Chang’e-6 Returns with Samples from Far Side of Moon

At 2:07 pm GMT+8 on June 25,2024,the returner of Chang’e-6,China’s lunar detector,touched down on the ground surface of the preset landing site in Inner Mongolia of China.Onboard were samples first-ever collected from the far side of the Moon,the mysterious kingdom that had resisted visits from the human world.This soft landing has thus crowned the high-profile mission with a complete success.

A Critical Review of the Effects of Stock Returns and Market Timing on Capital Structure

Capital structure is regarded as the combination of debt and equity firms used to finance operations and investments.The choice of capital structure significantly impacts a company’s cost of capital,profitability,and risk profile.Among a series of factors that affect capital structure,this paper focuses on stock returns and market timing.In this review,an array of papers is analyzed to summarize what current research claims regarding the influence of stock returns and market timing on capital structure.This paper centers on the stock return and market timing theories and also discusses other theories like the trade-off theory,the pecking order theory,and the signaling theory.

Performance of bottleneck shifting for remanufacturing system considering returns' quality grading

Aimed at the remanufacturing system, the effect of the uncertainty of returns＇ quality on bottleneck shifting is investigated. A novel definition of bottleneck station is presented and the probability of a station becoming a bottleneck is also given. By calculating the effective output, the effective operation time （EOT） and the ratio of EOT of each station, the system＇s current bottleneck of effective output time is determined. By calculating the probability coefficient of variation and index of bottleneck shifting, the quantitative performance of bottleneck shifting is obtained. Discrete event simulation and the experiment design method are adopted to simulate the system, in which the proportion of quality grading, repair rates and process routes are considered. The case study shows that the uncertainty of returns＇ quality greatly increases the probability of bottleneck shifting, and with the increase of the discrete degree of the returns＇ repair rate, the bottleneck shifting phenomenon is more obvious. Furthermore, bottleneck shifting is closely related to the process route of the dominating returns＇ quality grade.

Price and retailer's service level decision in a supply chain under consumer returns

To investigate the optimal retail price and service level in a supply chain under consumer returns, a consumer returns model under the retailer＇s service provision is built. The optimal decision results and optimal profits are obtained in the vertical integration game and the manufacturer Stackelberg game, respectively. Through comparing the optimal profits with service provision with those of no service provision, the boundary conditions that the retailer＇s service should be provided are derived. The results show that in the manufacturer Stackelberg game, the optimal profit of the retailer and the manufacturer with service is always superior to that of a no service provision. However, in the vertical integration game, the supply chain can only benefit from the service under certain conditions. Finally, through numerical examples, the impacts of the cost for providing services and the consumer return rate on the optimal decisions are analyzed.

The chaotic behavior among the oil prices, expectation of investors and stock returns: TAR-TR-GARCH copula and TAR-TR-TGARCH copula

This paper has two aims. The first one is to investigate the existence of chaotic structures in the oil prices, expectations of investors and stock returns by combining the Lyapunov exponent and Kolmogorov entropy, and the second one is to analyze the dependence behavior of oil prices, expectations of investors and stock returns from January 02, 1990, to June06, 2017. Lyapunov exponents and Kolmogorov entropy determined that the oil price and the stock return series exhibited chaotic behavior. TAR-TR-GARCH and TAR-TR-TGARCH copula methods were applied to study the co-movement among the selected variables. The results showed significant evidence of nonlinear tail dependence between the volatility of the oil prices, the expectations of investors and the stock returns. Further, upper and lower tail dependence and comovement between the analyzed series could not be rejected. Moreover, the TAR-TR-GARCH and TAR-TR-TGARCH copula methods revealed that the volatility of oil price had crucial effects on the stock returns and on the expectations of investors in the long run.

