ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF EMERGING MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS IN CANADA

Emerging markets have received wide attention from investors around the globe because of their return potential and risk diversification. This research examines the selection and timing performance of Canadian mutual funds which invest in fixed-income and equity securities in emerging markets. We use (un)conditional two- and five-factor benchmark models that accommodate the dynamics of returns in emerging markets. We also adopt the cross-sectional bootstrap methodology to distinguish between ‘skill’ and ‘luck’ for individual funds. All the tests are conducted using a comprehensive data set of bond and equity emerging funds over the period of 1989-2011. The risk-adjusted measures of performance are estimated using the least squares method with the Newey-West adjustment for standard errors that are robust to conditional heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. The performance statistics of the emerging funds before (after) management-related costs are insignificantly positive (significantly negative). They are sensitive to the chosen benchmark model and conditional information improves selection performance. The timing statistics are largely insignificant throughout the sample period and are not sensitive to the benchmark model. Evidence of timing and selecting abilities is obtained in a small number of funds which is not sensitive to the fees structure. We also find evidence that a majority of individual funds provide zero (very few provide positive) abnormal return before fees and a significantly negative return after fees. At the negative end of the tail of performance distribution, our resampling tests fail to reject the role of bad luck in the poor performance of funds and we conclude that most of them are merely ‘unlucky’.

Diversification In Employment Structure And Status Of Rural Women Workers In Ernakulam District

The basic objective of the present study has been to observe the process and pattern of employment diversification among the rural women workers in Ernakulam district. The evidences are that the women workers in the rural areas of the state are being increasingly diversified into the tertiary sector. The clear cut evidence for the fact that in Kerala non-agricultural employment of rural women is increasing with more and more of them getting diversified into the tertiary sector. The women get more self esteem and recognition in terms of the work being done by them. In the urban areas of the state as a poverty eradicating measure the Kerala government has already introduced a new scheme under the banner of Kudumbasree. Another fact noticed in the study that the sectoral shift of women workers has posed a grave problem to the agricultural sector. The reluctance of workers to do manual jobs on land and the prevalence of high wages among the agricultural labours has left many a cultivable area fallow or has induced farmers to shift to less labour –intensive crops. The situation is expected to worsen in future as even the high wages fail to attract the young generation to this sector. To conclude the study has fulfilled all its objectives, viz; highlighting the rural employment structure in Kerala, examining the process, pattern, determinants and consequences of diversification among rural women workers in the sample villages. Being the first of its kind at the micro level in the state it contributes to the available literature in the area enriching the database that is crucially lacking for devising projects at the village and block-level. There exists ample scope for future research of similar nature in an urban background where the secondary data-sources are hinding towards a reversal of trends from non-agriculture to agriculture.

The activities and impacts of part-time employment on full time undergraduate students in property and construction courses in Australia

This paper examines the extent of part-time employment of undergraduate students enrolled in property and construction related courses in five universities across Australia. Forty five percent of the students responded to a questionnaire on their part-time work. Past research reveals that there is need for a more accurate understanding as to why students seek part-time work to the extent that they do and that working long hours has a negative effect on the study patterns of undergraduate students. Increased employer work demands results in less time available for study and an inability to attend lectures because of work. There is growing concern that students are increasingly disinterested in connecting with the broader and total university experience and are instead, seeking to adopt a minimalist approach to education.

Analysis of current research for Property and construction students’ results reveals that students are working on average 18 hours per week during semester time. The students therefore appear to be working beyond what is considered beneficial to their studies, although their contextual understanding and work ethic improves.

The paper concludes with some approaches that could re- engage students into the learning process. It may be helpful to develop a partnership between the University and the industry thereby providing work experience that complements the program of study. Otherwise students may not get the range of experience they need and may struggle to find the linkages between theory and practice.

Building bridges to independence : employment successes, problems, & needs of black Americans with disabilities : proceedings of the national conference /

Shipping list no.: 88-618-P.

