Showing papers on "Individual capital published in 1988"

Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital

Abstract: In this paper, the concept of social capital is introduced and illustrated, its forms are described, the social structural conditions under which it arises are examined, and it is used in an analys...

Cultural Capital: Allusions, Gaps and Glissandos in Recent TheoreticalDevelopments

Abstract: The concept of cultural capital has been increasingly used in American sociology to study the impact of cultural reproduction on social reproduction. However, much confusion surrounds this concept. In this essay, we disentangle Bourdieu and Passeron's original work on cultural capital, specifying the theoretical roles cultural capital plays in their model, and the various types of high status signals they are concerned with. We expand on their work by proposing a new definition of cultural capital which focuses on cultural and social exclusion. We note a number of theoretical ambiguities and gaps in the original model, as well as specific methodological problems. In the second section, we shift our attention to the American literature on cultural capital. We discuss its assumptions and compare it with the original work. We also propose a research agenda which focuses on social and cultural selection and decouples cultural capital from the French context in which it was originally conceived to take into consideration the distinctive features of American culture. This agenda consists in 1) assessing the relevance of the concept of legitimate culture in the U.S.; 2) documenting the distinctive American repertoire of high status cultural signals; and 3) analyzing how cultural capital is turned into profits in America.

Corporate strategy and capital structure

Abstract: The basic thesis of this exploratory investigation was that a corporate strategy perspective may complement the traditional financial paradigm in explaining capital structure in large U.S. corporations. Earlier fusion of strategic and financial literature led to a series of propositions antecedent to this work. Inclusion of Rumelt's diversification categories plus elsewhere validated financial contextual variables led to hypotheses for the present study. Results suggest a managerial choice perspective may help to explain the capital structure choice at the firm level of analysis.

Capitalists Without Capital: The Burden of Slavery and the Impace of Emmancipation

Abstract: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Department of Economics Berkeley, California Working Paper 8867 CAPITALISTS WITHOUT CAPITAL: THE BURDEN OF SLAVERY AND THE IMPACT OF EMANCIPATION Roger L. Ransom and Richard Sutch February 15, 1988 Key words: Slavery, capitalism, growth, price of slaves, capital asset pricing model, capital absorption, crowding out. This paper was presented to the Joint US-USSR Conference on Agrarian History sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies and the Soviet Academy of Sciences at Tallinn, Estonian S.S.R., June 1987. JEL Classification:

The cost of capital in the United States and Japan: A comparison

Abstract: This paper uses financial statement data for large samples of U.S. and Japanese nonfinancial corporations to estimate the return to capital in each country for the period 1967—1983. Interpreting these as measures of the cost of capital, we find that the before-tax cost of corporate capital was higher for U.S. firms than for their Japanese counterparts, with the average gap potentially as high as 5.8 percentage points. The use of alternative measurement techniques alters the gap slightly but does not alter the basic finding. However, market returns in the two countries were much closer during the same period. Certain potential explanations for the gap in returns are rejected by empirical evidence, including differences in corporate taxation, differences in borrowing, and differences in asset mix. This leaves three potential explanations: differences in risk, differences in the tax treatment of individual capital income, and imperfections in the international flow of capital.

The Myths, Facts, and Theories of Ethnic, Small-Scale Enterprise Financing:

Abstract: This article combines the results of three financial studies that examine capital issues affecting minority business development. The results are presented so as to explain or refute conventional wisdom regarding capital availability, cost of capital, credit market discrimination, sources of capital and differences in firm capital composition. Generally, Asian and Hispanic businesses more approximate nonminority businesses in the sources of capital, the cost of capital, total capital investment, and access to capital. Black firms, on the other hand, face credit discrimination from all sources of capital, which limits their access to capital, increases its cost, and affects firm profitability. Consequently, black firms have a smaller capital composition at startup and during operations. The only deviation from this pattern occurs where minority and nonminority financial institutions vie for black business patronage by reducing the cost of borrowing and increasing the availability of funds.

The capital flight "problem."

Abstract: This paper isolates the common themes and policy recommendations found in the capital flight literature, and evaluates their statistical, conceptual, and empirical foundations. We find that there is no basis for presuming a stable link between any measure of capital flight and a nation's growth potential or ability to meet external obligations. Thus, although popular measures of capital flight are occasionally indicative of underlying economic and political problems, "capital flight" is not generally useful as a policy target or reliable as a signal of when to intensify or mitigate efforts for policy reforms. Moreover, policies proposed to reduce capital flight and repatriate flight capital may even stymie investment, slow growth, shrink the tax-base, and the lower the country's debt financing capacity.

Capital Punishment and the American Agenda

Abstract: Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Part I. The Road to 1987: 1. The rest of the Western world 2. The long-term trend that failed 3. The death penalty and the Eighth Amendment 4. A punishment in search of a crime Part II. Futures and Consequences: 5. A game of chicken 6. Only in America: some notes on lethal injection 7. Life in a country that kills 8. The path to abolition Appendix: deterrence and the death penalty Index.

Raising Equity Capital

Abstract: Publisher Summary Many small- or medium-sized companies, in pursuit of growth, have often found that this cannot be financed entirely by internally generated capital. Instead, these companies have found that this growth must eventually be financed by external sources of capital that can be made available to them if they raise such capital through a public offering of their own securities. The chapter describes the way a successfully expanding company can seek admission to the Official List of the Stock Exchange of Singapore Limited (SES) through a public offering of its securities, thereby enabling it to raise the necessary capital for its required growth. For this purpose, it is necessary to examine the prerequisites of the SES that have to be fulfilled by the company in its initial application and also the continuing requirements of the SES after it obtains a listing.

Investment in Human Capital, Diversification, and Life Insurance Needs of a Small Businessperson

Abstract: A small business or professional practice is a "partially-marketable" investment. Its owner invests not only marketable assets such as cash, equipment, and licenses in the business, but also his or her human capital. The combined assets, employed effectively, generate investment returns which determine the value of the firm. Human capital, however, is non-separable from the owner, so it is non-marketable. This makes the business only partially-marketable. If the human capital contribution is removed, through death or incapacity of the owner, the firm loses value. A life insurance policy, in he amount of the value created by the owner’s human capital contribution to the firm, is an important component of the owner ‘s investment portfolio.