Discrete time models of the term structure of interest rates and interest rate contingent claims

In this study, discrete time one-factor models of the term structure of interest rates and their application to the pricing of interest rate contingent claims are examined theoretically and empirically. The first chapter provides a discussion of the issues involved in the pricing of interest rate contingent claims and a description of the Ho and Lee (1986), Maloney and Byrne (1989), and Black, Derman, and Toy (1990) discrete time models. In the second chapter, a general discrete time model of the term structure from which the Ho and Lee, Maloney and Byrne, and Black, Derman, and Toy models can all be obtained is presented. The general model also provides for the specification of an additional model, the ExtendedMB model. The third chapter illustrates the application of the discrete time models to the pricing of a variety of interest rate contingent claims. In the final chapter, the performance of the Ho and Lee, Black, Derman, and Toy, and ExtendedMB models in the pricing of Eurodollar futures options is investigated empirically. The results indicate that the Black, Derman, and Toy and ExtendedMB models outperform the Ho and Lee model. Little difference in the performance of the Black, Derman, and Toy and ExtendedMB models is detected. ^

How source credibility and message claims interact in determining advertising effectiveness

Credible endorsers are often used in advertisements. However, there is conflicting evidence on the role source credibility plays in persuasion. Early research found that source credibility affects persuasion when subjects pay attention to the communication. Other research indicates that a credible source enhances persuasion when people do not scrutinize the message claims carefully and thoroughly. This effect is opposite to what was indicated by early research. More recent research indicates that source credibility may affect persuasion when people scrutinize the message claims, but limits this effect to advertisements with certain type of claims (i.e., ambiguous or extreme claims). This dissertation proposes that source credibility might play a broader role during persuasion than suggested by the empirical literature. Source credibility may affect persuasion, at low levels of involvement, by serving as a peripheral cue. It may also affect persuasion, at high involvement, by serving as an argument or biasing elaboration. ^ Each of these possibilities was explored in an experiment using a 3 (source credibility) x 2 (type of claim) x 2 (levels of involvement) full factorial design. The sample consisted of 180 undergraduate students from a major southeastern University. ^ Results indicated that, at high levels of involvement, the credibility of the source affected persuasion. This effect was due to source credibility acting as an argument within the advertisement. This study did not find that source credibility affected persuasion by biasing elaboration, at high involvement, or by serving as a peripheral cue, at low involvement. ^

A reliable and robust algorithm to identify episodes of hospitalizations using RAMQ medical services claims : methodology issues & data validation

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

A reliable and robust algorithm to identify episodes of hospitalizations using RAMQ medical services claims : methodology issues & data validation

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Epistemic Modality in Linguistic and Literature Essays in English : A comparative corpus-based study of modal verbs in student claims

This study is a corpus-based comparison between student essays written in the subject areas of English linguistics and literature at undergraduate level. They are 200 Bachelor degree theses submitted at a variety of university departments (such as English, Language and Literature, Humanities, Social and Intercultural Studies) in Sweden. The comparison concerns frequencies of core modal verbs and how often they occur together with the I, we and it subject pronouns and in the structures this/the [essay, study, project, thesis] when students attempt to communicate their personal claims. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the essays show few similarities in the ways that core modal verbs appear in both disciplines. The results indicate mainly distinct differences, especially in relation to clusters and variation of performative verbs. Specific patterns in the ways that students use core modal verbs as hedges have also been identified.

Experimental Evidence that Retaliation Claims Are Unlike Other Employment Discrimination Claims

The type of discrimination claim that strikes fear in the hearts of all employers is the dreaded retaliation claim. While employers contend, and plaintiffs admit, that retaliation is different from other discrimination complaints, employee advocates have put forth legislation that would equalize retaliation with the other types of discrimination. This bill, Protecting Older Workers against Discrimination Act (POWADA), would expand the so-called mixed-motive jury instruction to age, and disability, as well as retaliation. Moreover, it would allow plaintiffs, not judges, to decide which types of instruction the jury would receive. In this article, the authors argue that retaliation claims should not receive the same treatment as other discrimination claims (including age and disability), because it’s easy for juries to believe that retaliation is a factor, regardless of other facts. Once a fact-finding jury checks the box to indicate that an employer’s motive might include retaliation, the employer will likely have to pay fees and costs, at minimum, regardless of the claim’s final resolution.

Dissonant Belonging and the Making of Community: Native Hawaiian Claims to Selfhood and Home

In 1898 the United States illegally annexed the Hawaiian Islands over the protests of Queen Liliʽuokalani and the Hawaiian people. American hegemony has been deepened in the intervening years through a range of colonizing practices that alienate Kanaka Maoli, the indigenous people of Hawaiʽi, from their land and culture. Dissonant Belonging and the Making of Community is an exploration of contemporary Hawaiian peoplehood that reclaims indigenous conceptions of multiethnicity from colonizing narratives of nation and race. Drawing from archival holdings at the University of Hawaiʽi, Mānoa and in-depth interviews, this project offers an analysis of public and everyday discourses of nation, race, and peoplehood to trace the discursive struggle over Local identity and politics. A context-specific social formation in Hawaiʽi, “Local” is commonly understood as a multiethnic identity that has its roots in working-class, ethnic minority culture of the mid-twentieth century. However, American discourses of race and, later, multiethnicity have functioned to render invisible the indigenous roots of this social formation. Dissonant Belonging and the Making of Community reclaims these roots as an important site of indigenous resistance to American colonialism. It traces, on the one hand, the ways in which Native Hawaiian resistance has been alternately erased and appropriated. On the other hand, it explores the meanings of Local identity to Native Hawaiians and the ways in which indigenous conceptions of multiethnicity enabled a thriving community under conditions of colonialism.