The relationship between exchange rate exposure, currency risk management and performance of international equity funds

This paper assesses the currency risk management policies for a sample of Australian international equity trusts. The relevance of currency risk management is considered in the context of exchange rate exposure and performance measures. The study incorporates differing economic climates and particular emphasis is given to the Asian crisis in mid-1997. Our results indicate that a good proportion of funds do implement specific currency risk management policies. Furthermore, we find that for those funds managing currency risk, there is some evidence of a favourable impact on currency exposure and fund performance.

On the comparative performance of socially responsible and Islamic mutual funds

This is the first study to provide comprehensive analyses of the relative performance of both socially responsible investment (SRI) and Islamic mutual funds. The analysis proceeds in two stages. In the first, the performance of the two categories of funds is measured using partial frontier methods. In the second stage, we use quantile regression techniques.By combining two variants of the Free Disposal Hull (FDH) methods (order-m and order-?) in the first stage of analysis and quantile regression in the second stage, we provide detailed analyses of the impact of different covariates across methods and across different quantiles. In spite of the differences in the screening criteria and portfolio management of both types of funds, variation in the performance is only found for some of the quantiles of the conditional distribution of mutual fund performance. We established that for the most inefficient funds the superior performance of SRI funds is significant. In contrast, for the best mutual funds this evidence vanished and even Islamic funds perform better than SRI.These results show the benefits of performing the analysis using quantile regression.

On the comparative performance of socially responsible and Islamic mutual funds

This is the first study to provide comprehensive analyses of the relative performance of both socially responsible investment (SRI) and Islamic mutual funds. The analysis proceeds in two stages. In the first, the performance of the two categories of funds is measured using partial frontier methods. In the second stage, we use quantile regression techniques. By combining two variants of the Free Disposal Hull (FDH) methods (order- m and order- α) in the first stage of analysis and quantile regression in the second stage, we provide detailed analyses of the impact of different covariates across methods and across different quantiles. In spite of the differences in the screening criteria and portfolio management of both types of funds, variation in the performance is only found for some of the quantiles of the conditional distribution of mutual fund performance. We established that for the most inefficient funds the superior performance of SRI funds is significant. In contrast, for the best mutual funds this evidence vanished and even Islamic funds perform better than SRI. These results show the benefits of performing the analysis using quantile regression. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Do ethics imply persistence? The case of Islamic and socially responsible funds

We analyse the performance persistence of Islamic and Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) mutual funds. We adopt a multi-stage strategy in which, in the first stage, partial frontiers’ approaches are considered to measure the performance of the different funds in the sample. In the second stage, the results yielded by the partial frontiers are plugged into different investment strategies based on a recursive estimation methodology whose persistence performance is evaluated in the third stage of the analysis. Results indicate that, for both types of funds, performance persistence actually exists, but only for the worst and, most notably, best funds. This result is robust not only across methods (and different choices of tuning parameters within each method) but also across both SRI and Islamic funds—although in the case of the latter persistence was stronger for the best funds. The persistence of SRI and Islamic funds represents an important result for investors and the market, since it provides information on both which funds to invest in and which funds to avoid. Last but not least, the use of the aforementioned techniques in the context of mutual funds could also be of interest for the non-conclusive literature.

The corruption risks of EU funds in Hungary

In corruption, a group of players gain an economic advantage without providing any socially beneficial services in return, therefore corruption is considered to be a form of rent-seeking. Similar to other forms of rent-seeking, corruption causes losses on a societal level, due to the less efficient allocation of resources, as well as the costs of operation and prosecution. Fighting corruption is important not just because of ethical but also economic considerations. Contributions from the European Union are making possible the use of more funds than ever, and spending the full amount of this money is a priority preference of the government. The abundance of funds and the pressure on absorption increase corruption, by the managers of the funds overplanning the amount of money to be allocated to individual tender invitations, setting generous rules on eligible costs, and specifying low rates of own contribution wherever possible. As a result, the opportunities for rent-seeking are increased, as it is worth it for beneficiaries to carry out the project even after relinquishing part of the funds they have been awarded. Thus, the abundance of funds generates a sphere of corruption in which rent-seekers may appear on various levels of the system, often even without the knowledge or approval of those on higher decisionmaking levels.

