This study identifies restraining effects of scientist independent directors (SIDs) on firm over-investment. This conclusion remains robust after a two-stage Heckman test, a placebo test, and an instrumental variable test. The restraining effects mainly exist within a sample of SIDs with board...

Using a detailed stockholding for a comprehensive sample of Chinese open-end equity mutual funds from 2004 to the first half of 2010, we investigated the effect of economy of scale and liquidity on the relationship between fund size and performance. We find that an inverted U-shape relationship...

We apply numerical dynamic programming to multi-asset dynamic portfolio optimization problems with proportional transaction costs. Examples include problems with one safe asset plus two to six risky stocks, and seven to 360 trading periods in a finite horizon problem. These examples show that it...

We study favoritism via hometown ties, a common source of favor exchange in China, in fellow selection of the Chinese Academies of Sciences and Engineering. Hometown ties to fellow selection committee members increase candidates' election probability by 39 percent, coming entirely from the...

In this paper, we examine the influences of risk aversion on various aspects of portfolio optimization. Our main message is that the risk aversion parameters in the Barra Optimizer provide users with the flexibility to control or adjust the risk levels of their optimal portfolios. They are...

We study favoritism via hometown ties, a common source of favor exchange in China, in fellow selection of the Chinese Academies of Sciences and Engineering. Hometown ties to fellow selection committee members increase candidates' election probability by 39 percent, coming entirely from the...

This report studies how flows in large scale transportation networks can be subjected to rapid estimation. It describes an efficient transportation network analysis (TNA) procedure that provides the system-wide changes of network flows under numerous scenario earthquakes. The first objective of...