Are some analysts ‘superstars’? Financial press coverage of analysts' performance suggests that there are superior financial analysts. One example of this coverage is the…
Abstract
Are some analysts ‘superstars’? Financial press coverage of analysts' performance suggests that there are superior financial analysts. One example of this coverage is the Institutional Investor ‘All American Research Team’, based on surveys of money managers, who nominate and rank analysts. In this paper, I explore the question of individual superiority by examining one aspect of analysts' services: earnings forecasting. Forecasts of future earnings are of interest to investors, as inputs to investment decisions, and also to researchers, as data on earnings expectations.
William S. Hopwood and James C. McKeown
This study investigates the time‐series properties of operating cash flows per share and earnings per share for all manufacturing firms on the Compustat Quarterly Industrial tape…
Abstract
This study investigates the time‐series properties of operating cash flows per share and earnings per share for all manufacturing firms on the Compustat Quarterly Industrial tape for which sufficient data are available. Both individually‐identified and “premier” models are compared on the basis of their relative fit and forecasting accuracy. The empirical results suggest that for both accounting variables the individually‐identified models outperform the premier models, although this advantage is larger for earnings, and for forecast horizons beyond one quarter ahead. A major conclusion of the study is that the time‐series properties of cash flows are quite different than those of earnings. In particular, the cash flow series are considerably less predictable, as shown by their relatively high incidence of white‐noise series and relatively large forecast errors.
This paper attempts to shed light on the issue whether investors' earnings expectations completely align with analysts' forecasts. I find that current price level is not…
Abstract
This paper attempts to shed light on the issue whether investors' earnings expectations completely align with analysts' forecasts. I find that current price level is not significantly correlated with one‐year‐out realized earnings, but, it is significantly correlated with two‐year‐out, three‐year‐out, four‐year‐out and five‐year‐out realized earnings after I control for analysts' forecasts (and current earnings). Current price is found to be useful in improving the accuracy of long‐term analyst consensus forecasts. My findings are consistent with the notion that the market's near term expectation closely follows analyst forecasts while the market's long‐term expectation contains more information than analyst consensus forecasts.
Patricia O’Brien and Robin Bates
A survey of 166 women exiting prison in a large mid‐western U.S. state examined the extent to which demographics, family history and relationships, institutional experiences…
Abstract
A survey of 166 women exiting prison in a large mid‐western U.S. state examined the extent to which demographics, family history and relationships, institutional experiences, offence history, and physical and emotional needs were associated with re‐arrest one year after release. Analyses revealed that three independent variables and two interactional effects accounted for 40% of the variability in re‐arrest: employment in the year prior to incarceration, history of psychiatric hospitalization, participation in prison industries programs, and the interaction of prior psychiatric hospitalization with in‐prison substance abuse programming and with employment history. Interviews with 55 women over five points in time revealed important interpersonal and environmental elements for 20 women six months out who had not been arrested. Implications for program and policy development are discussed.
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In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…
Abstract
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.
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José Francisco Villarreal Valderrama, Luis Takano, Eduardo Liceaga-Castro, Diana Hernandez-Alcantara, Patricia Del Carmen Zambrano-Robledo and Luis Amezquita-Brooks
Aircraft pitch control is fundamental for the performance of micro aerial vehicles (MAVs). The purpose of this paper is to establish a simple experimental procedure to calibrate…
Abstract
Purpose
Aircraft pitch control is fundamental for the performance of micro aerial vehicles (MAVs). The purpose of this paper is to establish a simple experimental procedure to calibrate pitch instrumentation and classical control algorithms. This includes developing an efficient pitch angle observer with optimal estimation and evaluating controllers under uncertainty and external disturbances.
Design/methodology/approach
A wind tunnel test bench is designed to simulate fixed-wing aircraft dynamics. Key elements of the instrumentation commonly found in MAVs are characterized in a gyroscopic test bench. A data fusion algorithm is calibrated to match the gyroscopic test bench measurements and is then integrated into the autopilot platform. The elevator-angle to pitch-angle dynamic model is obtained experimentally. Two different control algorithms, based on model-free and model-based approaches, are designed. These controllers are analyzed in terms of parametric uncertainties due to wind speed variations and external perturbation because of sudden weight distribution changes. A series of experimental tests is performed in wind-tunnel facilities to highlight the main features of each control approach.
Findings
With regard to the instrumentation algorithms, a simple experimental methodology for the design of optimal pitch angle observer is presented and validated experimentally. In the context of the platform design and identification, the similitude among the theoretical and experimental responses shows that the platform is suitable for typical pitch control assessment. The wind tunnel experiments show that a fixed linear controller, designed using classical frequency domain concepts, is able to provide adequate responses in scenarios that approximate the operation of MAVs.
Research limitations/implications
The aircraft orientation observer can be used for both pitch and roll angles. However, for simultaneousyaw angle estimation the proposed design method requires further research. The model analysis considers a wind speed range of 6-18 m/s, with a nominal operation of 12 m/s. The maximum experimentally tested reference for the pitch angle controller was 20°. Further operating conditions may require more complex control approaches (e.g. scheduling, non-linear, etc.). However, this operating range is enough for typical MAV missions.
Originality/value
The study shows the design of an effective pitch angle observer, based on a simple experimental approach, which achieved locally optimum estimates at the test conditions. Additionally, the instrumentation and design of a test bench for typical pitch control assessment in wind tunnel facilities is presented. Finally, the study presents the development of a simple controller that provides adequate responses in scenarios that approximate the operation of MAVs, including perturbations that resemble package delivery and parametric uncertainty due to wind speed variations.
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The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains…
Abstract
The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.
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CARLOS T. FORMOSO, PATRICIA TZORTZOPOULOS and RENATA LIEDTKE
The performance of the product development process has a critical influence on the efficiency and duration of building projects, as well as on the quality of the final product…
Abstract
The performance of the product development process has a critical influence on the efficiency and duration of building projects, as well as on the quality of the final product. Despite its importance, relatively little attention has been given to the management of this process, if compared with production. The main objective of this paper is to present some results of a research project which aimed to devise a general model for managing the product development process in small sized companies involved in the development and construction of residential and commercial buildings. This model consists of a template for the product development process, which can be used by different companies as a basis to devise their own models for managing individual projects. The development of the model was based on case studies carried out in two companies from the south of Brazil and also on a benchmarking study.