Pricing financial services innovations

The number of innovative financial solutions introduced to markets has grown considerably in the past decade owing to emerging digital technologies, deregulation and market fragmentation. Examples are abundant in the worldwide markets for insurance, credit products and transaction processing services. A question of growing interest is how firms should price these innovations. The optimal introductory pricing of financial innovations may vary as a function of factors such as price sensitivity of the market and competitors’ ability to introduce competing financial solutions. In this article, we examine the role of these factors in the optimal pricing of a financial innovation. Using an agent-based simulation framework, introductory pricing strategies that maximize profitability under various market conditions are identified. Results indicate that lower levels of market price sensitivity and longer time horizons for competitive entry create pricing opportunities for financial innovators. However, the relationship becomes more complex as market price sensitivity increases or competitive market entry becomes more immediate. Detailed recommendations for optimal pricing of financial innovations under various market conditions are provided, and the article concludes with strategic recommendations for pricing innovative financial services.     

Does Insurance Market Activity Promote Economic Growth? A Cross‐Country Study for Industrialized and Developing Countries

Insurance market activity may contribute to economic growth, both as financial intermediary and provider of risk transfer and indemnification, by allowing different risks to be managed more efficiently and by mobilizing domestic savings. During the last decade, there has been faster growth in insurance market activity, particularly in emerging markets, given the process of financial liberalization and integration, which raises questions about the overall impact on economic growth. This article tests whether there is a causal relationship between insurance market activity (life and nonlife insurance) and economic growth. Using the generalized method of moments (GMM) for dynamic models of panel data for 55 countries between 1976 and 2004, I find robust evidence for this relationship. Both life and nonlife insurance have a positive and significant causal effect on economic growth. For life insurance, high‐income countries drive the results, and for nonlife insurance, both high‐income and developing countries drive the results.     

Capital market consequences of cultural influences on earnings: The case of cross-listed firms in the U.S. stock market

We examine whether market reactions to earnings announcements vary according to differences in the cultural values of firms' countries of origin in the case of cross-listed firms in the U.S. stock market. To deal with time-varying volatility returns, market reactions are determined using the market model adjusted for GARCH. We also apply the Fama-French three factor model to determine market reactions. Using the dynamic panel generalized method of moments estimator, we analyze 5562 firm-year observations from 30 countries over the period 2000–2014. We find that market reactions to the earnings announcements of cross-listed firms are significantly negatively (positively) associated with firms’ home countries characterized by the culturally- based accounting values of conservatism (optimism) and secrecy (transparency). Overall, the results suggest that the informal institutional influences of culture relating to the financial performance of cross-listed firms are priced by the U.S. stock market.     

On the exposure of insurance companies to sovereign risk—Portfolio investments and market forces

A sovereign debt crisis can have significant knock-on effects in the financial markets and put financial stability at risk. This paper focuses on the transmission of sovereign risk to insurance companies as some of the largest institutional investors in the sovereign bond market. We use a firm level panel dataset that covers large insurance companies, banks and non-financial firms from nine countries over the time period from 1 January 2008–1 May 2013. We find significant and robust transmission effects from sovereign risk to domestic insurers. The impact on insurers is not significantly different from that on banks but larger than for non-financial firms. We find that systemically important insurers are more closely linked to the domestic sovereign. Based on European data, we show that risks in sovereign bond portfolios are an important driver of insurer risk, which is not reflected in current insurance regulation (incl. Solvency II in Europe).     

Trade Credit, Financial Intermediary Development, and Industry Growth

Recent work suggests that financial development is important for economic growth, since financial markets more effectively allocate capital to firms with high value projects. For firms in poorly developed financial markets, implicit borrowing in the form of trade credit may provide an alternative source of funds. We show that industries with higher dependence on trade credit financing exhibit higher rates of growth in countries with weaker financial institutions. Furthermore, consistent with barriers to trade credit access among young firms, we show that most of the effect that we report comes from growth in the size of preexisting firms.     

Internationalization and the capital structure of firms in emerging markets: Evidence from Latin America before and after the financial crisis

This study examines the impact of internationalization on the capital structure of firms in emerging markets before and after the financial crisis of 2008, with evidence from five countries in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru). We find that before the financial crisis, Latin American MNCs are characterized by lower debt levels than purely domestic firms. However, after the financial crisis, we find that the MNCs are characterized by higher debt levels. This finding suggests that after the financial crisis, the Latin American MNCs (like many firms) may be taking advantage of their access to low interest rates in the global capital markets.     

Does one size fit all? Determinants of insurer capital structure around the globe

As financial markets become more global, the question arises whether any country specific considerations are still relevant for insurance companies’ capital structure. This research examines this question with firm-level data across a broad range of countries including those in developing markets. What we find is that the optimal capital structure of insurance companies is not homogeneous across countries. We find that country-level factors explain a substantial fraction of the cross-sectional variation in insurance companies’ capitalization levels. Our results add to the current policy discussion on global regulatory capital requirements. If insurer capital structure is not homogeneous across countries, a global capital standard – if desired – should take differences in the institutional environments across countries into account to avoid market distortions.     

