This thesis is a collection of three essays in empirical studies on derivatives. In the first chapter, I investigate whether credit default swap spreads are affected by how the total risk is decomposed into the systematic risk and the idiosyncratic risk for a given level of the total risk. The...

In this paper we analyze the decision of "working" versus "not working" within a discrete choice framework, where number of available jobs is confined and related to individual characteristics. In this way the market constraint from the demand side is taken into account. We also accommodate the...

Given a sequence of i.i.d. random variables, new proofs are given for limit theorems for the number of observations near the maximum up to time n, as n -- [infinity]. The proofs rely on a Poisson approximation to conditioned binomial laws, and they reveal the origin in the limit laws of mixing...

Let {Xn,n[greater-or-equal, slanted]1} be a sequence of independent identically distributed random variables with the continuous distribution function F(x). Let Kn(a) denote the number of values j[set membership, variant]{1,2,...,n} for which Xj[set membership, variant](Mn-a,Mn], where...

In this paper we analyze the decision of "working" versus "not working" within a discrete choice framework, where number of available jobs is confined and related to individual characteristics. In this way the market constraint from the demand side is taken into account. We also accommodate the...

Purpose – It is widely accepted that good health and education are important components of human capability. Although China has made encouraging progress in education and health causes, the role of poor health as an intervening factor in education has not been fully recognized. Iron deficiency...

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of income inequality and poverty in China from 1987 to 2002, documenting significant increases of inequality within China's urban and rural populations. In rural areas, increased inequality is primarily related to the disequalizing role of...

In this paper, a high effective up-conversion luminescence agent (Er3+:Y3Al5O12) is synthesized by sol–gel method, and then its corresponding visible-light photocatalysts (Er3+:Y3Al5O12/Pt-KNbO3) are successfully prepared by hydrothermal and direct mixing methods. For comparison,...