Terrance Jalbert

The Performance of Currency Value-Adjusted Stock Indices

Indices aggregate the price and return performance of stocks to provide summary measures. The local currency represents the underlying index basis. Variations in the underlying currency value distort indices and can lead to interpretation errors. A 1% decline in an index accompanied by a 2% increase in the underlying currency value implies the investor has a wealth gain. An investor observing the index level in isolation would interpret the data as indicating a wealth decline. This article develops new stock indices that control for the effects of dollar value fluctuations. Globalization and recent instability in currency values highlight the importance of this work.

Small Business Trade-Offs to Maximize Cost Recovery in Hawaii: Tax Credit Versus Section 179

This paper examines the optimal use of tax incentives relating to the Hawaii sales, use and excise tax.

Measuring the Impact of Reserve Requirement Changes Using Interest Rate Spreads: Evidence from Costa Rica

ABSTRACT Researchers have proposed several different theories regarding the effects of reserve requirement changes. One theory suggests that reserve requirements represent a tax on financial institutions. This theory is usually tested by examining stock price responses to announced reserve requirement changes. Reliable, historical stock price information for Costa Rica firms is generally not publicly available. In this paper, the spread between deposit rates and loan rates is used as a proxy for firm profitability. The results indicate a complex response to reserve requirement changes that is dependent on bank classification.