The rate and potential of capability development trajectories

This paper examines differences in the rate and potential of firms' capability development trajectories. Capability development trajectories are the paths over which firms' capabilities change with experience and other activities. While prior research focused on factors affecting capability development rate (the fraction of the gap between a firm's current and potential capability eliminated with each unit of activity), we argue that capability development trajectories also differ in potential (the maximum capability level a firm could achieve through repeating a given set of activities over time). We develop and estimate a formal model of capability development, showing that larger underwriting projects lead to a lower rate of improvement toward higher potential capabilities, and derive implications for research on industry dynamics and the nature of competitive advantage. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Crisis of the Overcrowded Future: Shadow Banking and the Political Economy of Financial Innovation

This article focuses on the role the shadow banking system played in the financial crisis of 2007–9. Engaging with emergent theories of shadow banking, I inquire into its structural role in contemporary capitalism. My main premise here is that the crisis of 2007–9 is distinct in financial history because it did not centre on any organised market. Rather, it was crisis of the overcrowded financial channels bridging the present and the future, which have become congested because of the massive concentration of financial values generated, yet not sustained, through the shadow banking network. My analysis suggests that shadow banking has determined the nature of financial crisis of 2007–9 and continues to play a necessary role in financial capitalism based on futurity. Drawing on scholarship in financial Keynesianism, contemporary legal studies and early evolutionary political economy, I argue that shadow banking is best seen as the organic institutional infrastructure of financialised capitalism based on debt and geared towards futurity, a concept originally developed by John Commons.     

Taming the City? Ideas,Structural Power and the Evolution of British Banking Policy Amidst the Great Financial Meltdown

We are increasingly learning more about the contingencies and independent variables that shape the structural power of business and financial interests. This paper contributes to this research by analysing factors that led to weakening in the structural power of financial interests in the City of London in the aftermath of the 2007/2008 crisis. We focus on under-researched mediators of structural power dynamics, especially the context of action and the agency and ideas of state leaders. Prior to the crisis, closed regulatory policy and a prevailing discourse premised upon the notion of market efficiency, helped to reinforce the structural power of the UK banking and financial sector. After the crisis heightened politicisation, more assertive state leadership, and especially ideational revision, has increasingly challenged the power of the City. We illustrate this through an examination of the Independent Commission on Banking's proposals in relation to the ‘ring fencing’ of investment and retail banks.     

Germany and the Euro-Zone Crisis: The European Reformation of the German Banking Crisis and the Future of the Euro

Analysis of the German response to the euro crisis has been framed around a narrative of the relationship between domestic sacrifice and hegemony and sustains an assumption that the German commitment to the euro is proven. Such analysis downplays the importance of the banking crisis in Germany in explaining the decision-making of the German government around the euro-zone debt crisis. Giving German interests in relation to the German banking crisis analytical weight can explain both the positions taken by the German government and their consequences for the underlying structural problems the euro-zone faces as a monetary union. Since the outcomes of German policy have advanced German interests, German handling of the euro-zone crisis cannot sustain a claim that Germany has demonstrated its commitment to the euro.     

P2P 网贷债权转让模式的法律风险与防范

P2 P网贷作为传统金融业与互联网结合的新兴领域,其运营模式多样而复杂,行业监管机制尚未构建完成。 P2 P网贷债权转让模式作为P2 P网贷的变型运营模式更是处于金融监管的空白地带,争议不断。从法律视角分析P2 P网贷争议模式———债权转让模式,分析该模式下可能存在的风险,通过与英国、美国等国家P2 P网贷的比较,提出完善P2 P网贷债权转让模式行业自律、外部监管等防范法律风险的建议。     

Trust Me! I am a European Central Banker

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the European Central Bank (ECB) has experienced an unprecedented deterioration in the level of trust. This raises the question as to what factors determine trust in central banking. We use a unique cross‐country data set that includes a rich set of socioeconomic characteristics and supplement it with variables meant to reflect a country's macroeconomic condition. We find that besides individual socioeconomic characteristics, macroeconomic conditions play a crucial role in the trust‐building process. Our results suggest that agents are boundedly rational in the trust‐building process and that current ECB market operations may even be beneficial for trust in the ECB in the long run.     

