Investments,Credit, and Corporate Financial Distress: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

Although they are instrumental for economic development, productivity-enhancing corporate investments may increase the financial vulnerability of companies, especially in an economic and financial crisis. We employ an instrumental probit model with the aim of finding evidence for the investment and credit patterns that led companies into financial distress during the global financial crisis 2009–2010. The company-level micro-data for our study on three Central and East European countries—Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and two Baltic countries, Latvia and Lithuania—originates from two independent surveys, the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey conducted in 2008 and the Financial Crisis Survey conducted in 2009/2010. Both were carried out jointly by the EBRD and the World Bank. Our results emphasize a substantial adverse impact from investment intensity and debt financing on company financial soundness during a crisis. On top of that, we discover a strong non-linear pattern in the sensitivity of company distress to its investment-financing nexus.     

Macroprudential Policies and Housing Prices: A New Database and Empirical Evidence for Central,Eastern, and Southeastern Europe

Several countries in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe used a rich set of prudential instruments during the recent credit and housing boom and bust cycles. We construct a comprehensive database of these policy measures covering 16 countries at a quarterly frequency. We use this database to investigate whether the policy measures had an impact on housing price inflation. The measures that appeared to be effective were capital measures (minimum capital adequacy ratio, maximum ratio of lending to households to share capital) and nonstandard liquidity measures (marginal reserve requirements (MRRs) on foreign funding, MRRs linked to credit growth).     

征信市场乱象的根源及治理路径探究——来自新疆喀什地区的证据

征信系统在防范和化解金融风险、维护金融稳定方面发挥着重要作用.治理征信市场乱象是当前征信市场面临的一项紧迫任务.基于新疆喀什地区问卷调查数据,从服务需求端入手,探析征信市场乱象的根源及治理路径.研究发现,金融业态、信贷需求倾向、"道德风险"倾向、个体逾期倾向是催生征信市场乱象的主要因素.建议采取强化征信宣传,树立正确的...