This paper examines the role of popular participation, in particular through NGOs, in both promoting democracy (seen as essential for better governance) and the maintenance of a market economy. Making a crucial distinction between the forms and characteristics of good government, it finds no empirical relationship between the form of government and successful development. It argues that while d...

Satisfaction with Democracy and the Environment in Western Europe: A Panel Analysis We construct a panel of satisfaction with democracy (SWD) and economic, institutional, and environmental variables for 1990-2001 for fifteen European countries. In this sample, controlling for a number of factors, we find that average SWD is higher where (1) there exists an energy / CO2 tax, where (2) government...

This paper shows that the probability of exercise of convertible bonds issued against a firm’s stock directly affects the liquidity of the stock itself. Using the ratio of absolute stock return to its dollar volume as a proxy for stock liquidity I demonstrate that there is a direct and positive relationship between conversion probability and stock liquidity while controlling for firm size, book...

Notwithstanding great progress in scientific and economic understanding of climate change, it has proven difficult to forge international agreements because of free-riding, as seen in the defunct Kyoto Protocol. This study examines the club as a model for international climate policy. Based on economic theory and empirical modeling, it finds that without sanctions against non-participants there...

Protein ubiquitination regulates many cellular processes via attachment of structurally and functionally distinct ubiquitin (Ub) chains. Several atypical chain types have remained poorly characterized because the enzymes mediating their assembly and receptors with specific binding properties have been elusive. We found that the human HECT E3 ligases UBE3C and AREL1 assemble K48/K29- and K11/K33...

Using Monte Carlo simulations, I show that typical out-of-sample forecast exercises for stock returns are unlikely to produce any evidence of predictability, even when there is in fact predictability and the correct model is estimated. JEL classification: C15; C53; G14.

Political stock markets (PSM) are sometimes seen as substitutes for opinion polls. On the bases of a behavioral model, specific preconditions were drawn out under which manipulation in PSM can weaken this argument. Evidence for manipulation is reported from the data of two separate PSM during the Berlin 99 state elections. JEL Classification: C93, D4, G1

We review the literature on return and cash flow growth predictability form the perspective of the present-value identity. We focus predominantly on recent work. Our emphasis is on U.S. aggregate stock return predictability, but we also discuss evidence from other asset classes and countries. JEL classification: G10, G12, G14, G35.

We use a stock-market game and predictions of examination marks to examine differences between overconfidence and biased self-attribution (BSA) of British and Asian students. Although different overconfidence measures show little correlation, Asians are consistently more overconfident than the British. All are equally prone to BSA. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. JEL classification: G...