Economics - Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item The Baby Club: paternity and performance in a high‐pressure setting(John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2024-12-12) Butler, David; Butler, RobertWe offer new insights into fatherhood by asking if the onset of paternity changes workplace productivity. We do this in the well‐monitored and high‐pressure setting of professional football using a novel dataset that matches 115 birth disclosures to the performance of 96 players. Our empirical approach involves specifying a performance equation for a suite of match‐level performance statistics and estimating OLS and Poisson fixed‐effect panel regressions. We find a negative correlation between fatherhood and collaborative performance as measured by expected assists—a player's ability to create goalscoring opportunities. We also report negative effects for the perinatal period for expected assists and passing measures. There is no evidence of performance changes resulting from expectancy news. As negative performance effects are observed in a context of ‘superstar wages’, this raises concerns for high‐pressure labour markets where workers are remunerated less but have low uptake of leave entitlements or where paternity leave is culturally taboo.Item The liquidity timing ability of mutual funds(Elsevier Inc., 2024-06-08) Yin, Zhengnan; O’Sullivan, Niall; Sherman, Meadhbh; University College CorkWe apply the nonparametric methodology of Jiang (2003) to test the market liquidity timing skills across individual equity mutual funds in three countries (the US, UK, and China). We calculate the monthly stock market liquidity using simple averages (across stocks) as well as the asymptotic principal component analysis (APCA) method based on six stock liquidity measures. Using an across-measure of market liquidity from APCA, we find a relatively small number of funds demonstrate statistically positive liquidity timing skills at a 5% significance level for the period of 2000–2021. After controlling for lagged market liquidity information, we still find a small number of mutual funds that have conditional liquidity timing ability using the nonparametric method.Item The market timing ability of bond mutual funds(Springer Nature, 2024-09-17) Yin, Zhengnan; O’Sullivan, Niall; Sherman, MeadhbhWe apply the nonparametric methodology of Jiang (Journal of Empirical Finance 10:399–425, 2003) to examine whether bond mutual funds can time the bond market by adjusting their portfolios' market exposure based on anticipated market movement. This approach offers several advantages over the widely used regression-based tests such as Treynor and Mazuy (Harvard Business Review 44(4):131–136, 1966) and Henriksson and Merton (The Journal of Business 54(4):513–533, 1981). In a comprehensive study covering the USA, UK, and China, we find some evidence of positive market timing of bond funds at the individual fund level. On average, bond funds show neutral to slightly negative market timing abilities. After controlling for public information, we find that a smaller number of bond funds successfully time the market based on private timing signals. In terms of categories, we find strong evidence of positive market timing for Government bond funds as a group, consistent with the findings of Huang and Wang (Management Science 60:2091–2109, 2014).Item The performance of asset allocation mutual funds(Springer Nature, 2024-10-14) Yin, Zhengnan; O’Sullivan, Niall; Sherman, Meadhbh; University College CorkWe analyze the performance of asset allocation funds using a best-fit multifactor model that includes both stock and bond market factors. Utilizing large samples of allocation funds from both the US and the UK, we find that, on average, asset allocation funds do not outperform their benchmarks, and there is little or weak evidence of performance persistence when examining both decile portfolios and small-size portfolios. However, asset allocation funds still demonstrate superior abilities. At the individual fund level, some funds exhibit significant positive alphas, stock market timing, and bond market timing in both the US and UK markets. Furthermore, we find that US allocation funds with low past maximum drawdowns (MDDs) outperform those with high past MDDs during periods of high stock market returns and high stock market volatility. In contrast, UK allocation funds with low past MDDs outperform those with high MDDs when bond market returns are high.Item Emissions from air travel and major football tournaments(Taylor & Francis, 2024-11-05) McCarthy, Conor; Bradfield, Tracy; Butler, David; Butler, RobertResearch Question: This paper explores the environmental impact of air travel during two international football tournaments – the Mens FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championships – by estimating CO2 emissions from the movements of competing teams. Specifically, we consider how travel associated with major international football tournaments has evolved over time. Research Methods: We access data for 895 international football matches (June 1990–July 2024). Our data focuses on the travel associated with players and management travelling to, and within, host countries and includes the movement of more than 16,000 people. Estimates of CO2 emissions per passenger (per kilometre) are used to examine the environmental impact of travelling to host countries, and competing, during the tournament. Results and Findings: Our findings are the first attempt to demonstrate the CO2 emissions from team travel to and within major football tournaments. Despite improvements in aeroplane fuel efficiency, the carbon footprint from team travel has generally not been reduced. The decision to expand these tournaments, locate matches across large geographic areas, and use co-host countries has exacerbated this issue. Implications: Our findings can support sustainability initiatives and could be adopted by both federations to curb CO2 emissions which appear to undermine genuine attempts to become more environmentally friendly.