Knowledge that Transforms

In this paper the results of some new structural estimates of liquidity preference may be found. The justification for presenting them is that they differ from earlier estimates in certain ways. In some cases, the implications of these estimates differ sharply from the implications drawn by other observers on the basis of their estimates.

The concept that corporate investment-growth decisions are constrained by a profit opportunities schedule is central to much of the literature on finance and the theory of the firm. These writings suggest that, for a single firm: (1) the profit opportunities schedule is a decreasing function of investment growth (the slope reflecting, inter alia, competitive conditions); (2) the schedule shifts to the right with changes in national income (except for a firm producing income-inferior goods), and (3) the schedule's position (intercept) at a moment in time reflects a host of factors that are summarized by the term “management.”

There is little question that stock options have value, but there is considerable question as to how stock options should be valued. Persons studying the valuation question and writing in business periodicals have tied the value of the stock option to the expected or the actual appreciation in the value of the stock.

The substantial growth of the mutual fund industry during the last few years has attracted the attention of students of finance, economics, and public policy alike. Net assets managed by such funds have grown from approximately $450 million in 1940 to more than $38 billion by June of 1966. During 1965 the mutual fund industry funneled some $5. billion of new (primarily equity) funds into the capital markets; more than twice the $2. billion in new equity raised by all non-financial United States corporations during the year. Growth of the industry has not been uniform, however, but has been concentrated among a relatively small number of highly successful funds.

Most businesses sell on credit. To administer credit, such companies set credit granting, term, and collection policies. This article analyzes one aspect of credit granting policy: the determination of the optimal number of credit applicants that should be accepted by a creditor. The emphasis in the relevant literature traditionally has been on techniques for estimating a credit applicant's probability of default and, to a lesser degree, on the decision to accept an applicant given his estimated probability of default. Cumulatively, these two decisions are crucial to any business selling on credit.

In a recent article in this Journal, Jacob B. Michaelson and Robert C. Goshay (hereafter M-G) argue that the rule of maximizing share values does not adequately explain the portfolio selection practices of financial intermediaries. Moreover, M-G suggest that their analysis “has ramifications that reach far beyond financial intermediaries.” In particular, they state that “the asset holdings of conglomerate firms and the rationale for mergers may not be fully explicable in terms of maximizing behavior.”

Edward F. Renshaw, Portfolio Balance Models in Perspective: Some Generalizations that Can be Derived from the Two-Asset Case, The Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Jun., 1967), pp. 123-149