Nutrition and health claims in products directed at children via television in Spain in 2012

Objective: To describe the use of nutrition and health claims in products directed at children via television in Spain and to analyse their nutrient profile. Methods: A cross-sectional study of television food advertisements over 7 days in five Spanish television channels popular among children. The products were classified as core, non-core or miscellaneous, and as either healthy or less healthy, according to the United Kingdom Nutrient Profile Model. We registered all claims contained on the product (packaging and labelling) and its advertisement. We calculated the frequency distributions of health and nutrition claims. Results: During the 420 hours of broadcasting, 169 food products were identified, 28.5% in the dairy group and 60.9% in the non-core category. A total of 53.3% of products contained nutrition claims and 26.6% contained health claims; 62.2% of the products with claims were less healthy. Low-fat dairy products were the food category containing the highest percentage of health and nutrition claims. Conclusion: Over half of all food products marketed to children via television in Spain made some type of nutrition or health claim. Most of these products were less healthy, which could mislead Spanish consumers.

Equality of opportunity, cultural diversity and claims for fairness

The present paper examines some of the tensions, problems and challenges associated with claims for equality of opportunity (the fairness argument). The introductory part identifies three separate forms of justification for public education, including the argument associated with equality of opportunity. Part II examines in detail two questions that reveal part of the anatomy of equality of opportunity: (1) what an opportunity is, and (2) when individuals’ opportunities are equal. This is followed by a presentation of the two basic principles of equality of opportunity: (1) the principle of non-discrimination, and (2) the “levelling the playing field” principle. The next part takes up the multiculturalist hypothesis advanced by minority groups for the accommodation and recognition of cultural diversity. This is followed by the identification of a set of claims comprising the “fairness argument”. The last section focuses on the “currency problem” associated with cultural diversity as a form of “unfair disadvantage”. Part V examines two of the major shortcomings associated with the multicultural conception of equality of opportunity, while the concluding part discusses some of the questions that must be answered by any conception of equal opportunities. (DIPF/Orig.)

Reconciling History and International Law: Territorial and Maritime Claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea

High-ranking Chinese military officials are often quoted in international media as stating that China cannot afford to lose even an inch of Chinese territory, as this territory has been passed down from Chinese ancestors. Such statements are not new in Chinese politics, but recently this narrative has made an important transition. While previously limited to disputes over land borders, such rhetoric is now routinely applied to disputes involving islands and maritime borders. China is increasingly oriented toward its maritime borders and seems unwilling to compromise on delimitation disputes, a transition mirrored by many states across the globe. In a similar vein, scholarship has found that territorial disputes are particularly intractable and volatile when compared with other types of disputes, and a large body of research has grappled with producing systematic knowledge of territorial conflict. Yet in this wide body of literature, an important question has remained largely unanswered - how do states determine which geographical areas will be included in their territorial and maritime claims? In other words, if nations are willing to fight and die for an inch of national territory, how do governments draw the boundaries of the nation? This dissertation uses in-depth case studies of some of the most prominent territorial and maritime disputes in East Asia to argue that domestic political processes play a dominant and previously under-explored role in both shaping claims and determining the nature of territorial and maritime disputes. China and Taiwan are particularly well suited for this type of investigation, as they are separate claimants in multiple disputes, yet they both draw upon the same historical record when establishing and justifying their claims. Leveraging fieldwork in Taiwan, China, and the US, this dissertation includes in-depth case studies of China’s and Taiwan’s respective claims in both the South China Sea and East China Sea disputes. Evidence from this dissertation indicates that officials in both China and Taiwan have struggled with how to reconcile history and international law when establishing their claims, and that this struggle has introduced ambiguity into China's and Taiwan's claims. Amid this process, domestic political dynamics have played a dominant role in shaping the options available and the potential for claims to change in the future. In Taiwan’s democratic system, where national identity is highly contested through party politics, opinions vary along a broad spectrum as to the proper borders of the nation, and there is considerable evidence that Taiwan’s claims may change in the near future. In contrast, within China’s single-party authoritarian political system, where nationalism is source of regime legitimacy, views on the proper interpretation of China’s boundaries do vary, but along a much more narrow range. In the dissertation’s final chapter, additional cases, such as South Korea’s position on Dokdo and Indonesia’s approach to the defense of Natuna are used as points of comparison to further clarify theoretical findings.

Health, hygiene and biosecurity: tribal knowledge claims in the UK poultry industry

Since 1997 the world has been facing the threat of a human influenza pandemic that may be caused by an avian virus and the poultry industry around the globe has been grappling with the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza H5N1, or in more informal terms bird flu. The UK poultry industry has lived with and through this threat and its consequences since 2005. This study investigates knowledge claims about health, hygiene and biosecurity as tools to ward off the threat from this virus. It takes a semi-ethnographic and discourse analytic approach to analyse a small corpus of semi-structured interviews carried out in the wake of one of the most publicised outbreaks of H5N1 in Suffolk in 2007. It reveals that claims about what best to do to protect flocks against the risk of disease are divided along lines imposed on the one hand by the structure of the industry and on the other by more 'tribal' lines drawn by knowledge and belief systems about purity and dirt, health and hygiene.

Analysis of the claims data of a life insurance portfolio

Mestrado em Ciências Actuariais