Professor Mark Rhodes

Abstract

We examine the stock price and volume effects associated with changes in the composition of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI), over the time period of 2005–2012. We find evidence to support the price pressure hypothesis for both additions to and deletions from the KLCI. This is because significant stock price and trading volume effects in the pre index revision period are entirely reversed after the announcement of the news. Our empirical findings can be explained by the market microstructure literature. Significant changes in liquidity cause trading volume and stock prices to reverse back to their original level before the index revisions took place.

Purpose – The increasingly important role of international retail companies in the distribution and marketing of goods highlights important gaps in the literature. One of these gaps concerns a scientifically based understanding of the key, underlying drivers in the market selection process of such companies. The purpose of this paper is to establish a more robust understanding of international retailers' market selection process. Design/methodology/approach – This paper econometrically tests hypotheses derived from recent literature and models the international actions of retailers based in 13 home and ten host markets. Findings – The results highlight the importance of host market characteristics and the importance of understanding host market selections in the context of home market retail structural development and, by implication, the relative lack of importance of secondary managerial input factors. Research limitations/implications – The model presented here fundamentally challenges assumptions concerning the role of managers in market selection decisions in the light of sustainable patterns of international activity. Practical implications – These findings suggest that managers responsible for international market selection decisions do not have the freedom of action implied in the marketing literature and that their actions are constrained by structural market conditions. Originality/value – The relationships identified explain six‐ to seven‐tenths of the pattern of expansion in the markets considered. This would suggest that managerial input is important in the process of marketing activity but that it is important within a broader framework.

This study examines the characteristics and behavior of the demand for hedging, proxied by open interest, for the cross-listed Euribor futures contract traded at Euronext-LIFFE and Eurex. The study is unique in its investigation of the simultaneous determinants of open interest in a cross-listed setting. It also assesses the impact of shocks on traders' demand for hedging and shows how the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the credit crunch influence the level of dependency between Euronext-LIFFE and Eurex. Differences of opinion, ECB Governing Council meetings, days of the week, contract maturity, illiquidity, and volatility are investigated as potential determinants of open interest.

Selecting, applying and reporting on investment screens for socially responsible investing (SRI) presents challenges for companies, investors and fund managers. This article seeks to clarify the nature of these challenges in developing an understanding of the foundations of ethical investment screens. At a conceptual level this work argues that there is a common element to the ethical foundations of SRI, even with very different apparent motivations and investment restrictions. Establishing this commonality assists in explaining the information asymmetry problem inherent in SRI. A market-facilitated solution illustrates how these insights might foster the development of socially responsible investment.

This article investigates the determinants of trading volume for the Euribor futures contract traded at both Euronext-LIFFE and Eurex. Granger causality tests suggest that volumes on the two exchanges are interdependent. Hausman tests demonstrate that the volumes are determined simultaneously. Such results are consistent with a scenario of competition for volume between the exchanges. A model of the determinants of volume is then specified to reflect the cross-exchange influences. The study is the first investigation of this type for Euribor and contributes new findings to the literature on cross-listed futures. The article applies an innovative selection of explanatory variables. An illiquidity ratio is found to have a significant inverse relationship with LIFFE volume, but is not significantly related to Eurex volume. Other determinants have very similar effects across the exchanges. Volumes at both exchanges are significantly lower on Mondays and Fridays. There is a significant negative relationship between days to maturity and volume, and volumes are significantly higher on the expiration days of futures contracts. European Central Bank announcements lead to significantly elevated trading volumes.

Purpose – This paper aims to consider factors that determine the direction of international market selection. It does this with specific reference to service companies operating in the retail sector. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on general, services and retail specific literature and considers the debate surrounding market selection issue. Hypotheses are formulated and econometrically tested using an extensive database of retailers' international activity within Western European markets. Findings – The results show that previously identified determinants of market selection are valid. However, the results clearly indicate that some factors are more important than the literature has suggested and that the selection of markets is determined in great part by relatively few but crucially important factors. Originality/value – The paper shows that language and hence, by implication, culture plays a fundamental role in determining direction of expansion. This has important implications for the way psychic distance is understood and service company response to psychic distance.

We investigate the relationship between liquidity and the distribution of returns, for all listed firms on the London Stock Exchange between 2002-2018. We find a strong relationship between the distribution of returns, as measured by skewness and kurtosis, and liquidity.

We investigate liquidity and market efficiency on the world's largest carbon exchange, IntercontinentalExchange Inc.’s European Climate Exchange (ECX), by using intraday short-horizon return predictability as an inverse indicator of market efficiency. We find a strong relationship between liquidity and market efficiency such that when spreads narrow, return predictability diminishes. This is more pronounced for the highest trading carbon futures and during periods of low liquidity. Since the start of trading in Phase II of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) prices have continuously moved nearer to unity with efficient, random walk benchmarks, and this improves from year to year. Overall, our findings suggest that trading quality in the EU-ETS has improved markedly and matures over the 2008–2011 compliance years.

