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The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of short‐sale constraints and differences of opinions on the price premium of dual listed Chinese A‐H shares.

The analysis mainly follows the Miller's model, which indicates that the relaxation of stringent short‐sale constraint could reduce the upward bias in stock prices. Following the literature, the paper uses the idiosyncratic return volatility and monthly turnover rate as two main proxies of differences of opinions.

This study shows that the high level of A‐share differences of opinions will lead to the high price premium of A‐share portfolio with the short‐sale constraint in the A‐share market. However, the high level of H‐share differences of opinions has no effect on the price premium of H‐share portfolio and has also positively contributed to the A‐share price premium. The price premium of shorted A‐share portfolio is declined more significantly than those of non‐shorted ones after the relaxation of short‐sale constraint in the A‐share market.

The findings in this study provide further evidence that dual listed Chinese A‐shares with high level of differences of opinions and short‐sale constraints tend to be overvalued.

This study supports Miller's hypothesis that with the control of short‐sale constraint, the high level of differences of opinions could lead to the high degree of overvaluation of A‐share portfolio. The market capitalization and book‐to‐market ratio of A‐shares also generate significant positive effect to the A‐share price premium. Finally, the introduction of short‐sale mechanism in A‐share market could partially eliminate the mispricing of dual‐listed A‐shares and improve the price efficiency of A‐share market.

This study is mainly focused on the joint effects of differences of opinions and short‐sale constraints on the A‐share price premium. The new short‐sale policy in A‐share market in March 2010 provides us an opportunity to study the effect of relaxation of stringent short‐sale constraint on the A‐share price premium. In the literatures so far, all studies assumed A‐shares are strictly prohibited to be sold short.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between investors' divergence of opinions and the asset prices of foreign stocks and also examine the effect of home market country-level factors on the influence of divergency of opinions on stock price.

The authors employ panel data estimation with fixed effects to examine the host market response in divergent opinions to the earnings announcements. The paper uses the American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) of 42 countries from 1985 to 2011.

The authors find a negative relationship between differences of opinions and excess quarterly earnings announcement returns, and investors do process information asymmetrically based on good and bad earnings shocks. In addition, the authors find the negative relationship between divergent opinions and excess earnings announcement returns in ADRs is more pronounced in countries with short-sales restrictions, while other home-market country-level factors – the enforcement of insider trading law, legal origin, investor protection and rating on accounting standard – do not influence the relationship between investors' divergency of opinion and stock returns.

This paper is among the first to bring asymmetric effects on convergence in Miller framework and enhance the understanding of price convergence documented in Miller (1977). In addition, this study incorporates home-market country-level factors in explaining the relationship between investors' divergency of opinions and stock returns.

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

Although stock price co-movement has been examined extensively, its causes are not well understood. Using a decomposition method, we extract three information components from the turnover rate: market information, firm-specific information, and investors' opinion divergence. We find that market information strengthens stock price co-movement, whereas firm-specific information weakens it. Moreover, our analysis shows that divergence of investors' opinion increases stock price variations but weakens price co-movement.

This study investigates the perception of users of corporate annual reports about various aspects of accounting harmonization. To serve this purpose, a questionnaire was distributed to four user groups (investors, government officials, auditors and academics). The results of the analysis revealed that sharing the same language, as well as sharing similar economic and cultural features are the most important factors expected to positively affect the harmonization of accounting practices in the GCC countries. However, the most important factors expected to obstruct accounting harmonization practices across GCC countries are the lack of professional and legal requirements as well as enforcement problems. The outcome of the analysis also revealed that harmonization is expected to (1) improve comparison between companies, (2) increase usefulness of financial information to decision makers, and (3) ensure consistency in the use of accounting rules over time. It was also evident from the analysis that lack of harmonization is viewed as the most likely factor to prevent some investors from investing across the GCC countries.

Notes that differences of opinion often arise regarding the correct interpretation of provisions within the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Argues that this is frequently due to ambiguities within the wording of the statute and to a lack of clarity within its provisions regarding its relationship to the common law. Examines three areas within section 1 of the statute where differences of opinion arise and challenges some of the assumptions regarding their correct interpretation. Concludes that differences of opinion will continue to arise until the deficiencies within the legislation are properly addressed.

Many researchers argue that the shared values of a generation affect people’s attitude, commitment, and ethics toward work. It is also argued that generational differences may cause tension between employees and with that prevent projects – such as a transition to a high performance organization (HPO) – from being completed successfully. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether generational differences in work values influence people’s perceptions of HPO, and if so, in what ways and how management could deal with it. The HPO Framework developed by de Waal (2012b) was used as a starting point for the study.

This study was performed at a Dutch multinational with a management trainee program. In this program, young talents, all belonging to Generation Y, followed a series of internships in various business units. A questionnaire on HPO was distributed among the trainees and their direct managers (all Generation Xers). The average scores for the five factors described in the HPO Framework were calculated for both groups. In addition, attention points were identified for the multinational, i.e. issues that needed to be addressed by the organization in order for it to become an HPO. The scores and the attention points were discussed in a workshop with both trainees and managers. Finally, the results of the workshop were analyzed and several weeks later presented by the authors to a larger audience, to validate the research findings.

The research results showed that there was a close match between the opinions of trainees (Generation Yers) and of managers (Generation Xers) concerning the general importance of the HPO factors, the organization’s performance on these factors, and the actions needed to improve on them. There were several explanations for the fact that generational differences did not influence the opinions of both generations on HPO. For example, the corporate culture in a multinational may be predominant over national culture, creating uniform thinking; or new employees adapt quickly to the organization and behave according to established patterns and thereby comply to the accepted way of thinking in the company.

The practical implication of this study is that an organization does not have to target specific groups to convince people of the importance of HPO. It should be sufficient to hold an informative session for all staff on HPO before starting the joint HPO transition process.

This is the first study into how generational differences in work values could influence the opinions of various generations on HPO.

The expert survey, carried out in the manner described in Part I of this volume (in Chapter 2), enables us to get a look, through the opinions of a set of top leaders and opinion makers, at the perception of the cultural gap between society and armed forces felt by current elites, as well as to gain insights into the trends over time.

Household food insecurity and poor well-being have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. Home food growing has been associated with improved food access and well-being, but it is unknown what role it plays during food supply crises and lockdown. It is also unclear how home food growing and social restrictions may affect opinions about growing food in urban areas (i.e. urban agriculture; UA).

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the UK national lockdown in March-April 2020 to measure home food growing, perceived food insecurity, well-being, and opinions of UA. The participants were 477 UK-based adults (369 female, mean age 39.57 years ± 13.36); 152 participants were engaged in home food growing prior to the pandemic. Responses were compared to data collected from a separate sample of participants before the pandemic (N=583) to explore potential shifts in opinions about UA.

Participants who engaged in home food growing had lower levels of food insecurity (U_­=19894.50, z=−3.649, p<0.001, r=−0.167) and higher well-being (U=19566.50, z=−3.666, p<0.001, r=−0.168) than those not engaged in home food growing. Perceived food insecurity partially mediated the relationship between home food growing and well-being; home food growing was associated with less food insecurity, which in turn was associated with better well-being. There were no differences in opinions of UA compared to the sample of participants from before the pandemic.

Home food growing may have had a protective effect over perceived food security and well-being in the early stages the pandemic. Opinions of UA were positive and unchanged compared to data collected pre-pandemic. Policies that support home food growing and access to suitable growing spaces and resources may be beneficial for food system resilience and well-being.