Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, 2008

In accordance with Iowa Code Section421.3(5), we are please to submit the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the State of Iowa for the fiscal year ending in June 2008. The Department of Administrative Services is responsible for both the accuracy in all materials respects and the necessary disclosures have been made which enable the reader to obtain an understanding of the State's financial activity. This report is prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for governments Standards Board (GASB).

Wireless E911 Emergency Communications Fund Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division of the Iowa Department of Public Defense independent auditor's reports, basic financial statements and supplementary information, June 30, 2010.

Audit report on the Wireless E911 Emergency Communications Fund of the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division of the Iowa Department of Public Defense for the year ended June 30, 2010

Do PES Improve the Governance of Forest Restoration?

Payments for Environmental Services (PES) are praised as innovative policy instruments and they influence the governance of forest restoration efforts in two major ways. The first is the establishment of multi-stakeholder agencies as intermediary bodies between funders and planters to manage the funds and to distribute incentives to planters. The second implication is that specific contracts assign objectives to land users in the form of conditions for payments that are believed to increase the chances for sustained impacts on the ground. These implications are important in the assessment of the potential of PES to operate as new and effective funding schemes for forest restoration. They are analyzed by looking at two prominent payments for watershed service programs in Indonesia-Cidanau (Banten province in Java) and West Lombok (Eastern Indonesia)-with combined economic and political science approaches. We derive lessons for the governance of funding efforts (e.g., multi-stakeholder agencies are not a guarantee of success; mixed results are obtained from a reliance on mandatory funding with ad hoc regulations, as opposed to voluntary contributions by the service beneficiary) and for the governance of financial expenditure (e.g., absolute need for evaluation procedures for the internal governance of farmer groups). Furthermore, we observe that these governance features provide no guarantee that restoration plots with the highest relevance for ecosystem services are targeted by the PES

Term structure of interest rates. European financial integration

In this paper we estimate, analyze and compare the term structures of interest rates in six different countries over the period 1992-2004. We apply the Nelson-Siegel model to obtain the term structures of interest rates at weekly intervals. A total of 4,038 curves are estimated and analyzed. Four European Monetary Union countries¿Spain, France, Germany and Italy¿are included. The UK is also included as a European non-member of the Monetary Union. Finally the US completes the analysis. The goal is to determine the differences in the shapes of the term structure of interest rates among these countries. Likewise, we can determine the most usual term structure shapes that appear for each country.*****

Financial Integration, Trade Openness and International Transmission

[cat] Com afecten l’obertura comercial i financera a la volatilitat macroeconòmica? La literatura existent, tant empírica com teòrica, no ha assolit encara un consens. Aquest article usa un model microfonamentat de dos països simètrics amb entrada endògena d’empreses per estudiar-ho. L’anàlisis es du a terme per tres règims econòmics diferents amb diferents nivells d’integració internacional: una economia tancada, una autarquia financera i una integració plena. Es consideren diversos nivells d’obertura comercial, en forma de biaix domèstic de la demanda i l’economia pot patir pertorbacions en la productivitat del treball i en innovació. El model conclou que la incertesa macroeconòmica, representada principalment per la volatilitat del consum, la producció i la relació real d’intercanvi internacional, depèn del grau d’obertura i del tipus de pertorbació.

An eclectic third generation model of financial and exchange rate crises

[cat] En aquest treball es presenta un model eclèctic que sistematitza la dinàmica de les crisis que s’autoconfimen, usant els principals aspectes de les tres tipologies dels models de crisis canviàries de tercera generació, amb la finalitat de descriure els fets que precipiten la renúncia al manteniment d’una paritat fixada. Les contribucions més notables són les implicacions per a la política econòmica, així com la pèrdua del paper del tipus de canvi com instrument d’ajust macroeconòmic, quan els efectes de balanç són una possibilitat real.

