Service Pricing In Bulgaria

The article aims to find out how companies operating in Bulgaria determine the prices of their services. In this regard, a review is carried out of the theoretical and empirical research on service pricing, and the results are presented from an online survey including 100 managers/marketing directors of companies that operate in Bulgaria and offer services. The article establishes the pricing factors of substantial importance for the companies in the sector of services, the most common pricing objectives, as well as which pricing strategies, methods and tactics are applied. In addition, the most common reasons for price increase or reduction are considered.

Taming the Factor Zoo: New Evidence from China

We address the well-known “factor zoo” problem in the Chinese stock market. By replicating a generation of pricing factors, we verify the Liu–Stambaugh–Yuan four-factor model which subsumes other counterparts in the Chinese A-share market. We further construct a characteristic library and apply the double-selection LASSO approach to explore whether significant anomalies contribute to current pricing factors. We find that some anomalies indeed play a significant role in pricing cross-sectional returns, but the improvement to the Liu–Stambaugh–Yuan four-factor model is limited.

Asset Allocation via Machine Learning

In this paper, we document a novel machine learning-based numerical framework to solve static and dynamic portfolio optimization problems, with, potentially, an extremely large number of assets. The framework proposed applies to general constrained optimization problems and overcomes many major difficulties arising in current literature. We not only empirically test our methods in U.S. and China A-share equity markets, but also run a horse-race comparison of some optimization schemes documented in (Homescu, 2014). We record significant excess returns, relative to the selected benchmarks, in both U.S. and China equity markets using popular schemes solved by our framework, where the conditional expected returns are obtained via machine learning regression, inspired by (Gu, Kelly & Xiu, 2020) and (Leippold, Wang & Zhou, 2021), of future returns on pricing factors carefully chosen.

Hedge Fund Strategies in the Post-Crisis Era

This chapter examines the performances of various hedge fund strategies based on various reward-to-risk ratios after the 2008 global crisis. We document that a majority of hedge fund strategies deliver lower average returns compared to equities and bonds; yet the volatilities of their returns have also been low. The equity hedge strategy has the highest reward-to-risk ratios among the major strategy categories, whereas the relative value arbitrage strategy has the lowest. Technology/healthcare, merger arbitrage, discretionary thematic, and asset-backed arbitrage strategies tend to have the highest reward-to-risk ratios in their respective categories. Time-series regressions of hedge fund strategy returns on various fund pricing factors provide evidence that hedge funds, on average, do not generate abnormal returns once the pricing factors are controlled for. We also document that hedge fund strategy returns generally load negatively on the bond market and aggregate credit risk factors and positively on the market portfolio.

The methodology to assess the impact of corporate governance on the enterprise value

Subject. The article investigates pricing factors that determine the enterprise value with respect to the effect of corporate governance factors. Objectives. I analyze the impact of corporate governance factors on the enterprise value and build a technique for assessing the effect of corporate governance on the business valuation of the Russian public companies. Methods. The study relies upon the synthesis, deduction, induction, methods of statistical analysis, comparison and generalization. Results. I devised the method, which comprises five steps considering the effect of corporate governance factors on the enterprise value. Following the steps of the method, the specifics of the valuation subject is analyzed in terms of business and legal forms, the use of modern Russian corporate governance principles, the composition and the number of shareholders, industry the entity operates in, and fundamental metrics of the enterprise value. Conclusions and Relevance. Currently, there is few information in the literature about the impact of corporate governance principles set forth in the 2014 Corporate Governance Code, on business value. The article presents the method for assessing the impact of corporate governance on the business valuation, which accounts for the specifics of business and legal forms in terms of corporate governance principles, capital structure, the number of shareholders, the State’s involvement, industry, and fundamental metrics of business valuation. The proposed method can be used by financial analysts, appraisers, corporate managers so as to build and manage the enterprise value.

Short- and Long-Horizon Behavioral Anomalies and Institutional Investors’ Nudge Behavior: Based on the Data of Listed Chinese Tobacco Companies

We use the data of listed tobacco companies in China to study the existence of short- and long-horizon behavioral anomalies and the impact of institutional investors’ behavior on them. We found that the existing asset pricing models cannot explain the short- and long-horizon behavioral anomalies based on tobacco enterprise data. Conversely, the short- and long-horizon behavioral anomalies can explain the exciting asset pricing factors. Compared with existing asset pricing models, behavioral anomalies have a stronger ability to explain anomalies. Behavioral anomalies could pass the cross-sectionally test and strengthened over time. The above results indicate that behavioral anomalies exist in China tobacco enterprisest significantly and are time-varying. We found that the limits to arbitrage and cognitive bias lead to the existence of behavioral anomalies through mechanism tests. Institutional investors did not play the role of price discovery. Instead, their nudge behavior strengthens the short- and long-horizon behavioral anomalies. Therefore, tobacco regulatory agencies should guide listed tobacco companies to broaden information channels to reduce information asymmetry in the market through relevant policies, strengthen the supervision of institutional investors’ bubble riding behavior, and promote the healthy development of the tobacco market.

