Competition and Regulation Times. March 2007. Issue 22.

Abstract

• Title: Academic salaries: where angels fear to tread Abstract: If you pay peanuts, do you get monkeys? Using data made available by the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) Glenn Boyle finds that for New Zealand universities the answer appears to be 'yes'. Author: Glenn Boyle
• Title: Is overconfidence the X factor in teamwork? Abstract: You find overconfident colleagues tiring and obnoxious? You prefer to avoid working with them? Such negative reactions, while understandable, may nevertheless be wrong-headed - as Mike Webb points out. Author: Mike Webb
• Title: Ebbs and flows in New Zealand irrigation Abstract: From 1990, the assessment and administration of New Zealand rural irrigation schemes were subject to some fundamental changes. Rene Le Prou describes then, now, and some implications. Author: Rene Le Prou
• Title: Invest in hast...repent at leisure Abstract: A fundamental insight of real-options analysis is that there can be value in waiting to invest, as doing so provides the opportunity to obtain more information about investment profitability. But some researchers have pointed out that real-world phenomena may significantly reduce the advantages of waiting. William Taylor assesses this argument. Author: William Taylor
• Title: Regulatory disharmony in 'uncommon' markets: a tale of EU telecommunication Abstract: It's 17 years since the European Union's Directive 90/387/EEC expressed the intention to 'create an open and borderless internal market allowing free movement of services' within Europe. But, as Bronwyn Howell finds, it hasn't got very far. Author: Bronwyn Howell
• Title: Valuing ESOs is not that simple Abstract: From 2007, New Zealand firms must report the costs of employee stock options (ESOs). Accounting regulators envisage the use of existing option-pricing models for this purpose, but these models assume an option is continuously tradable. Glenn Boyle looks at what is and isn't relevant to ESO valuation, and concludes that the tradability assumption is not trivial. Author: Glenn Boyle
• Title: Guaranteeing the lights stay on What's it really worth? Abstract: Power outages are inconvenient and costly. Firms lose production, face material damage and incur restart costs; households lose leisure time and suffer from stress; and public services may shut down. Reducing the number of outages therefore seems attractive - but doing so creates costs that eventually are borne by electricity users. Resolving the trade-off between security and costs in a socially optimal way requires information on the value of electricity outages. Michiel de Nooij explains how this might be done. Author: Michiel de Nooij