Three essays in financial economics: asset pricing, optimal portfolio selection and financial integration

Executive Summary The unifying theme of this thesis is the pursuit of a satisfactory ways to quantify the riskureward trade-off in financial economics. First in the context of a general asset pricing model, then across models and finally across country borders. The guiding principle in that pursuit was to seek innovative solutions by combining ideas from different fields in economics and broad scientific research. For example, in the first part of this thesis we sought a fruitful application of strong existence results in utility theory to topics in asset pricing. In the second part we implement an idea from the field of fuzzy set theory to the optimal portfolio selection problem, while the third part of this thesis is to the best of our knowledge, the first empirical application of some general results in asset pricing in incomplete markets to the important topic of measurement of financial integration. While the first two parts of this thesis effectively combine well-known ways to quantify the risk-reward trade-offs the third one can be viewed as an empirical verification of the usefulness of the so-called "good deal bounds" theory in designing risk-sensitive pricing bounds. Chapter 1 develops a discrete-time asset pricing model, based on a novel ordinally equivalent representation of recursive utility. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to use a member of a novel class of recursive utility generators to construct a representative agent model to address some long-lasting issues in asset pricing. Applying strong representation results allows us to show that the model features countercyclical risk premia, for both consumption and financial risk, together with low and procyclical risk free rate. As the recursive utility used nests as a special case the well-known time-state separable utility, all results nest the corresponding ones from the standard model and thus shed light on its well-known shortcomings. The empirical investigation to support these theoretical results, however, showed that as long as one resorts to econometric methods based on approximating conditional moments with unconditional ones, it is not possible to distinguish the model we propose from the standard one. Chapter 2 is a join work with Sergei Sontchik. There we provide theoretical and empirical motivation for aggregation of performance measures. The main idea is that as it makes sense to apply several performance measures ex-post, it also makes sense to base optimal portfolio selection on ex-ante maximization of as many possible performance measures as desired. We thus offer a concrete algorithm for optimal portfolio selection via ex-ante optimization over different horizons of several risk-return trade-offs simultaneously. An empirical application of that algorithm, using seven popular performance measures, suggests that realized returns feature better distributional characteristics relative to those of realized returns from portfolio strategies optimal with respect to single performance measures. When comparing the distributions of realized returns we used two partial risk-reward orderings first and second order stochastic dominance. We first used the Kolmogorov Smirnov test to determine if the two distributions are indeed different, which combined with a visual inspection allowed us to demonstrate that the way we propose to aggregate performance measures leads to portfolio realized returns that first order stochastically dominate the ones that result from optimization only with respect to, for example, Treynor ratio and Jensen's alpha. We checked for second order stochastic dominance via point wise comparison of the so-called absolute Lorenz curve, or the sequence of expected shortfalls for a range of quantiles. As soon as the plot of the absolute Lorenz curve for the aggregated performance measures was above the one corresponding to each individual measure, we were tempted to conclude that the algorithm we propose leads to portfolio returns distribution that second order stochastically dominates virtually all performance measures considered. Chapter 3 proposes a measure of financial integration, based on recent advances in asset pricing in incomplete markets. Given a base market (a set of traded assets) and an index of another market, we propose to measure financial integration through time by the size of the spread between the pricing bounds of the market index, relative to the base market. The bigger the spread around country index A, viewed from market B, the less integrated markets A and B are. We investigate the presence of structural breaks in the size of the spread for EMU member country indices before and after the introduction of the Euro. We find evidence that both the level and the volatility of our financial integration measure increased after the introduction of the Euro. That counterintuitive result suggests the presence of an inherent weakness in the attempt to measure financial integration independently of economic fundamentals. Nevertheless, the results about the bounds on the risk free rate appear plausible from the view point of existing economic theory about the impact of integration on interest rates.