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the empirical relationship between trades undertaken by informed agents (managers) and the proxies for informed trades computed by bid-ask spread decomposition models. Design/methodology/approach – An econometric application of spread decomposition models to data from the London Stock Exchange, with an examination of whether the model predictions are co-integrated with actual outcomes. Findings – The authors find overwhelming evidence of non-stationary behaviour between the actual and predicted informed trade prices. The findings suggest that there is a clear need for an alternative to extant spread decomposition models perhaps incorporating findings from behavioural finance. Originality/value – Given the importance of stock market liquidity and the extensive use of spread decomposition models in predicting informed trades, the authors believe that the research conducted in the paper is an important contribution to the market microstructure literature. Keywords Information asymmetry, Behavioural finance, Bid-ask spread, Spread decomposition models, Time series modelling Paper type Research paper

Aim: To investigate the intersection of the ‘Author-as-Tutor’ (AaT) and ‘teaching of Sustainable Marketing’ (SM) phenomena in a business school. Methodology: A case study methodology provided insights into the efficacy of an SM textbook by evaluating students and recent graduates’ attitudes. Since 2008, all marketing undergraduates therein have studied the principles of SM. The sample population (circa 700 marketing students) graduated between 2015 and 2023. 9.1% of the population completed the online questionnaire. The statistical analysis includes descriptive statistical analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and variance analysis (ANOVA). Findings: The hypotheses were tested apropos the overlap of the phenomena. The ecological and ethical foci demonstrated high correlations, supporting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Interestingly the ethical aspect scored higher, supporting criticism of the sustainability literature’s bias towards ecological studies. The AaT aspect was well received. This reflects increasing adoption of ESD therefore fostering the next generations’ understanding of sustainability. Implications: Academics rarely use their own (or colleague’s) textbook when teaching. There is a paucity of research into AaT and the teaching of SM. However, as more business schools acquire AACSB or PRME accreditation, it will grow. Marketing academics should write books to improve engagement. Furthermore, they should incorporate sustainability when authoring generic marketing texts. Limitations: It featured a single textbook used to teach at a UK Business School where typically 100 undergraduates (UG) per annum studied marketing courses. Future research: This research could inspire studies into the overlaps between sustainability and other disciplines and/or include other domestic or international institutions

This research investigated the intersection of phenomena, namely the ‘Author-as-Tutor’ (AaT) and teaching of ‘Sustainable Marketing’ (SM) in a business school. Academics rarely use their own (or their colleague’s) textbook in the classroom. The AaT phenomena has very little research published. SM is a nascent area of research, however as more business schools acquire AACSB or PRME accreditation, it is likely to grow. This case study provides insights into the efficacy of an SM text by evaluating the attitudes of students’ and recent graduates. The outcomes are genuinely insightful however, as with all research, this highly focused piece has constraints. Like other studies, this research was undertaken at a single University, with circa 5000 Business School students of whom 100 undergraduates (UG) per annum study purely marketing courses. Since 2008, all marketing UGs therein have been taught the principles of sustainability. This is a component in adopting an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) platform where sustainability is increasingly included in the curriculum. The sample population features circa 700 marketing students, graduating between 2015 up to 2023. Circa 9.4% of the population, completed the questionnaire offering insights into the textbook’s effectiveness whilst studying and/or having recently graduated. The statistical analysis includes standard deviations, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and variance analysis (ANOVA). This paper provides evidence-based insights into the overlap of the aforementioned phenomena. The text’s ecological and ethical foci demonstrated high correlations, supporting those who advocate ESD where education fosters the next generations’ understanding of sustainability; interestingly the ethical aspect scored the highest correlation, whereas the sustainability literature is often criticised for being biased towards ecological studies. The AaT aspect was well received, and Marketing academics should be encouraged to write books, incorporating sustainability when discussing generic marketing concepts including (inter alia) consumer behaviour, communications or planning.

This research investigated the intersection of phenomena, namely the ‘Author-as-Tutor’ (AaT) and teaching of ‘Sustainable Marketing’ (SM) in a business school. Academics rarely use their own (or their colleague’s) textbook in the classroom. The AaT phenomena has very little research published. SM is a nascent area of research, however as more business schools acquire AACSB or PRME accreditation, it is likely to grow. This case study provides insights into the efficacy of an SM text by evaluating the attitudes of students’ and recent graduates. The outcomes are genuinely insightful however, as with all research, this highly focused piece has constraints. Like other studies, this research was undertaken at a single University, with circa 5000 Business School students of whom 100 undergraduates (UG) per annum study purely marketing courses. Since 2008, all marketing UGs therein have been taught the principles of sustainability. This is a component in adopting an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) platform where sustainability is increasingly included in the curriculum. The sample population features circa 700 marketing students, graduating between 2015 up to 2023. Circa 9.4% of the population, completed the questionnaire offering insights into the textbook’s effectiveness whilst studying and/or having recently graduated. The statistical analysis includes standard deviations, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and variance analysis (ANOVA). This paper provides evidence-based insights into the overlap of the aforementioned phenomena. The text’s ecological and ethical foci demonstrated high correlations, supporting those who advocate ESD where education fosters the next generations’ understanding of sustainability; interestingly the ethical aspect scored the highest correlation, whereas the sustainability literature is often criticised for being biased towards ecological studies. The AaT aspect was well received, and Marketing academics should be encouraged to write books, incorporating sustainability when discussing generic marketing concepts including (inter alia) consumer behaviour, communications or planning.