Three essays on self-employment transitions, organizational capital, and firm formation

This dissertation explores how economic, organizational, and personal factors affect self-employment transitions, occupational decisions, and firm formation activities of individuals at different positions in the skill distribution. The first essay of my dissertation studies how local unemployment rates differentially affect entry into self-employment by individuals at different places in the skill distribution. The empirical results show a positive correlation between local unemployment rates and entry into self-employment for low-ability workers, but not for high-ability workers. Including employer size to eliminate possible distortions showed that the positive association between unemployment and self-employment among low-ability workers is in fact driven by the small firm effect. Controlling for firm size yields a negative association between unemployment and self-employment among high-ability workers. Effects of organizational capital, human capital and physical capital, on the firm formation activities of people at distinct skill levels depend on the type of the industry which is chosen for the new firm. Two types of industries, capital-intensive and ability-intensive, are utilized to explore this hypothesis in the second essay. A capital-intensive industry requires more physical investment, and consequently more funds, whereas, an ability-intensive industry requires more human capital. It is shown that high human capital requirements are associated with higher earnings among the most able individuals, and therefore makes them more likely to found firms in an ability-intensive industry. Wealthy people are more likely to establish both capital-intensive and ability-intensive firms, even though the amount of funds necessary for two industry types differs. Moreover, entry into both industries is predicted to happen later in life due to the removal of entry barriers constituted by required investment spending using savings when old. Empirical mixed results are observed. The third essay investigates earning differentials between future entrepreneurs and their non-entrepreneurial colleagues. Results show that high-ability firm-owners in an ability-intensive industry were earning more than those that remained in wage-work, whereas, low-ability firm-owners in a capital-intensive industry were earning less than those remaining in paid-work.

Migrant women’s employment in paid reproductive work through the crisis: the case of Italy (2007-2012)

Paid reproductive work, especially in the case of cleaning and home-care for elderly people, is an important sector for foreign women in Italy. For this reason, since the beginning of the current economic crisis, scholars have wondered about the impact of the recession on migrant domestic workers. They have looked particularly at possible competition with Italian women entering the sector for lack of better alternatives. Our paper takes this discussion a step further by assessing the overall changes affecting migrant women in the Italian labour market, 2007-2012. We will look at how their position has been transformed, by taking both an ethnic perspective, in relation to Italian women, and a gender perspective, in relation to migrant men. By way of a conclusion, the argument will be made that there is a substantial lack of competition between Italian and foreign women in the care and domestic sector due to differences in their earnings, hours of work and activities.

Improving Employment and Income through Development of Egypt’s Aquaculture Sector (IEIDEAS) project

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)-funded Improving Employment and Income through Development of Egypt’s Aquaculture Sector (IEIDEAS) project was implemented by WorldFish in partnership with CARE Egypt and the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation from 2011 to 2014 and later extended to November 2015. The project focused on four governorates with significant aquaculture production (Kafr El Sheikh, Behera, Sharkia and Fayoum) and one governorate (El Mineya), where aquaculture was a new activity. The project was based on a value chain analysis conducted by WorldFish in September 2011 that identified the aquaculture value chain as a significant employer, particularly in rural areas. The analysis suggested that there was scope to increase employment of youth and women in the aquaculture sector The main objective was to increase aquaculture production by 10% and create 10,000 jobs. Other objectives included improving profitability for existing producers, securing employment for women fish retailers, expanding aquaculture in El Mineya and improving the policy environment for aquaculture.

Promoting Investment and Increasing Employment among the Economically Inactive - A Review of Best Practice.