Effects of returns on composition,microstructure and mechanical properties of GH4169 superalloy

To recycle the returned alloy effectively, effects of returns proportion on alloy composition, microstructure and compression properties of superalloy GH4169 were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS) and thermal-mechanical simulator. The results show that returns addition has no significant effect on the main alloy elements content and the principle precipitates, but increases the volume fraction of Al_2O_3 inclusions, resulting in the increase of oxygen level of GH4169 alloy. Returns addition does not change the elastic and plastic deformation process at room temperature or at 1,150 °C, but high returns proportion GH4169 alloy shows improved compression strength and yield strength. The alloy with 100% returns shows a maximum compression strength 1,153.45 MPa at room temperature, while the alloy with 80% returns has a maximum value 69.3 MPa at 1,150 °C. Returns addition increases fluctuation range and reduces the stability of yield strength and compression strength of GH4169 alloy at room temperature. It is noted that the volume fraction and the size of Al_2O_3, and the fraction of Laves phase reach their maximum values in the GH4169 alloy with 60% returns, which exhibits maximum yield strength of 516.65 MPa at room temperature and 62.17 MPa at 1,150 °C.

Effect of returns on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Cu based alloys

It is well known that maximal utilization of the returns can be beneficial for cost reduction,preservation of natural resources and protection of the environment,by making them into recycled Al-Cu alloys.In this study,the influences of returns on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Cu alloys have been investigated by means of optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.The results showed that the returns could be used to produce recycled Al-Cu alloys with fine and uniform microstructure and excellent mechanical properties,including ultimate tensile strength,yield strength and ductility.It was found that the maximum performance of the recycled Al-Cu alloy in their properties could be achievable when the returns content was 20wt.%,which gave 219 MPa,87.16 MPa and 12.15% at as-cast state,and 525 MPa,445.3 MPa and 14.14% after heat treated,in their tensile strengths,yield strengths and elongations,respectively.These values were much higher than those of primary alloy.

On the volatility of daily stock returns of Total Nigeria Plc: evidence from GARCH models, value-at-risk and backtesting

This study investigates the volatility in daily stock returns for Total Nigeria Plc using nine variants of GARCH models:sGARCH,girGARCH,eGARCH,iGARCH,aGARCH,TGARCH,NGARCH,NAGARCH,and AVGARCH along with value at risk estimation and backtesting.We use daily data for Total Nigeria Plc returns for the period January 2,2001 to May 8,2017,and conclude that eGARCH and sGARCH perform better for normal innovations while NGARCH performs better for student t innovations.This investigation of the volatility,VaR,and backtesting of the daily stock price of Total Nigeria Plc is important as most previous studies covering the Nigerian stock market have not paid much attention to the application of backtesting as a primary approach.We found from the results of the estimations that the persistence of the GARCH models are stable except for few cases for which iGARCH and eGARCH were unstable.Additionally,for student t innovation,the sGARCH and girGARCH models failed to converge;the mean reverting number of days for returns differed from model to model.From the analysis of VaR and its backtesting,this study recommends shareholders and investors continue their business with Total Nigeria Plc because possible losses may be overcome in the future by improvements in stock prices.Furthermore,risk was reflected by significant up and down movement in the stock price at a 99%confidence level,suggesting that high risk brings a high return.

Returns to Education in China:1989-2011

Using China Health and Nutrition Survey(CHNS) data between 1989 and 2011, this paper measures the returns to education in China based on the Mincer earnings function and reaches the following findings through an analysis of the tendency of continuous variations over a long timeframe: returns to education are on the rise within the range of samples both under relative and absolute scenarios; returns to different levels of education are characterized by increasing marginal return; no significant difference exists between the returns to junior middle school and the returns to primary school education. Further discussions consider that the requirements of job positions for the overall competence of personnel, differentiated decline of corporate demand for recruitment, lack of an evaluation system in the labor market, information asymmetry in the job market, the development strategy adopted in a particular stage of history and the current slow progress of economic transition have jointly led to the underemployment of college graduates and the great enthusiasm of parents investing in higher education for their children. Conclusions of this paper not only have important practical relevance to the ongoing implementation of China's innovation-driven development strategy, but offer inspirations for the new round of educational reform as well.

Optimizing Nutrient Use Efficiency and Returns from Soybean Production under Smallholders in Three Agro-Ecologies of Malawi

Field trials were conducted to determine the economically optimum fertilizer rates for soybean production and for optimizing net profits in Dedza, Lilongwe and Salima Districts of Malawi. The effects of PK fertilizer rates on rain use efficiency (RUE), harvest index, agronomic use efficiency of phosphorous (AEP) and potassium (AEK), and value cost ratio (VCR) were evaluated. The applied diagnostic PK fertilizer rates significantly improved soybean grain yields, harvest index, rainwater use efficiency, AEP, AEK and returns to fertilizer use expressed as value cost ratio (VCR). However, the results differed significantly

Macao Returns Home

In1553,PortugueselandedonMacaobeachwhereAMaTemplewaslocatedtodrytheirwatersoakedgoods.Theydecidedtosettleintheareaandeventuallyinstitutedcolonialruleovertheisland.InJuly1844,thecorruptQingcourtsignedtheunequalWangxiaTreatyuponaroundstonetableintherea...

