This research paper provides evidence to support the assumption that conventional energy companies are shunned by institutional investors (akin to sin stocks from established vice industries such as tobacco, alcohol, gambling and defence). It hypothesises that social norms exist which prevent institutional investors from funding operations that are considered harmful to society, such as those causing environmental pollution. In order to substantiate this claim, this paper establishes the basis for social shunning by contrasting institutional ownership of renewable energy companies with that of conventional energy enterprises in a panel regression. Consistent with the above hypothesis, renewable energy firms indeed exhibit higher levels of institutional ownership compared to conventional energy businesses. Furthermore, in accordance with previous research, it is shown that investors are even prepared to forfeit returns in order to exclude certain assets from their portfolio. This costly behaviour is illustrated by the investigation of excess returns of conventional energy stocks over renewable energy stocks in a time-series multi-factor asset pricing model. Employing this technique, this paper finds that, as predicted for sin stocks, on average, conventional energy holdings seem to exhibit superior returns relative to renewable energy holdings.

Pico-satellites are a class of satellites of mass <=1.33 kg. These small satellites allow relatively inexpensive integration of modest space science experiments, for launching. For this reason many Colleges and Universities are now implementing them as an inexpensive means to perform space science research. Due to their small size however there are some limits to their usage. Specifically the challenge of attitude control is one of two main CubeSat research interest. In this research project we are also addressing the other main interest, which is analysis of the space debris issue which is currently an issue of concern. Attitude control is a challenge because the relative size of attitude control systems is currently larger than that of pico-satellites. For these reasons our project is collecting rotational, and positional data from our own orbiting Robbins-1 CubeSat. The data we collect will be made available to be used in analysis towards a solution to the space debris issue.

We are extending a two-player research game that is designed to study the collaborative and emotion recognition abilities of players on the autism spectrum. Players view animations before each scene and assemble a puzzle by using gestures to select the appropriate emotion of the protagonist. We expect that when an expert player models the behavior, a novice player will learn game mechanics and will communicate more as the game progresses. Preliminary tests with typically developing players showed that people understand gameplay better and communicate more with peer modeling than without it. We expect gameplay with players on the autism spectrum to likewise demonstrate that expert peer modeling will improve their understanding of gameplay and help them to communicate and collaborate more.

Linked exchange rates systems are uncommon in developed countries because they require careful control of economic policy to maintain the exchange rate. This makes a country potentially more vulnerable to external shocks such as financial crises. However, Hong Kong has used a linked exchange rate since 1983. The unique characteristics of Hong Kong’s economy could be the factor that mitigates this risk. Therefore, the current study will consider the how external shocks such as 2008 financial crisis have impacted Hong Kong. Through conducting a literature review, we will explore the long-term impact of the financial crisis in Hong Kong. For instance, looking at the statistical analysis of economic indications such as GDP per capita. Additionally, the study will explore protective factors, such as the economic characteristics, and risk factors. If the literature reveals that there is a relatively slow recovery from external shocks, this may be an indication that it is the exchange rate system is the problem. This may lead to further conclusions as to the viability of such a system in other developed economies.