We conduct a thorough analysis on the role played by the unobserved systematic risk factor in default prediction. We find that this latent factor outweighs the observed systematic risk factors and can substantially improve the in-sample predictive accuracy at the firm, rating group, and...

Online peer-to-peer communities and online social networks have become increasingly popular. In particular, the recent boost of online peer-to-peer communities leads to exponential growth in sharing of user-contributed content which have brought profound changes to business and economic...

It is well known that the Internet has significantly reduced consumers’ search costs online. But relatively little is known about how search costs affect consumer demand structure in online markets. In this paper, we identify the impact of search costs on firm competition and market structure...

Some effects of e-Commerce, and their implications for financial services firms, are becoming clear. The web drives transparency, and increases the information endowment of all market participants. It is harder to manipulate customers’ behavior, or to overcharge them, as their information...

China's actions in limiting the export of rare earths have drawn the world's attention. The USA, Japan, and the European Union (EU) have been frustrated with China's measures, even threatening to bring the case to the WTO. These rare earth trade disputes are but the tip of the iceberg. Forms of...

The Appellate Body's interpretation in China -- Raw Materials regarding the applicability of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XX to China's Accession Protocol is highly controversial and stimulates wide debates in academia. The controversy is rooted in the absence of an...

Every year, the federal government regulates how many pounds of summer flounder (while these fish are called summer flounder, they are caught throughout the year) can be caught along the eastern seaboard. Annually, the federal government sets the total allowable landings (TAL) based on...

In many scientific and medical settings, large-scale experiments are generating large quantities of data that lead to inferential problems involving multiple hypotheses. This has led to recent tremendous interest in statistical methods regarding the false discovery rate (FDR). Several authors...