A two-stage procedure is employed to evaluate non-bank financial institution cost efficiency. In the first stage, data envelopment analysis is used to calculate technical, allocative and cost efficiency indices using a sample of two hundred Australian credit unions. The results indicate that a...

This paper examines the transmission of equity returns and volatility among Asian equity markets and investigates the differences that exist in this regard between the developed and emerging markets. Three developed markets (Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore) and six emerging markets (Indonesia,...

The ‘daylight saving effect’ predicts that the mean weekend return following the spring and fall/autumn changes in daylight saving time is less than the mean weekend return throughout the rest of the year. With this market anomaly, the change in market participants’ behaviour is linked...

In this study the nature and extent of efficiency and productivity growth in deposit-taking institutions is investigated using nonparametric frontier techniques. Employing Malmquist indices, productivity growth is decomposed into technical efficiency change and technological change for a sample...

Electric utilities in Australia have been developing policies to stimulate interest and permit the purchase of electricity generated by renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic systems (PV). Studies show that under current conditions, it is technically feasible to introduce small-scale,...

This study explores gender differences in entrepreneurship and informal investment in Ireland, a country with one of the lowest rates of female entrepreneurship in the developed world. Females in Ireland are less likely than males to be engaged in either the demand for (as entrepreneurs), or the...

Non-Gaussian processes of Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (OU) type offer the possibility of capturing important distributional deviations from Gaussianity and for flexible modelling of dependence structures. This paper develops this potential, drawing on and extending powerful results from probability...

Four essays, or chapters, model the capital structure, governance, and investment decisions as part of a sequential game. Each chapter is separate in its context, assumptions, and conclusions. The titles of the chapters are below.Abstracts of each essay or chapter can be found at the beginning...

South Africa has overcome adverse initial conditions to achieve a remarkable fiscaltransformation since the 1994 democratic elections, held amid uncertainty about its ability to maintain the rule of law and resist populist spending pressures. Constitutionally-based, durable and credible fiscal...

This paper reviews the design and performance of monetary policy in South Africa (SA) during 1994-2004. Quantitative indexes of transparency reveal a strong rise in the transparency and accountability of monetary policy between 1994 and 2004. Inflation and interest rate expectations data and...