A perspective on recent methods on testing predictability of asset returns

This paper highlights some recent developments in testing predictability of asset returns with focuses on linear mean regressions, quantile regressions and nonlinear regression models. For these models, when predictors are highly persistent and their innovations are contemporarily correlated with dependent variable, the ordinary least squares estimator has a finite-sample bias, and its limiting distribution relies on some unknown nuisance parameter, which is not consistently estimable. Without correcting these issues, conventional test statistics are subject to a serious size distortion and generate a misleading conclusion in testing pre- dictability of asset returns in real applications. In the past two decades, sequential studies have contributed to this subject and proposed various kinds of solutions, including, but not limit to, the bias-correction procedures, the linear projection approach, the IVX filtering idea, the variable addition approaches, the weighted empirical likelihood method, and the double-weight robust approach. Particularly, to catch up with the fast-growing literature in the recent decade, we offer a selective overview of these methods. Finally, some future research topics, such as the econometric theory for predictive regressions with structural changes, and nonparametric predictive models, and predictive models under a more general data setting, are also discussed.

A model of regional economic development with increasing returns

This paper develops mathematically and empirically tractable regional and interregional model of economic devel-opment with increasing returns to scale (IRS) under the neoclassical assumptions. A one-sector, two-region model in which one region exhibits IRS is presented and the whole nation presents constant returns to scale. The development of the local IRS economy is shown to be constrained to a “moving equilibrium” path. The preliminary empirical results are sufficiently supportive of the argument to encourage further research along the lines of the model. In particular, the neoclassical model does not predict negative coefficients on the real rental value of capital in regressions explaining population or employment relative to that in the nation.

The Law of Diminishing Returns in Determining the Environmental Cost of Mining in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Environmental standards,as independent/explanatory variables of C21 capital costing functions,may refer to parts of space that we want to control in order to protect subsystems that are particularly sensitive and/or importance.In these cases,we need a quantitative relationship that links the environmental characteristics of the source of pollution to those of the reference/control points.In this article we will identify the capital cost functions C21=f(Sf),where Sf is a spatially distributed parameter(e.g.BOD),characteristic of an environmental model.

Evaluation of forecasting methods from selected stock market returns

Forecasting stock market returns is one of the most effective tools for risk management and portfolio diversification.There are several forecasting techniques in the literature for obtaining accurate forecasts for investment decision making.Numerous empirical studies have employed such methods to investigate the returns of different individual stock indices.However,there have been very few studies of groups of stock markets or indices.The findings of previous studies indicate that there is no single method that can be applied uniformly to all markets.In this context,this study aimed to examine the predictive performance of linear,nonlinear,artificial intelligence,frequency domain,and hybrid models to find an appropriate model to forecast the stock returns of developed,emerging,and frontier markets.We considered the daily stock market returns of selected indices from developed,emerging,and frontier markets for the period 2000–2018 to evaluate the predictive performance of the above models.The results showed that no single model out of the five models could be applied uniformly to all markets.However,traditional linear and nonlinear models outperformed artificial intelligence and frequency domain models in providing accurate forecasts.

Bayesian analysis of time‑varying interactions between stock returns and foreign equity flows

This study discusses the trading behavior of foreign investors with respect to economic uncertainty in the South Korean stock market from a time-varying perspective.We employ a news-based measure of economic uncertainty along with the model of time-varying parameter vector autoregression with stochastic volatility.The empirical analysis reveals several new findings about foreign investors’trading behaviors.First,we find evidence that positive feedback trading often appears during periods of high economic uncertainty,whereas negative feedback trading is exclusively observable during periods of low economic uncertainty.Second,the foreign investors’feedback trading appears mostly to be well-timed and often leads the time-varying economic uncertainty except in periods of global crises.Third,lagged negative(positive)response of net flows to economic uncertainty is found to be coupled with lagged positive(negative)feedback trading.Fourth,the study documents an asymmetric response of foreign investors with regard to negative and positive shocks of economic uncertainty.Specifically,we find that they instantly turn to positive feedback trading after a negative contemporaneous response of net flows to shocks of economic uncertainty.In contrast,they move slowly toward negative feedback trading after a positive response of net flows to uncertainty shocks.