The Demand for Life Insurance in OECD Countries

This article examines the determinants of life insurance consumption in OECD countries. Consistent with previous results, we find a significant positive income elasticity of life insurance demand. Demand also increases with the number of dependents and level of education, and decreases with life expectancy and social security expenditure. The country's level of financial development and its insurance market's degree of competition appear to stimulate life insurance sales, whereas high inflation and real interest rates tend to decrease consumption. Overall, life insurance demand is better explained when the product market and socioeconomic factors are jointly considered. In addition, the use of GMM estimates helps reconcile our findings with previous puzzling results based on inconsistent OLS estimates given heteroscedasticity problems in the data.     

Capital market frictions and human capital investment: Evidence from workplace safety around regulation SHO

This paper examines the effect of capital market frictions on firms’ workplace safety. Using Regulation SHO as a natural experiment, we find a significant increase in work-related injury rates of pilot firms. The effect is stronger for firms in more competitive industries and with high financial constraints, and weaker for firms whose employees have high negotiating power and with good corporate governance. Further tests suggest that managers’ myopia shifts their focus away from investments in workplace safety when workplace safety is not related to firm performance. Overall, the results highlight how capital market frictions affect firms’ investment in human capital.     

中国利率市场的价格发现——对国债现货、期货以及利率互换市场的研究

本文采用信息份额模型和基于向量自回归(VAR)模型的格兰杰因果检验,研究了国债现货、国债期货和利率互换三个市场之间的价格发现机制。信息份额模型表明,从整体来看利率互换相对于国债期货和国债现货都具有信息优势,而国债期货相对于国债现货具有信息优势。另外,国债期货的价格发现能力相对于另外两个市场都在随时间增强。格兰杰因果检验结果显示,利率互换在价格发现中单向引领国债期货以及国债现货,国债期货单向引领国债现货。所有结果一致表明, 利率互换和国债期货这两种利率衍生产品在引导中国利率市场价格发现中发挥了重要作用。     

The Impact of the European Union Insurance Directives on Insurance Company Stocks

This article examines the impact of the passage of the Second and Third Life and Non‐Life European Insurance Directives on insurance firms located in 14 European Union countries, Norway, and Switzerland. The third directives have a wealth effect on the European insurance market, while the second directives do not. The Third Life Directive resulted in a wealth increase for the European insurance market, while the Third Non‐Life Directive had a modest negative wealth effect. The wealth effects differ at both the country and firm level. The directives have differential impacts on firms depending on the firms’ characteristics and those of the market they operated in prior to the directives. Regression results indicate that the second directives have impacted firms in protected markets negatively, especially those with higher debt and higher returns on assets. At the time of the third directives, insurance firms benefited, even those in previously protected markets, indicating that firms may have positioned themselves in preparation for the liberalization of the laws.     

IFRS Adoption and the Choice Between Public and Private Debt: Evidence from South Korea

This article examines the association between mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption and corporate choice between public debt and private debt. If IFRS adoption increases the quality of lenders’ information environment provided on financial statements, firms are more likely to access the public debt market. Using a sample of public and private debts financing firms from 2000 to 2014 in Korea, we find that firms that file financial reports under the IFRS are less likely to finance from public debt markets, implying that the mandatory IFRS adoption has exacerbated the information environment of the public debt market in Korea.     

Evaluating corporate credit risks in emerging markets

Corporate leverage among emerging market firms went up considerably after the 2007–09 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). We investigate how the increased emerging market corporate leverage in the post-GFC period (2010–15) impacted the underlying credit risk, compared to the pre-GFC (2002–2006) and GFC (2007–09) periods. Using firm-level credit risk, financial, and balance sheet data for 350 firms in 23 emerging markets, we find that leverage growth leads to a significant increase in corporate credit default swap (CDS) spreads only in the post-GFC period, and the incremental effect is mainly evident among risky firms (firms with high leverage and idiosyncratic volatility). In contrast, emerging market CDS spreads during the GFC period are mainly driven by global market risk factors. The post-GFC corporate debt vulnerability is mitigated for high growth prospect firms and firms domiciled in countries with high net capital inflows and superior governance. While corporate leverage growth impacts aggregate corporate credit risk, there is no evidence that it increases sovereign credit risk. Our paper contributes to the recent literature on potential sources of default risk in emerging markets.     

Financial literacy and financial resilience: Evidence from around the world

We measure financial literacy using questions assessing basic knowledge of four fundamental concepts in financial decision making: knowledge of interest rates, interest compounding, inflation, and risk diversification. Worldwide, just one in three adults are financially literate—that is, they know at least three out of the four financial concepts. Women, poor adults, and lower educated respondents are more likely to suffer from gaps in financial knowledge. This is true not only in developing countries but also in countries with well-developed financial markets. Relatively low financial literacy levels exacerbate consumer and financial market risks as increasingly complex financial instruments enter the market. Credit products, many of which carry high interest rates and complex terms and conditions, are becoming more readily available. Yet only around half of adults in major emerging countries who use a credit card or borrow from a financial institution are financially literate. We discuss policies to protect borrowers against risks and encourage account holders to save.     

