Robust portfolio optimization has been developed to resolve the high sensitivity to inputs of the Markowitz mean-variance model. Although much effort has been put into forming robust portfolios, there have not been many attempts to analyze the characteristics of portfolios formed from robust optimization. We investigate the behavior of robust portfolios by analytically describing how robustness...

In this paper, we use maximum entropy to estimate the parameters in an economic model. We demonstrate the use of the generalized maximum entropy (GME) estimator, describe how to specify the GME parameter support matrix, and examine the sensitivity of GME estimates to the parameter and error bounds. We impose binding inequality restrictions through the GME parameter support matrix and develop a ...

When a candidate for the top management position is pre-associated with the firm, prior information exists that partially reveals his suitability for the position. In a dynamic framework of job matching, we show that in the presence of such pre-appointment information, the firm’s decision on managerial appointment differs in significant ways between inside and outside candidates. The difference...

Using audit trail data for a sample of NYSE firms we show that medium-size trades are associated with a disproportionately large cumulative stock price change relative to their proportion of all trades and volume. This result is consistent with the predictions of Barclay and Warner’s (1993) stealth-trading hypothesis. We find that the source of this disproportionately large cumulative price imp...

Article history: Received 22 September 2011 Received in revised form 28 January 2013 Accepted 2 February 2013 Available online 9 February 2013 This paper analyzes the investor sentiment effect in four key European stock markets: France, Germany, Spain and the UK. The findings show that sentiment has a significant influence on returns, varying in intensity across markets. The variation appears t...

Taxes, Cigarette Consumption, and Smoking Intensity: Reply This paper shows that smoking intensity, i.e. the amount of nicotine extracted per cigarette smoked, responds to changes in excise taxes and tobacco prices. We exploit data covering the period 1988 to 2006 across many US states. Moreover, we provide new evidence on the importance of cotinine measures in explaining long-run smoking behav...

Loss Aversion and Labor Supply In many occupations workers’ labor supply choices are constrained by institutional rules regulating labor time and effort provision. This renders explicit tests of the neoclassical theory of labor supply difficult. Here we present evidence from studies examining labor supply responses in “neoclassical environments” in which workers are free to choose when and how ...

This study by adopting rolling regression techniques investigate whether bank and life insurance equity returns sensitivity to long term unanticipated interest rate changes has been changed since the Bank of England was granted operational independence in May 1997. Our results indicate that there may well have been changes in the way banks and life insurance companies manage interest rate risk....

I study managers' risk-taking behavior and how it is affected by equity-based compensation. I find that in response to an exogenous increase in takeover protection in Delaware during the mid-1990s, managers lower firm risk by 5%. I also find that the decrease in firm risk is concentrated among firms with low managerial equity-based incentives. In particular, firms with low CEO portfolio sensiti...

The paper focuses on regional trade agreements and economic co-operation and develops a new appropriate approach to study their impact on growth and trade. The approach is based on an endogenous trade-growth theory and novelly specified in an economic integration (expenditure) framework which is the conceptual foundation of regional trade agreements. Importantly, it also appropriately takes int...