what it is and how to deal with it

Background Regression to the mean (RTM) is a statistical phenomenon that can make natural variation in repeated data look like real change. It happens when unusually large or small measurements tend to be followed by measurements that are closer to the mean. Methods We give some examples of the phenomenon, and discuss methods to overcome it at the design and analysis stages of a study. Results The effect of RTM in a sample becomes more noticeable with increasing measurement error and when follow-up measurements are only examined on a sub-sample selected using a baseline value. Conclusions RTM is a ubiquitous phenomenon in repeated data and should always be considered as a possible cause of an observed change. Its effect can be alleviated through better study design and use of suitable statistical methods.

The value of a small microkernel for dreamy memory and the RAMpage memory hierarchy

This paper explores potential for the RAMpage memory hierarchy to use a microkernel with a small memory footprint, in a specialized cache-speed static RAM (tightly-coupled memory, TCM). Dreamy memory is DRAM kept in low-power mode, unless referenced. Simulations show that a small microkernel suits RAMpage well, in that it achieves significantly better speed and energy gains than a standard hierarchy from adding TCM. RAMpage, in its best 128KB L2 case, gained 11% speed using TCM, and reduced energy 14%. Equivalent conventional hierarchy gains were under 1%. While 1MB L2 was significantly faster against lower-energy cases for the smaller L2, the larger SRAM's energy does not justify the speed gain. Using a 128KB L2 cache in a conventional architecture resulted in a best-case overall run time of 2.58s, compared with the best dreamy mode run time (RAMpage without context switches on misses) of 3.34s, a speed penalty of 29%. Energy in the fastest 128KB L2 case was 2.18J vs. 1.50J, a reduction of 31%. The same RAMpage configuration without dreamy mode took 2.83s as simulated, and used 2.39J, an acceptable trade-off (penalty under 10%) for being able to switch easily to a lower-energy mode.

Does the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program provide value for money?

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the economic case for the implementation of the Triple P- Positive Parenting Program on a population basis in Queensland, Australia, in order to reduce the prevalence of conduct disorder in children. Method: Threshold analysis was undertaken together with a limited cost-effectiveness analysis. Results: The Triple P-Positive Parenting Program is a dominant intervention; that is, it costs less than the amount it saves, until the reduction in prevalence falls below 7% where net costs become positive. Conclusions: Triple P is likely to be a worthwhile use of limited health funds. The economic case is promising, but further research is required to confirm the study results.

Power generation investment opportunities evaluation: A comparison between net present value and real options approach

To evaluate an investment project in the competitive electricity market, there are several key factors that affects the project's value: the present value that the project could bring to investor, the possible future course of actions that investor has and the project's management flexibility. The traditional net present value (NPV) criteria has the ability to capture the present value of the project's future cash flow, but it fails to assess the value brought by market uncertainty and management flexibility. By contrast with NPV, the real options approach (ROA) method has the advantage to combining the uncertainty and flexibility in evaluation process. In this paper, a framework for using ROA to evaluate the generation investment opportunity has been proposed. By given a detailed case study, the proposed framework is compared with NPV and showing a different results