[Agents are assumed to have smooth preferences with natural boundary conditions. For large regular economies, satisfying an indeconposability conditions, it is shown that core allocations and competitive allocations converge to each other with a rate inversely proportional to the number of agents m. To the extent that the indecomposability condition is harmless, 1/m can be regarded as the normal rate of convergence. However, if indifference surfaces are allowed to have kinks, 1/m cannot be regarded as normal. This is treated in Part II [6].]

ABSTRACT Valuation ratios divide stock price by accounting metrics such as earnings, earnings growth, and book value. This study adapts the general valuation framework in Ohlson and Juettner‐Nauroth (2005) and Ohlson (2005) to present a unified approach for developing valuation ratios based on fundamentals, referred to as fundamental valuation ratios. One starts with a valuation model that is driven by an accounting metric a and its abnormal growth, then divides the valuation model by a to get a fundamental valuation ratio. For any valuation ratio, one can find a corresponding fundamental valuation ratio, as long as the valuation model is based on the same metric a as the valuation ratio denominator.

This study provides empirical evidence that firms with larger boards have lower variability of corporate performance. The results indicate that board size is negatively associated with the variability of monthly stock returns, annual accounting return on assets, Tobin's Q, accounting accruals, extraordinary items, analyst forecast inaccuracy, and R&D spending, the level of R&D expenditures, and the frequency of acquisition and restructuring activities. The results are consistent with the view that it takes more compromises for a larger board to reach consensus, and consequently, decisions of larger boards are less extreme, leading to less variable corporate performance.

This study examines the information content of seven FAS No. 8 related key events on the security returns of firms affected by the accounting rule. The Box and Tiao intervention analysis was used, which combines the univariate ARIMA(p,d,q) (auto‐regressive integrated moving average) modeling with a statistical impact assessment. Results indicate that security returns of firms investigated have generally exhibited patterns of small positive blips (abrupt onsets, temporary durations, and rapid decays) around the time of the appointment of the task force as well as at the date of issuance of the exposure draft. Résumé. Cette étude examine le contenu informationnel de sept événements importants entourant le FAS no 8 sur les rendements des titres d'entreprises affectées par la règle de comptabilité. L'analyse d'intervention Box‐Tiao fut utilisée, méthode où la modélisation ARMNI (p.d.q) à une variable aléatoire est combinée à une évaluation de l'impact statistique. Les résultats indiquent que les rendements des titres émis par les firmes étudiées ont présenté des structures de petites oscillations positives (croissance brutale, durée temporaire et déclin rapide) autour des moments de nomination du groupe d'étude et de publication de l'exposé sondage.

In this paper, a general treatment of identifying the set of unbiased estimators of N-period mean returns is advanced and a new unbiased estimator, which promises near-minimum variance and minimal computation, is formulated. The new estimator is also equally applicable to other processes of compound growth.

The mean-variance capital asset pricing model (CAPM) of Sharpe and Lintner was extended by Brennan [3] to incorporate divergent borrowing and lending rates. He found that in equilibrium the security market line (SML) has the same structure as the SML under the single-rate CAPM of Sharpe and Lintner. That is, the expected return of a security or a portfolio remains linear in its systematic risk, with the intercept replaced by an equivalent risk-free return, which is an average of the divergent borrowing and lending rates weighted by the investors' taste parameters. The equivalent risk-free return is larger than the riskless lending rate and, hence, does not represent an inconsistency with the empirical findings by Friend and Blume [4] and by Black, Jensen and Scholes [1[ that the intercept of empirical SML estimated for the single-rate CAPM is larger than the riskless rate. Moreover, Brennan attempted to show that his construct can be extended to the extreme case where there are no riskless opportunities. The case of no riskless opportunities was of course investigated by Black [2], who generalized the CAPM and SML by inventing the concept of zero-beta port-folio to account for the same empirical problem encountered in the traditional SML tests of CAPM. Since the Sharpe-Lintner single-riskless-rate CAPM implies a perfect loan market, we may view the attempts by Black and Brennan as generalizing the CAPM by incorporating financial restrictions and loan market imperfections. Their primary motive, however, is empirical, i.e., to reconcile the results from the traditional SML tests with their generalized CAPM.

In this paper, possible factors affecting the second-pass regression results in capital asset pricing are investigated in detail. First, the true functional form used to test the risk-return relation is determined by using Box and Cox's [2] generalized functional form technique. Secondly, Box and Cox's residual analysis and transformation technique are used to show the importance of the skewness effect in capital asset pricing. Finally, some other factors affecting the results of second-pass regression coefficient in capital asset pricing also are explored. From these analyses, it is found that the functional form, the skewness effect, and the change of market condition are the most important factors in affecting the empirical conclusions in testing the bias of composite performance measures and the risk-return relation.

Jensen [6] employed the instantaneous systematic risk concept to eliminate the problem associated with time horizon. Based upon the effective rate of return argument, Cheng and Deets [3] claimed that Jensen instantaneous risk is not independent of the time horizon used in the investment analysis. They have also proposed a so-called Cheng-Deets instantaneous risk to substitute for the Jensen instantaneous risk.Following the log normal distribution assumption, this paper has shown that Cheng-Deets instantaneous risk is identical to Jensen instantaneous risk. The relationship between finite systematic risk and instantaneous risk is also identified. The roles played by the effective and the nominal rate-of-return concepts in the capital asset pricing process are also clarified. It is shown that both Jensen and CD instantaneous risks are biased unless the investment horizon is instantaneous. A testable generalized CAPM is derived to test the instantaneous investment horizon assumption. Finally, 30 securities of the Dow- Jones industrial average were used to test the generalized CAPM derived in this paper.

S-L have derived a simultaneous equation CAPM to offer a robust test for the interdependent assumption of the single equation CAPM. However, their empirical results are subject to the multicollinearity problem associated with 2SLS. For improving their results, several alternative estimation methods are used to estimate a seven-equation system for the oil industry. In accordance with both the multicollinearity criterion and residual analysis, it is found the modified 2SLS is the most appropriate method to be used to estimate the S-L model. From the results obtained from the modified 2SLS, it is shown that the market rate of return still is a relatively important factor in predicting the movement of capital market in the simultaneous equation CAPM. After applying a better estimation method to the S-L simultaneous equation CAPM, it is shown that the S-L model has given us the interesting interrelationship of capital asset pricing within a particular risk class.