Three essays in risk management in financial institutions

The choice to adopt risk-sensitive measurement approaches for operational risks: the case of Advanced Measurement Approach under Basel II New Capital Accord This paper investigates the choice of the operational risk approach under Basel II requirements and whether the adoption of advanced risk measurement approaches allows banks to save capital. Among the three possible approaches for operational risk measurement, the Advanced Measurement Approach (AMA) is the most sophisticated and requires the use of historical loss data, the application of statistical tools, and the engagement of a highly qualified staff. Our results provide evidence that the adoption of AMA is contingent on the availability of bank resources and prior experience in risk-sensitive operational risk measurement practices. Moreover, banks that choose AMA exhibit low requirements for capital and, as a result might gain a competitive advantage compared to banks that opt for less sophisticated approaches. - Internal Risk Controls and their Impact on Bank Solvency Recent cases in financial sector showed the importance of risk management controls on risk taking and firm performance. Despite advances in the design and implementation of risk management mechanisms, there is little research on their impact on behavior and performance of firms. Based on data from a sample of 88 banks covering the period between 2004 and 2010, we provide evidence that internal risk controls impact the solvency of banks. In addition, our results show that the level of internal risk controls leads to a higher degree of solvency in banks with a major shareholder in contrast to widely-held banks. However, the relationship between internal risk controls and bank solvency is negatively affected by BHC growth strategies and external restrictions on bank activities, while the higher regulatory requirements for bank capital moderates positively this relationship. - The Impact of the Sophistication of Risk Measurement Approaches under Basel II on Bank Holding Companies Value Previous research showed the importance of external regulation on banks' behavior. Some inefficient standards may accentuate risk-taking in banks and provoke a financial crisis. Despite the growing literature on the potential effects of Basel II rules, there is little empirical research on the efficiency of risk-sensitive capital measurement approaches and their impact on bank profitability and market valuation. Based on data from a sample of 66 banks covering the period between 2008 and 2010, we provide evidence that prudential ratios computed under Basel II standards predict the value of banks. However, this relation is contingent on the degree of sophistication of risk measurement approaches that banks apply. Capital ratios are effective in predicting bank market valuation when banks adopt the advanced approaches to compute the value of their risk-weighted assets.

Audit report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting of the State University of Iowa as of and for the year ended June 30, 2011

Audit report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting of the State University of Iowa as of and for the year ended June 30, 2011

Independent auditor’s report of the State of Iowa on internal control over financial reporting and on compliance and other matters based on an audit of financial statements performed in accordance with government auditing standards for the year ended June 30, 2011

Independent auditor’s report of the State of Iowa on internal control over financial reporting and on compliance and other matters based on an audit of financial statements performed in accordance with government auditing standards for the year ended June 30, 2011

Jackson County Sanitary Disposal Agency independent auditor's reports, basic financial statements and required supplementary information, schedule of findings, June 30, 2011

Audit report on the Jackson County Sanitary Disposal Agency for the year ended June 30, 2011

Multidimensionnalité des violences envers les femmes. La Suisse en regard des États-Unis: pertinence et validité d'une comparaison