COMMODITY EXPERTISE OF JEWELRY

Background. Jewelry is one of the components of material, ritual, cultural and historical heritage of mankind.Modern jewelry has acquired significant differences from those created in the past. Changes in the field of production and trade in jewelry explain the relevance of the analysis of cost indicators in the modern jewelry market and the feasibility of improving commodity expertise. The aim of the workis to analyze the cost indicators on the jewelry market in Ukraine, to conduct their commodity expertiseand to develop an algorithm for cost forecastingof jewelry in accordance with their quality characteristics. Materials and methods. A database of initial data on jewelry present on the market was created in the following range: weddingrings, rings, pendants and earrings. All named products weigh up to 10 grams and are made of 925 silver and 585 gold. Most of them are decorated with precious and semi-precious stones or inserts that imitate them. To develop an algorithm for cost forecastingof jewelry, a mathematical model was built and the quality of the approximation was calculated according to K. Pearson. Results. The results of the analysis of cost indicators in the modern jewelry market are described, and also recommendations for performance of tasks of their com­modity expertise are given. Three commodity groups of jewelry have been identified and an algorithm for predicting their value has been developed.A protocol for assessing the quality of jewelry and standards for visual comparison operations are presented. An approach to determining the estimated value of exclusive jewelry is proposed. Conclusion. The general regulations of work of commodity expertise of jewelry are established. Creating a mathematical model for cost forecastingof jewelry requires the compi­lation of a database of initial data of representative samples presented on the market. For each cost interval it is necessary to build a regression mathematical model that will ensure maximum consideration of pricing factors and the authenticity and reproducibility of the results of commodity research. Commodity expertiseof the cheapest jewelry can be carried out only on the basis of the value of the used precious metals. Medium-value jewelry requires market analysis and mathematical forecasting. Jewelry with precious stones of natural origin also requires analysis of databases on precious stones. More expensive jewelry (more than UAH 300,000 per sample) can be valued only at the value of the gemstone. Keywords: commodity expertise, jewelry, cost forecasting, protocol, evaluation criterion.

A Study of the Impact of Crypto Currency on the Indian Payment system

Payment systems form an integral part of any emerging economy. A payment system should be safe, secure, reliable, and accessible. It will help in expanding financial inclusion and bringing financial stability. An efficient payment system helps in the smooth flow of payments and mitigation of risks and smooth functioning of the economy. It helps in fostering confidence in individuals about the use of payment services. Technological development has helped in changing the face of payments system from cards (credit/debit card) to wallets (Paytm/Phonepe etc.) to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Quick Response (QR)codes. It has not only introduced us to new payment methods but also strengthen the traditional payment methods. It has become an important part of our daily life. It has empowered us and made our life easier by offering services at our fingertips round the clock. The latest addition to these is cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, Ripple, etc. Cryptocurrencies are one of the first applications of Blockchain technologies.it has removed the need for intermediaries and exert pressure on the existing framework. The attributes of cryptocurrency framework like decentralized network, no intermediaries, and the lack of stable pricing factors do not let it unlock its true potential. The future of Cryptocurrency is uncertain. Whether it will be accepted globally or still be traded via unauthorized means. Every problem allows for finding a solution. The regulators should come up with policies, which will help in shaping the payments system for the betterment of the people, by using the positive attributes of cryptocurrencies and coordinating with the Global peers.

Investor sentiment and the time-varying sustainability premium

Studies show the inconclusive results regarding the relation between corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSR and CER) and expected returns. We argue that the reason for these mixed results is that the sustainability premium (i.e., the return difference of high-intensity minus low-intensity CSR/CER firms) is time-varying and correlated with investor sentiment. We find that high-intensity CSR (CER) firms have a monthly excess return that is 0.70 (0.88) p.p. higher following periods of low investor sentiment as compared to periods of high sentiment. Given that standard pricing factors cannot fully explain the abnormal returns caused by investor sentiment on the sustainability premium, we propose a sustainability pricing factor, estimated as the second principal component of portfolios sorted based on environmental and social variables, which corrects this mispricing.

Territorial Extrapolation of Basic Data as a Solution of the Problem of Its Deficiency during Mass Appraisal

The article is devoted to the application of the territorial extrapolation of basic data method during a mass (cadastral) assessment of a territory that is characterized by an acute lack of market information. In the framework of the study, an acute lack is understood as the conditions when for the assessing territory there are less than five transaction (offer) prices suitable for regression models. The idea of the method is to use market information of territories that are comparable in a composition of pricing factors and the nature of their influence on the cost, as well as in terms of price levels. The developed method includes such stages as collection of basic data, creation of thematic maps, grouping of estimated territories by price level and composition of pricing factors and modeling. The method was applied to assess land plots that have the type of permitted use “for individual housing construction” and belong to the mass appraisal segment “gardening and horticulture, low-rise residential buildings” in the settlements of the Republic of Udmurtia. The results of approbation shown that the method of territorial extrapolation helps to overcome an acute shortage of market information and build statistically significant models of the cadastral values of land plots.