Determination of the Financing Scale,Time Limit and Returns from the Investment in BOT Projects

The key aspect to the successful implementation of BOT concept is the raising of finance by project sponsor,so financial engineering techniques and capital structuring skills are required to find the proper mix of debt and equity.The capital structure and present a model to determine the equity level from the aspects of financing scale,construction time and return on investment are analyzed.The resulting model can help the sponsor to avoid the capital risk,and offer the government a criterion to evaluate management ability of the sponsor.To show the application and availability of this model,a case study is conducted.Thus,this paper is concern with the determination of financing scale,construction time,and return on investment which would assist the sponsor to ensure that the equity level for optimal capital structure is available prior to the implementation stage in BOT project operation.

Return threshold model analysis of two stock markets： Evidence study of Italy and Germany＇s stock returns

This paper discusses the model construction and the association between the Italy and the Germany＇s stock markets. The period of study data is from January 3, 2000 to June 30, 2008. This paper also utilizes Student＇s t distribution to analyze the proposed model. The empirical results show that the two stock markets are mutually affected each other, and the dynamic conditional correlation （DCC） and the bivariate asymmetric-GARCH （1, 2） model is appropriate in evaluating the relation between them. The empirical result also indicates that Italy and Germany＇s stock markets show a positive relationship. The average value of correlation coefficient equals to 0.8424, which implies that the two stock markets return volatility have a synchronized influence on each other. In addition, the empirical result also shows that there is an asymmetrical effect between Italy and the Germany＇s stock markets, and demonstrates that the good news and bad news of the stock returns＇ volatility will produce the different variation risks for Italy and the Germany＇s stock price markets.

Trading volume and returns relationship in SET50 index futures market

This study investigates the relationship between trading volume and returns in SET50 index Futures market in the period from April 2006 to December 2008 using 653 observations. From previous studies, we include three methodologies namely the GARCH model, the Generalized Method of Moments （GMM） to estimate systems of equations and the Granger causality test to investigate the relationship more thoroughly. In addition, we introduce the lagged volume as a new explanatory variable in the GARCH model. Overall, the results show the significant contemporaneous and dynamic relationships between trading volume and returns volatility which support the sequential information arrival hypothesis and imply some degree of market inefficiency. The results from this study also show that past information of trading volume can be used to improve the prediction of price volatility. Therefore, regulators and traders could include past information of trading volume of SET50 index futures in tracking and monitoring the market volatility level and the investment risk in order to make a timely decision.

Improving crop yield, N uptake and economic returns by intercropping barley or canola with pea

Two field experiments were conducted from 2009 to 2011 on a Gray Luvisol (Typic Haplocryalf) loam at Star City, Saskatchewan, Canada, to determine the effectiveness of intercropping barley or canola with pea in improving crop yield, total N uptake, seed quality, Land Equivalency Ratio (LER) and economic returns compared to barley, canola or pea grown as monocultures. Average seed yields of barley-pea or canola-pea intercrops were usually greater than those of barley, canola or pea as sole crops. In intercrops, application of N fertilizer increased seed yield of barley or canola but had only slight beneficial effect on the combined seed yield of both crops together. The LER values for intercrops were usually much greater than 1, suggesting less land requirements of intercropping systems than monoculture for the same seed yield. Net returns were lowest for barley as sole crop. Without applied N, net returns were slightly lower for barley-pea intercrop and slightly greater for canola-pea intercrop than pea as a sole crop. Generally, protein concentration in canola or barley seed was higher and oil concentration in canola seed was lower in intercrop combinations compared to sole crops. Response trends of total N uptake in seed or straw were usually similar to that of seed or straw yield. In conclusion, intercropping barley or canola with pea improved yield, N uptake and net returns, suggesting the potential of barley-pea or canola-pea intercrops and pea for organic farming systems.