Summary : International comparisons in the area of victimization, particularly in the field of violence against women, are fraught with methodological problems that previous research has not systematically addressed, and whose answer does not seem to be agreed up~n. For obvious logistic and financial reasons, international studies on violence against women (i.e. studies that administer the same instrument in different countries). are seldom; therefore, researchers are bound to resort to secondary comparisons. Many studies simply juxtapose their results to the ones of previous wòrk or to findings obtained in different contexts, in order to offer an allegedly comparative perspective to their conclusions. If, most of the time, researchers indicate the methodological limitations of a direct comparison, it is not rare that these do not result in concrete methodological controls. Yet, many studies have shown the influence of surveys methodological parameters on findings, listing recommendations fora «best practice» of research. Although, over the past decades, violence against women surveys have become more and more similar -tending towards a sort of uniformization that could be interpreted as a passive consensus -these instruments retain more or less subtle differences that are still susceptible to influence the validity of a comparison. Yet, only a small number of studies have directly worked on the comparability of violence against women data, striving to control the methodological parameters of the surveys in order to guarantee the validity of their comparisons. The goal of this work is to compare data from two national surveys on violence against women: the Swiss component of the International Violence Against Women Survey [CH-IVAWS] and the National Violence Against Women Survey [NVAWS] administered in the United States. The choice of these studies certainly ensues from the author's affiliations; however, it is far from being trivial. Indeed, the criminological field currently endows American and Anglo-Saxon literature with a predominant space, compelling researchers from other countries to almost do the splits to interpret their results in the light of previous work or to develop effective interventions in their own context. Turning to hypotheses or concepts developed in a specific framework inevitably raises the issue of their applicability to another context, i.e. the Swiss context, if not at least European. This problematic then takes on an interest that goes beyond the particular topic of violence against women, adding to its relevance. This work articulates around three axes. First, it shows the way survey characteristics influence estimates. The comparability of the nature of the CH-IVAWS and NVAWS, their sampling design and the characteristics of their administration are discussed. The definitions used, the operationalization of variables based on comparable items, the control of reference periods, as well as the nature of the victim-offender relationship are included among controlled factors. This study establishes content validity within and across studies, presenting a systematic process destined to maximize the comparability of secondary data. Implications of the process are illustrated with the successive presentation of comparable and non-comparable operationalizations of computed variables. Measuring violence against. women in Switzerland and the United-States, this work compares the prevalence of different forms (threats, physical violence and sexual violence) and types of violence (partner and nonpartner violence). Second, it endeavors to analyze concepts of multivictimization (i.e. experiencing different forms of victimization), repeat victimization (i.e. experiencing the same form of violence more than once), and revictimization (i.e. the link between childhood and adulthood victimization) in a comparative -and comparable -approach. Third, aiming at understanding why partner violence appears higher in the United States, while victims of nonpartners are more frequent in Switzerland, as well as in other European countries, different victimization correlates are examined. This research contributes to a better understanding of the relevance of controlling methodological parameters in comparisons across studies, as it illustrates, systematically, the imposed controls and their implications on quantitative data. Moreover, it details how ignoring these parameters might lead to erroneous conclusions, statistically as well as theoretically. The conclusion of the study puts into a wider perspective the discussion of differences and similarities of violence against women in Switzerland and the United States, and integrates recommendations as to the relevance and validity of international comparisons, whatever the'field they are conducted in. Résumé: Les comparaisons internationales dans le domaine de la victimisation, et plus particulièrement en ce qui concerne les violences envers les femmes, se caractérisent par des problèmes méthodologiques que les recherches antérieures n'ont pas systématiquement adressés, et dont la réponse ne semble pas connaître de consensus. Pour des raisons logistiques et financières évidentes, les études internationales sur les violences envers les femmes (c.