民间资本投资黑龙江省银行业的有效模式及对策研究

近十年来,民间资本在黑龙江省各领域的利用情况日趋增多,发展潜力大。金融市场的投资环境改善,使得黑龙江省对民间资本的需求日益扩大。黑龙江省银行业可通过参股、合资、独资新设和兼并收购四种可行性模式吸收民间资本,黑龙江银行业应健全相关法律法规,加大财政扶持倾斜力度,使民间资本合法有序、稳健顺畅地进入银行业;建立风险防控和组织管理机制、完善信用评估体系,使民间资本安全可控、益于公众;创新银行业务服务,优化金融文化环境,为民间资本开辟新天地,并使其获得长效发展,从而强化黑龙江省银行业融资结构,促进全省经济增长。     

Analysis of Social Performance in the Spanish Financial Industry Through Public Data. A Proposal

Banking firms are becoming increasingly aware that their clients’ management of environmental and social risks may in term threaten their own business as lenders and investors. In addition, stakeholders are requiring banks to improve their social performance. As a result, some banks are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and management systems to reduce potential risks and improve their performance. In the Spanish financial system, half of the banking firms are savings banks, most of which have always used some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) criteria in their management. Private Banks have only recently started to integrate social aspects in their performance. However, no formal analysis has been carried out on the impact of CSR strategies. Various initiatives have been launched nationally and internationally to include the social dimension in management systems. The purpose of this research is to analyse the social performance of the main Spanish financial companies through public data such as social or sustainability reports and media sources. In order to do this, we need to determine which CSR criteria most greatly affect banking firms and to choose the most accurate quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure social performance.     

Exploring the Ethical Identity of Islamic Banks via Communication in Annual Reports

Islamic Banks (IBs) are considered as having ethical identity, since the foundation of their business philosophy is closely tied to religion. In this article, we explore whether any discrepancy exists between the communicated (based on information disclosed in the annual reports) and ideal (disclosure of information deemed vital based on the Islamic ethical business framework) ethical identities and we measure this by what we have termed the Ethical Identity Index (EII). Our longitudinal survey results over a 3-year period indicate the overall mean EII of only one IB out of seven surveyed to be above average. The remaining six IBs suffer from disparity between the communicated and ideal ethical identities. We further found the largest incongruence to be related to four dimensions: commitments to society; disclosure of corporate vision and mission; contribution to and management of zakah, charity and benevolent loans; and information regarding top management. The results have important implications for communication management if IBs are to enhance their image and reputation in society as well as to remain competitive. Roszaini Haniffa is a Senior Lecturer and Head of Accounting and Finance at the Bradford University School of Management. She holds a PhD from Exeter University and has published papers in Abacus, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting and other journals. Her research interests focus on social responsibility reporting, corporate governance, international accounting and the Islamic perspective of accounting. Ros has reviewed papers and is a member on the editorial board of several journals. Mohammad Hudaib is a Lecturer in Accounting at the Bradford University School of Management and holds a PhD from Essex University. He has previously taught at Exeter University and prior to his teaching career, was an auditor in Saudi Arabia. He has published papers on auditing and corporate governance in Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. His current research interests include auditing, Islamic perspective of accounting, accounting theory and ethics.     

金融市场全面开放对中国银行业的影响及对策

根据加入WTO有关协议,在2006年12月之前,中国将兑现承诺,向外国全面开放银行业。届时,外资金融机构将享受与中资金融机构同等的国民待遇,外资银行将与中资银行在展开公平的竞争。我国应根据中国银行业开放现状及金融市场全面开放对中国银行业的影响,制定相应的对策,使我国的银行业积极地融入到国际金融市场中去。