The impact of news on measures of undiversifiable risk: evidence from the UK stock market

Using UK equity index data, this paper considers the impact of news on time varying measures of beta, the usual measure of undiversifiable risk. The empirical model implies that beta depends on news about the market and news about the sector. The asymmetric response of beta to news about the market is consistent across all sectors considered. Recent research is divided as to whether abnormalities in equity returns arise from changes in expected returns in an efficient market or over-reactions to new information. The evidence suggests that such abnormalities may be due to changes in expected returns caused by time-variation and asymmetry in beta.

Can we explain the dynamics of the UK FTSE 100 stock and stock index futures markets?

If stock and stock index futures markets are functioning properly price movements in these markets should best be described by a first order vector error correction model with the error correction term being the price differential between the two markets (the basis). Recent evidence suggests that there are more dynamics present than should be in effectively functioning markets. Using self-exciting threshold autoregressive (SETAR) models, this study analyses whether such dynamics can be related to different regimes within which the basis can fluctuate in a predictable manner without triggering arbitrage. These findings reveal that the basis shows strong evidence of autoregressive behaviour when its value is between the two thresholds but that the extra dynamics disappear once the basis moves above the upper threshold and their persistence is reduced, although not eradicated, once the basis moves below the lower threshold. This suggests that once nonlinearity associated with transactions costs is accounted for, stock and stock index futures markets function more effectively than is suggested by linear models of the pricing relationship.

Caste, livelihoods and livestock: an exploration of the uptake of livestock vaccination adoption among poor farmers in India

The study explores the uptake of livestock vaccination among poor farming communities in Tamil Nadu State, India by revisiting innovation diffusion theory. Overall, 601 farmers participated in the study. We found the adoption of particular vaccines was strongly influenced by socio-cultural grouping i.e. caste, rather than other factors such as income, age, education-level or gender. Adoption was also related to specific knowledge frames regarding disease causality, rather than any wider ethno-veterinary beliefs. Thus, the adoption of livestock vaccination is unlikely to improve without knowledge transfer activities, which acknowledge both social divisions and local epistemologies regarding animal health. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Consequences of a coexistence policy on the adoption of GMHT crops in the European Union

This article examines the adoption of genetically modified herbicide tolerant (GMHT) crops in the European Union (EU) prior to its commercial release. A set of potential drivers including the implementation of coexistence measures by farmers, farmers’ own motivational factors (e.g. economic, environmental and technical factors) and perceived social pressure to accept or reject adoption may influence European Union farmers’ willingness to adopt GMHT oilseed rape and GMHT maize. The analysis includes economic and sociological factors. Results show that coexistence measures may hamper GMHT adoption in the EU.

A data framework for measuring the energy consumption of the non-domestic building stock

The transition to a low-carbon economy urgently demands better information on the drivers of energy consumption. UK government policy has prioritized energy efficiency in the built stock as a means of carbon reduction, but the sector is historically information poor, particularly the non-domestic building stock. This paper presents the results of a pilot study that investigated whether and how property and energy consumption data might be combined for non-domestic energy analysis. These data were combined in a ‘Non-Domestic Energy Efficiency Database’ to describe the location and physical attributes of each property and its energy consumption. The aim was to support the generation of a range of energy-efficiency statistics for the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors of the non-domestic building stock, and to provide robust evidence for national energy-efficiency and carbon-reduction policy development and monitoring. The work has brought together non-domestic energy data, property data and mapping in a ‘data framework’ for the first time. The results show what is possible when these data are integrated and the associated difficulties. A data framework offers the potential to inform energy-efficiency policy formation and to support its monitoring at a level of detail not previously possible.

The underpricing of IPOs on the stock exchange of Mauritius

This paper investigates the underpricing of IPOs on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM). Taking into account the whole population of firms which went public since the inception of the SEM until 2010, the results show an average degree of underpricing within the range 10 to 20%. Using a regression approach, we demonstrate that the aftermarket risk level and auditor's reputation both have a significant positive impact on initial returns. We propose the use of the Z-score as a composite measure of a firm's ex ante financial strength, and find that it has a significant negative effect on the degree of short-run underpricing.

Adoption of ICT among small business: vision vs. reality

The aim of this paper is to present a case study of the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) among 6000 small businesses within a locality of Greater Manchester, England. The paper presents an analysis of factors affecting adoption and discusses the wider implications for achieving the European vision of regional 'digital ecosystems".

Farm and socio-economic characteristics of smallholder milk producers and their influence on technology adoption in Central Mexico

In order to identify the factors influencing adoption of technologies promoted by government to small-scale dairy farmers in the highlands of central Mexico, a field survey was conducted. A total of 115 farmers were grouped through cluster analysis (CA) and divided into three wealth status categories (high, medium and low) using wealth ranking. Chi-square analysis was used to examine the association of wealth status with technology adoption. Four groups of farms were differentiated in terms of farms’ dimensions, farmers’ education, sources of incomes, wealth status, management of herd, monetary support by government and technological availability. Statistical differences (p < 0.05) were observed in the milk yield per herd per year among groups. Government organizations (GO) participated little in the promotion of the 17 technologies identified, six of which focused on crop or forage production and 11 of which were related to animal husbandry. Relatives and other farmers played an important role in knowledge diffusion and technology adoption. Although wealth status had a significant association (p < 0.05) with adoption, other factors including importance of the technology to farmers, usefulness and productive benefits of innovations together with farmers’ knowledge of them, were important. It is concluded that the analysis of the information per group and wealth status was useful to identify suitable crop or forage related and animal husbandry technologies per group and wealth status of farmers. Therefore the characterizations of farmers could provide a useful starting point for the design and delivery of more appropriate and effective extension.

Consumer robotic products: studying the factors that influence market adoption

The aim of this article is to identify the key factors that are associated with the adoption of a commercial robot in the home. This article is based on the development of the robot product Cybot by the University of Reading in conjunction with a publisher (Eaglemoss International Ltd.). The robots were distributed through a new part-work magazine series (Ultimate Real Robots) that had long-term customer usage and retention. A part-work is a serial publication that is issued periodically (e.g., every two weeks), usually in magazine format, and builds into a complete collection. This magazine focused on robotics and was accompanied by cover-mounted component parts that could be assembled, with instructions, by the user to build a working robot over the series. In total, the product contributed over half a million operational domestic robots to the world market, selling over 20 million robot part-work magazines across 18 countries, thereby providing a unique breadth of insight. Gaining a better understanding of the overall attitudes that customers of this product had toward robots in the home, their perception of what such devices could deliver and how they would wish to interact with them should provide results applicable to the domestic appliance, assistance/care, entertainment, and educational markets.