-à-d. les études utilisant un même instrument dans différents pays) sont rares, aussi les chercheurs sont-ils contraints de se tourner vers des comparaisons secondaires. Beaucoup de recherches juxtaposent alors simplement leurs résultats à ceux de travaux antérieurs ou à des résultats obtenus dans d'autres contextes, afin d'offrir à leurs conclusions une perspective prétendument comparative. Si, le plus souvent, les auteurs indiquent les limites méthodologiques d'une comparaison directe, il est fréquent que ces dernières ne se traduisent pas par des contrôles méthodologiques concrets. Et pourtant, quantité de travaux ont mis en évidence l'influence des paramètres méthodologiques des enquêtes sur les résultats obtenus, érigeant des listes de recommandations pour une «meilleure pratique» de la recherche. Bien que, ces dernières décennies, les sondages sur les violences envers les femmes soient devenus de plus en plus similaires -tendant, vers une certaine uniformisation que l'on peut interpréter comme un consensus passif-, il n'en demeure pas moins que ces instruments possèdent des différences plus ou moins subtiles, mais toujours susceptibles d'influencer la validité d'une comparaison. Pourtant, seules quelques recherches ont directement travaillé sur la comparabilité des données sur les violences envers les femmes, ayant à coeur de contrôler les paramètres méthodologiques des études utilisées afin de garantir la validité de leurs comparaisons. L'objectif de ce travail est la comparaison des données de deux sondages nationaux sur les violences envers les femmes: le composant suisse de l'International Violence Against Women Survey [CHIVAWSj et le National Violence Against Women Survey [NVAWS) administré aux États-Unis. Le choix de ces deux études découle certes des affiliations de l'auteure, cependant il est loin d'être anodin. Le champ criminologique actuel confère, en effet, une place prépondérante à la littérature américaine et anglo-saxonne, contraignant ainsi les chercheurs d'autres pays à un exercice proche du grand écart pour interpréter leurs résultats à la lumière des travaux antérieurs ou développer des interventions efficaces dans leur propre contexte. Le fait de recourir à des hypothèses et des concepts développés dans un cadre spécifique pose inévitablement la question de leur applicabilité à un autre contexte, soit ici le contexte suisse, sinon du moins européen. Cette problématique revêt alors un intérêt qui dépasse la thématique spécifique des violences envers les femmes, ce qui ajoute à sa pertinence. Ce travail s'articule autour de trois axes. Premièrement, il met en évidence la manière dont les caractéristiques d'un sondage influencent les estimations qui en découlent. La comparabilité de la nature du CH-IVAWS et du NVAWS, de leur processus d'échantillonnage et des caractéristiques de leur administration est discutée. Les définitions utilisées, l'opérationnalisation des variables sur la base d'items comparables, le contrôle des périodes de référence, ainsi que la nature de la relation victime-auteur figurent également parmi les facteurs contrôlés. Ce travail établit ainsi la validité de contenu intra- et inter-études, offrant un processus systématique destiné à maximiser la comparabilité des données secondaires. Les implications de cette démarche sont illustrées avec la présentation successive d'opérationnalisations comparables et non-comparables des variables construites. Mesurant les violences envers les femmes en Suisse et aux États-Unis, ce travail compare la prévalence de plusieurs formes (menaces, violences physiques et violences sexuelles) et types de violence (violences partenaires et non-partenaires). 11 s'attache également à analyser les concepts de multivictimisation (c.-à-d. le fait de subir plusieurs formes de victimisation), victimisation répétée (c.-à.-d. le fait de subir plusieurs incidents de même forme) et revictimisation (c.-à-d. le lien entre la victimisation dans l'enfance et à l'âge adulte) dans une approche comparative - et comparable. Dans un troisième temps, cherchant à comprendre pourquoi la violence des partenaires apparaît plus fréquente aux États-Unis, tandis que les victimes de non-partenaires sont plus nombreuses en Suisse, et dans d'autres pays européens, différents facteurs associés à la victimisation sont évalués. Cette recherche participe d'une meilleure compréhension de la pertinence du contrôle des paramètres méthodologiques dans les comparaisons entre études puisqu'elle illustre, pas à pas, les contrôles imposés et leurs effets sur les données quantitatives, et surtout comment l'ignorance de ces paramètres peut conduire à des conclusions erronées, tant statistiquement que théoriquement. La conclusion replace, dans un contexte plus large, la discussion des différences et des similitudes observées quant à la prévalence des violences envers les femmes en Suisse et aux États-Unis, et intègre des recommandations quant à la pertinence et à la validité des comparaisons internationales, cela quel que soit le domaine considéré.

Continuous-time random-walk model for financial distributions

We apply the formalism of the continuous-time random walk to the study of financial data. The entire distribution of prices can be obtained once two auxiliary densities are known. These are the probability densities for the pausing time between successive jumps and the corresponding probability density for the magnitude of a jump. We have applied the formalism to data on the U.S. dollardeutsche mark future exchange, finding good agreement between theory and the observed data.