Referee Report for investment class Research Paper

Referee Report for investment class - Research Paper Example I have stated in the comments below are some other issue I would like the author to address. Basing on my analysis, I cannot recommend this paper until it undergoes major revisions by the author to address its shortcomings. I believe with major revisions the paper can make enough a contribution to warrant its publication in the Journal of Banking and Finance. I thank you for the opportunity to review this paper for the Journal and I am always happy to provide referee support. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need further clarification Sincerely A Comment on Enduring Effects of Demography on Retirement Planning Background Literature and Hypothesis Development The author has made some good efforts to establish the rising effects of demography as attributed to the entry of the baby-boom. But while I appreciate the work I would like to raise concerns after careful scrutiny to give you the totality of your presentation. In the opening paragraph, the author fails to point out the great impact demography has on stock prices. The author should have pointed out the standing issues of demography in quantitative terms in determining how important demographic factors are in relation to other factors that influence assets price. To flow the paper the author should have added the supporting factors in table 1 and 2 to make a good case. In the same paragraph the author needs to state the reasons as to why demography attracts a lot of attention in the financial press and what the link is between the age structure of the population, the asset price and the demand for the asset. Data and variables The author’s analysis conducted independently was one, to outline the various demographic effects where the variables- financial and macroeconomics- were still linked to stock returns and two, it was meant to look at how are the financial and macroeconomics indicators varying stock returns as compared to the various demographics. I identified some impo rtant variables such as retirement age that was left out in the research and this could lead to wrong projections when stating the effects and size of demographics been investigated. The author aside from retirement age could also focus on other factors such as the number of stock market and the series of effect on multivariable regression on equity prices. In spite of the standard pinpoints and careful specification in regression, some constraints of the scrutiny remain. I did not see the selection criteria of the variables which the author mentions in this section. What signify the facet of the economy that happen to be vital and makes the stock market move thus influence the demographic variables which in return affects stock returns. I find that the author has a dwarf measurement on table 3 and this data could mislead the public on retirement performance if used as a source. The short measurement is about the horizons used to determine an investment choice that yields the best r eturns as drawn in table three. The author needs to explain the source of primary data used in the table to clearly differentiate between corporate bonds and government bonds. Demography and Asset Valuation I find the analysis of the impact of demographics and microeconomics and financial factors on