Exchange Rates and Dominant Macro Fundamental

Various exchange rates are driven by different macro variables. This paper uses a measure of exchange rate informativeness about future macro fundamentals to identify the dominant macroeconomic fundamental of 120 currencies. Exchange rate informativeness is defined as the share of future fundamental shocks in the variance of exchange rate changes. The distribution of exchange rate informativeness shows that the median exchange rate informativeness about the dominant macro fundamental is 0.11. Moreover, the exchange rate of most high-inflation countries is driven by expectations of the price differential. Expectations of the relative output drive the currency of countries with high export concentration.

Cultural–Ecological Moderation of Physical Attractiveness Bias: Attractiveness-Based Discrimination or Discrimination of Attractiveness?

The cultural–ecological moderation hypothesis suggests that the importance of physical attractiveness (PA) for life outcomes is particularly pronounced in settings that afford constructions of the relationship as the product of choice. The current work addresses an ambiguity in earlier research that documented a cultural–ecological moderation effect on expectations about life outcomes of attractive and unattractive targets. Specifically, do cultural–ecological forces moderate PA-based discrimination (i.e., differential expectations as a function of PA) or discrimination of PA (i.e., differences in ratings of PA itself)? In Study 1, we used Bayesian multilevel moderated mediation to reanalyze data from the original study. In Study 2, we performed similar analyses on data from a new sample. Results provide consistent evidence for a cultural–ecological moderation effect on discrimination of PA and some evidence for a cultural–ecological moderation effect on PA-based discrimination.

Status Characteristics, Implicit Bias, and the Production of Racial Inequality

Racial stratification is well documented in many spheres of social life. Much stratification research assumes that implicit or explicit bias on the part of institutional gatekeepers produces disparate racial outcomes. Research on status-based expectations provides a good starting point for theoretically understanding racial inequalities. In this context it is understood that race results in differential expectations for performance, producing disparate outcomes. But even here, the mechanism (i.e., status-based expectations) is often assumed due to the lack of tools to measure status-based expectations. In this article, we put forth a new way to measure implicit racial status beliefs and theorize how they are related to consensual beliefs about what “most people” think. This enables us to assess the mechanisms in the relationship between race and disparate outcomes. We conducted two studies to assess our arguments. Study 1 demonstrates the measurement properties of the implicit status measure. Study 2 shows how implicit status beliefs and perceptions of what “most people” think combine to shape social influence. We conclude with the implications of this work for social psychological research, and for racial stratification more generally.

Citizens’ perceptions of the health-related neighbourhood environment in Limassol, Cyprus

Background “Place” can impact on health and quality of life. There is a growing interest in neighbourhood audits. In the context of developing the CyNOTes audit tool, a residents’ perception of the neighbourhood environment survey was performed. Methods A systematic random sample of ten adult residents (N = 150) across a stratified sample of fifteen neighbourhoods according to educational attainment as per census data responded to the “Place Standard” tool which assesses 14 aspects of the physical, built and social neighbourhood environment. Neighbourhoods were also audited using the 126-item CyNOTes. Results Three in four participants were home owners and lived in the neighbourhood for over 10 years. With the exception of “identity and sense of belonging” (M = 5.8, SD = 2.0) and “opportunities for social interaction” (M = 5.3, SD = 2.1), physical and built aspects of the environment were rated close to the middle point on a scale 1: large to 7: little room for improvement. “Parks, playgrounds and green space” and “garbage, animal droppings and other physical disorder” were the most commonly mentioned priorities for action in the free text by one in three participants. The lowest score was recorded for “influence and sense of control” (M = 3.4, SD = 2.4). While on a 1-10 subjective perception of neighbourhood position, residents in lower education neighbourhoods gave a rating of 6.6 on average compared to 8.1 in the higher group, they tended to rate aspects of their neighbourhood more favourably. Even though the audit revealed a systematic pattern of less favourable conditions along the socio-economic continuum, the perception survey revealed a U-pattern with residents in the middle category more likely to give less favourable ratings. Conclusions The extent to which perceptions surveys may be affected by differential expectations across social groups is not clear. Neighborhood audits provide supplementary profiles of “place” independent of the perceptions of residents. Key messages Based on the Place Standard tool, Limassol residents’ rate social aspects of their neighbourhood environment more favourably than aspects of the built and physical environment. Neighbourhood observed-based audits, independent of residents’ perceptions surveys can supplement each other in city health profiling.

Stereotype Threat and Educational Tracking: A Field Experiment in Chinese Vocational High Schools

Educational tracks create differential expectations of student ability, raising concerns that the negative stereotypes associated with lower tracks might threaten student performance. The authors test this concern by drawing on a field experiment enrolling 11,624 Chinese vocational high school students, half of whom were randomly primed about their tracks before taking technical skill and math exams. As in almost all countries, Chinese students are sorted between vocational and academic tracks, and vocational students are stereotyped as having poor academic abilities. Priming had no effect on technical skills and, contrary to hypotheses, modestly improved math performance. In exploring multiple interpretations, the authors highlight how vocational tracking may crystallize stereotypes but simultaneously diminishes stereotype threat by removing academic performance as a central measure of merit. Taken together, the study implies that reminding students about their vocational or academic identities is unlikely to further contribute to achievement gaps by educational track.

Market Efficiency and Arbitrage Opportunities for Russian Depositary Receipts Cross-Listed on the London Stock Exchange

This study examines the Russian stock market efficiency from two perspectives. First, we document that for the sample of Russian firms cross-listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), the return series obtained from both the local market and the LSE are time-invariant and hence, predictable. This suggests that the market is inefficient with respect to pricing Russian GDRs and that investors are likely to make systematic nonzero profits. Second, we document profitable arbitrage opportunity surrounding the announcement to adopt IFRS, which is an additional evidence of market inefficiency. The significant pricing spread observed on this key date was due to the differential market reaction to IFRS adoption — neutral on the local MICEX exchange dominated by individual traders and significantly negative on the LSE dominated by institutional investors. This finding can be explained by (i) informational advantages of the local investors due to geographic proximity, (ii) differential expectations with respect to governance norms and listing requirements, and (iii) difference in portfolio composition of the two investor groups.