Factors affecting the site of investment, and the reliance on savings for arctic breeders : the capital–income dichotomy revisited

The extent to which migratory birds that breed in the Arctic and winter in southern biomes rely on residual body stores for reproduction is unresolved. The short arctic summer and the limited availability of food early in the season constrain the time available for successful reproduction. Birds that are able to bring sufficient endogenous reserves to the breeding ground to meet, at least partially, the demands of egg-laying can initiate clutch production soon after arrival, thereby shortening the length of the breeding season and improving the chances of reproductive success. The amount of reserves available will be influenced by body size, the increased energetic and predation costs associated with carrying large stores, distances between staging sites and the location of the breeding grounds within the Arctic. Birds need not fly directly to the breeding grounds from the established temperate staging sites. Extensive feeding by migrants may occur in the Arctic, even within a few kilometres of the breeding sites as the birds track the retreating snowline. Irrespective of their size, birds are thus able to store some resources necessary for egg laying at local or regional scales. It is thus important to make a distinction between local capital and distant capital breeding. The extent to which a bird is characterized as a distant capital, local capital, or an income breeder not only varies between species, but also between individuals and seasons.

Dynamically opted protection envelope (DOPE) - A cost-effective strategy of insuring an investment portfolio

Popular ways of hedging downside risk of a stock portfolio is by means of a constant proportion portfolio insurance (CPPI) strategy or by means of an options-based portfolio insurance strategy (OBPI). However both have drawbacks in terms of practical applicability given transaction costs. Moreover they are not useful in times of very low liquidity e.g. in a market crash. Here we shall first review the common portfolio insurance techniques and then posit an alternative approach using a zero-coupon bond to extract downside coverage to the extent desired by an investor. While the posited strategy will not guarantee full downside protection for the entire investment horizon, it is unaffected by transaction costs resulting from need to periodically reallocate funds and is a lot easier to implement practically compared to options-based strategies. Unlike CPPI and OBPI, it will work in a crash situation too.

A synthetic protective put strategy for phased investment in projects without an outright deferral

This paper proposes and computationally demonstrates a synthetic protective put strategy for real options. Specifically, it deals with the problem of deferral option when an outright deferral is not permissible owing to competitive pressures. It is demonstrated that, in such a situation, an appropriate strategy would be to invest in the new project in phases rather than doing it all at once. The replicating portfolio for a protective put on the project is obtained by setting the owner’s equity in the project equal to the price of a call option on the value of the project. This is a logical extension of the financial protective put to the real options scenario and is relatively simple and practicable for businesses to adopt and apply.

Psychometric properties of a scale to measure investment in the sick role : the Illness Cognitions Scale

Rationale, aims and objectives A person’s beliefs about their illness may contribute to recovery and prognosis. Some degree of acceptance of illness and its impact is necessary to integrate the presence of a chronic disorder into one’s lifestyle and adhere to necessary components of illness management; however, some individuals can become ‘stuck’ and have difficulty adjusting out of the sick role. Inventories exist to measure illness cognitions, attitudes and behaviours as they relate to hypochondria and psychosomatic illness, but there is no extant measure of sick role inertia.We describe the psychometric properties of a new scale, the Illness Cognitions Scale (ICS), a metric of investment in the sick role.

Methods The ICS was administered to 97 individuals with bipolar or schizoaffective disorder, and the psychometric properties of the scale measured. Dimensionality was assessed using Principal Components Analysis with Oblimin rotation.

Results The scale has a strong internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.858. Results of a factor analysis suggested the presence of one main factor, with three other smaller, related sub-factors, capturing aspects of maladaptive illness beliefs.

Conclusion The ICS is a 17-item, internally validated scale measuring difficulty adjusting out of the sick role. The scale predominantly measures a single construct. Further research on external validity of the ICS is required as well as determination of the clinical significance and patient acceptability of the scale.

Explaining organizational investment in CRM point solutions

This paper asks why organisations invest in non-integrated CRM point solutions when many of the benefits of enterprise systems are claimed to be due to integration of processes and information. This paper identifies six factors that explain why organisations invest in CRM point solutions: reduced risk; lower cost; quick benefits realization; low integration ability, low interdependence of business units, and high business-unit differentiation. The evidence suggests that when interdependence between parts of an organization is low, possibly due to one unit producing a clearly differentiated product, the attractions of lower risk, lower cost, and/or faster access to the benefits are likely to induce organizations to adopt CRM point solutions. The contribution of this study is that it recognizes that, and explains why, it is not always optimal for organizations to adopt integrated CRM solutions.

Social cognitive theory in mobile banking innovations

This paper examines the behavior Australian youths have toward mobile banking. Social cognitive theory is the theoretical framework in which a conceptual model is empirically tested. The conceptual model includes five constructs (media, modeling, outcome expectancy, learning orientation and entrepreneurial orientation), which are proposed to influence an individual’s intention to adopt mobile banking. The conceptual model is tested in a sample of Australian youths and the analysis supports a portion of the proposed conceptual model. The findings support the link between the media and an individual’s entrepreneurial orientation with their intention to adopt mobile banking. The paper demonstrates how social cognitive theory is a useful foundation to understand the external and internal stimuli that influence an individual’s desire to adopt mobile banking.

Mobile banking innovations and entrepreneurial adoption decisions

This paper examines an individual’s entrepreneurial adoption decisions to use mobile banking for both business and social reasons. A conceptual model based on social cognitive theory is developed to explain an individual’s propensity to adopt mobile banking. The theoretical framework examines how advertising, experience, perceived risk, learning inclination, and entrepreneurial proclivity influence a person’s intention to use mobile banking. This paper stresses the role of financial risk in determining a person’s intention to use mobile banking and whether their entrepreneurial nature is influenced by their experience and advertising they are subjected to about the advantages or disadvantages of mobile banking. This paper ties together research on technological innovation with entrepreneurship and learning studies. The author stresses the importance for financial institutions to market the innovativeness of mobile banking whilst addressing security concerns. The impact of a person’s social environment through personal contacts and acquaintances underpins social cognitive theory and helps to understand the motives for a person adopting mobile banking. The paper integrates mobile banking literature with current thinking on the importance of entrepreneurship and learning influences to how a person adopts a technological innovation.

A survey of value-at-risk and its role in the banking industry

This paper discusses the various aspects of Value-at-Risk (VaR) and the VaR-based risk management process as it pertains to the banking industry. Since its inception in the 1990’s, VaR has become the industry standard by which market risk is both measured and managed by financial institutions today. However, there has been much debate regarding VaR’s validity and the extent of its role within the banking industry. Yet, now that it is an integral part of the regulatory framework, establishing VaR’s legitimacy is more important than ever. Therefore, this paper examines the recent literature on VaR’s use as a market risk management tool within the banking environment in an attempt to clarify some of the more contentious issues which have been raised by researchers. The discussion begins by highlighting the underlying theory on which VaR is based, specific aspects which have proven controversial and its use from a regulatory perspective. The focus then turns to what little literature exists on the subject of VaR and asset returns in an attempt to provide some direction for future research.

Entrepreneurship, e-finance and mobile banking

This paper focuses on the role of entrepreneurship and e-finance in determining a person's intention to adopt mobile banking. The approach utilised in this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that includes a number of propositions that are developed and justified by the literature. The main findings of this paper are that people's entrepreneurial inclination and learning tendency will determine how they respond to marketing and knowledge about mobile banking. The practical implications are that financial institutions involved in e-finance can focus their marketing efforts at increasing people's exposure to mobile banking.