Final report to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Northern Ireland. This report sets out the findings from a study into strategies that link the promotion of investment and the employment of economically inactive groups. The aim is to ascertain current practice in 10 relevant countries (Australia; Belgium; Denmark; Finland; Germany; the Netherlands; New Zealand; Slovenia; Spain; USA plus Great Britain) and their transferability to the Northern Ireland (NI) policy and labour market context. The study was carried out by the Employment Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier University on behalf of the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Investment in NI (DETI). The study describes cases of good practice in securing investment in areas, sectors and occupations that provide accessible entry-level positions for economically inactive groups. It seeks to identify the ‘critical success factors’ common to effective strategies, drawing out lessons for future Northern Ireland policy. In this study ‘Investment’ includes foreign direct investment (FDI) and private investment that expands the ‘export’ capacity of the NI economy (i.e. excluding investment aimed at the NI market). ‘Economically inactive’ people are those excluded or seriously at risk of exclusion from the labour market.

Endangerment and Likeability of Wildlife Species: How Important are they for Payments Proposed for Conservation?

This paper examines empirically the relative influence of the degree of endangerment of wildlife species and their stated likeability on individuals' allocation of funds for their conservation. To do this, it utilises data obtained from the IUCN Red List, and likeability and fund allocation data obtained from two serial surveys of a sample of the Australian public who were requested to assess 24 Australian wildlife species from three animal classes: mammals, birds and reptiles. Between the first and second survey, respondents were provided with extra information about the focal species. This information resulted in the dominance of endangerment as the major influence on the allocation of funding of respondents for the conservation of the focal wildlife species. Our results throw doubts on the proposition in the literature that the likeability of species is the dominant influence on willingness to pay for conservation of wildlife species. Furthermore, because the public's allocation of fund for conserving wildlife species seems to be more sensitive to information about the conservation status of species than to factors influencing their likeability, greater attention to providing accurate information about the former than the latter seems justified. Keywords: Conservation of wildlife species; Contingent valuation; Endangerment of species; Likeability of species; Willingness to pay

Research productivity levels of Chinese TEFL academics

Since China’s Economic Reform and its Open Door Policy, China has entered a new era of education (Adamson, 2002; Hu, 2005a). English has gained status as a language for international relations (Graddol, 1997) and international trade (Qu, 2007). Hence, in 2001, China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) required universities to offer 5-10% of their course units in English, particularly in the fields of information technology, biotechnology, finance and law (Jen, 2001; MOE, 2001). However, “the upgrading of national English proficiency, then, is predicted largely on the professional competence of the teaching force” (Hu, 2005b, p. 655). For TEFL academics, one component of this competence is the capacity to conduct research (Day, 1991; Shu, 2002). Indeed, research productivity has become essential for university success, and academics’ employment and promotional prospects. This study aims to investigate 182 Chinese TEFL academics’ research outputs across three Chinese higher education institutions through the research question: What are the research productivity levels of Chinese TEFL academics? A survey instrument was devised to gather TEFL academics’ calculations of research productivity and, in particular, the quality and quantity of research outputs over a five-year period (2004-2008). Descriptive statistics through SPSS were used to analyse data across research output fields (e.g., journal articles, conference papers). Academic status varied (n=182; teaching assistants 23.6%, lecturers 47.3%, associate professors 22.5%, and professors 6.6%) as did years of teaching (1-5 years 27.4%, 6-10 years 24.7%, 11-15 18.1%, 16-20 years 13.7%, > 21 years 15.9%). Results (n=182, male=27%, females=73%) indicated 18% had not produced any research in the five-year period. Indeed, more than 70% had produced no research in all categories except non-core journal articles and provincial projects. An overwhelming majority of TEFL academics had zero productivity in 10 of the 12 categories. Nevertheless, there were highly-productive TEFL academics, who had produced five or more pieces of research across the 12 categories. In addition, there was not much difference between sole and co-authored research outputs, except non-core journal articles where sole authored work was 20% higher than co-authored work. China’s desire for international competitiveness in education will require measures that facilitate higher levels of research productivity. These measures must include professional development, support and mentoring programs, and employment of personnel who can guide these processes. Research performance is an outcome, hence there is a need to understand Chinese TEFL academics’ perceptions about research, and experiences that may hinder and facilitate higher research productivity.