Foreign Share, Insurance Density, and Penetration: An Analysis of the International Life Insurance Market

Recent trends toward liberalization and deregulation have sparked significant interest in the topic of international insurers' participation in foreign markets. This research develops a profile of foreign national market characteristics that attract international life insurer participation and additionally, empirically assesses the value that international participation has to the host market. Characteristics that are found to be statistically significant with respect to international participation include high levels of trade liberalization and/or low insurer market share concentration, high levels of national wealth, and high levels of government expenditure on social security retirement benefits. With respect to the benefits such participation provides, we see that the presence of international life insurers share positive relationships with both life insurance consumption and the magnitude of the role life insurance plays within the broader national economy of those host markets.     

Do firms use the trade credit channel to manage growth?

While many theories of accounts payable and receivable are related to firm performance, there has not been a direct test whether firms actively use them to manage their growth. We argue that it is not just the accounts payable but also the accounts receivable that matter. While the former help to alleviate imperfections in the financial market, the latter do so in the product market. Using over 2.5 million observations for 600.000 firms in 8 euro area countries in the period 1993–2009, we show that firms use the trade credit channel to manage growth. In countries where the trade credit channel is more present, the marginal impact is lower, but the total impact is still higher. Further, firms that are more vulnerable to financial market imperfections, rely more on the trade credit channel to manage growth. Finally, we show that also the overall conditions of the financial market matter for the importance of the trade credit channel for growth.     

Interest rate clustering in UK financial services markets

This study forwards an explanation and empirical investigation of price clustering in retail banking markets. It is proposed that price or interest rate clustering forms in retail markets as firms wish to maximise returns from customers, some of whom have difficulties in recalling and processing price information. This theory is developed and tested using a dataset of retail interest rates from the UK which enables interest rate clustering to be viewed in both lending and investment markets, and at different levels of financial involvement. It is found that interest rate clustering occurs in a manner consistent with firms maximising returns from customers. These findings are viewed to be a key policy concern for financial regulators and firms concerned with consumer protection.     

Flexibility in cash-flow classification under IFRS: determinants and consequences

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) allow managers flexibility in classifying interest paid, interest received, and dividends received within operating, investing, or financing activities within the statement of cash flows. In contrast, U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) requires these items to be classified as operating cash flows (OCF). Studying IFRS-reporting firms in 13 European countries, we document firms’ cash-flow classification choices vary, with about 76, 60, and 57% of our sample classifying interest paid, interest received, and dividends received, respectively, in OCF. Reported OCF under IFRS tends to exceed what would be reported under U.S. GAAP. We find the main determinants of OCF-enhancing classification choices are capital market incentives and other firm characteristics, including greater likelihood of financial distress, higher leverage, and accessing equity markets more frequently. In analyzing the consequences of reporting flexibility, we find some evidence that the market’s assessment of the persistence of operating cash flows and accruals varies with the firm’s classification choices and the results of certain OCF prediction models are sensitive to classification choices.     

A cross-country comparison of corporate governance and firm performance: Do financial structure and the legal system matter?

We blend the corporate governance and the financial structure/legal system literature streams to study whether firm performance is enhanced when its governance structure embodies the demands of the host country’s financial structure and legal system. Using a sample of 1736 unique firms representing 22 countries, we find that the joint effect of a country’s financial structure and legal system does matter when explaining the relationship between performance and the overall level of corporate governance in a given country. The results also suggest that firms operating in the market/common combination countries tend to command higher market valuations than firms with a comparable level of corporate governance that operate in the bank/civil combination countries.     

Sources of Financing,Profitability and Productivity: First Evidence from Matched Firms

This paper contributes to the literature on capital structure and firm performance. Using firm‐level data covering over 11,000 firms from 47 countries over a recent period of 1997‐2007, we address the effect of different sources of financing on corporate performance, employing a matching process, which allows an adequate `like‐for‐like’ comparison between high and low level of financing by firms. Robust to different matching estimators, the main findings are consistent with the theories of capital structure, in that firms with high debt‐to‐equity ratio tend to have lower returns to shareholders (profitability) and lower internal efficiency (productivity). The results become more robust when we separate the firms into advanced and emerging country‐groups or countries with high/low levels of financial development. Given the lower level of leverage below 50% on average in emerging markets (or in countries with lower level of financial reforms), firms in these economies face lower risk of financial distress and thereby less adverse effect on firm profitability and productivity, relative to their counterparts in advanced economies. We also find that retained earnings and equity financing improve performance, while debt financing by firms particularly in the form of bank loans leads to lower performance, although not so in the case of debt raised through issuing bonds.