Single Market effects on productivity in the German insurance industry

The Single Market project of the European Commission was supposed to foster productivity growth in the financial service industry. We assess its consequences on productivity development in the German insurance industry, one of the largest insurance markets within the European Union, by applying Data Envelopment Analysis to a panel of German insurance companies. We estimate standard and bootstrapped efficiency scores for the years 1991 through 2006 and apply a test on scale efficiency based on bootstrapped statistics. Furthermore, we compute a Malmquist index and test for different types of productivity convergence across firms.     

German rail vehicle construction in the context of market globalisation

Conclusion In the guise of ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation and Siemens, Germany has two powerful systems suppliers in a good position to keep pace with other systems suppliers on global markets. As in the air-travel industry it is conceivable that developments are moving towards a uniform rail technology. Although the buy national principle still dominates procurement practices, and national egos still dominate the development of rail systems (ICE, TGV), growing competition from Japan could force Europe to develop a European system. This would significantly increase the chances of European industry in bidding for international contracts. For this reason the EU should not relent in its efforts to standardise European rail systems.     

紧跟行业动向加强渠道建设

伴随中国经济的高速成长，中国的企业也在不断加快建设信息系统的步伐，IT系统逐渐向大规模化、复杂化的趋势发展，行业信息化投资速度也在不断加快。据调查显示，自2001年起至2006年，行业信息化投资速度快速增长，平均每年递增16．6％。从投资的角度看，中国的银行业面临非常严峻的市场竞争，投资应用水平较其他行业高，因此其在市场管理方面也会有很多需求。     

中国金融业信息化建设成就

改革开放30多年,我国金融业信息化建设取得了举世瞩目的成就,各主要金融机构以信息技术为支撑提高核心竞争力,不断加快向现代金融业迈进的步伐.尤其是2008年以来,我国金融业为应对国际金融危机的挑战采取了一系列重要举措,表现出很强的宏观调控能力和雄厚的资金实力,为国家经济平稳较快发展和社会和谐稳定作出了重要贡献.     

德国利率市场化改革的特点与其金融业发展

利率市场化是指金融机构在货币市场经营融资的利率由市场供求来决定,它包括利率决定、利率传导、利率结构和利率管理的市场化。文章考察了德国利率市场化改革的特点及其对金融业发展的积极影响。德国利率市场化改革分步骤平稳推进。改革后,在全能银行模式下德国金融业没有出现象美、英那样的银行集中倒闭危机;银行贷款在非金融部门融资中仍居于主导地位,而住户部门的金融资产结构发生显著变化;德国的货币政策主要是通过改变银行的流动性来影响金融市场利率,进而间接影响银行信贷政策以及实体经济。     

Asset management in the German insurance industry: the quality of interest rate forecasts

Chopra and Ziemba (J.?Portf. Manag. 19: 6?C11, 1993) show that for asset only allocations the return forecasts are more important than assumptions about the variance-covariance matrix of the returns. Following Basse et al. (ZVersWiss 96: 617?C648, 2007) the same holds true for the asset liability management (ALM) of insurance companies. Given the high quotas of bonds in the real as well as optimized insurance portfolios, interest rate forecasts are of exceptional importance. Therefore this paper examines some of these estimates for the European market using techniques of time series analysis. A?set of criteria for the evaluation of the forecasts is presented. While some results seem to be quite favorable for forecasters, others indicate that none of the analyzed forecasts seems to provide relevant information about the future development. There is lot of evidence showing that interest rates are very difficult to predict. Some hints clearly point towards herd behavior among forecasters.     

Performance,stock selection and market timing of the German equity mutual fund industry

We investigate the performance of the German equity mutual fund industry over 20 years (monthly data 1990–2009) using the false discovery rate (FDR) to examine both model selection and performance measurement. When using the Fama–French three factor (3F) model (with no market timing) we find that at most 0.5% of funds have truly positive alpha-performance and about 27% have truly negative-alpha performance. However, the use of the FDR in model selection implies inclusion of market timing variables and this results in a large increase in truly positive alpha funds. However, when we use a measure of “total” performance, which includes the contribution of both security selection (alpha) and market timing, we obtain results similar to the 3F model. These results are largely invariant to different sample periods, alternative factor models and to the performance of funds investing in German and non-German firms — the latter casts doubt on the ‘home-bias’ hypothesis of superior performance in ‘local’ markets.     

浅析网上银行协议的不合理条款

随着计算机技术、网络技术和通信技术的发展，网上银行逐渐走进了普通老百姓的视野。当消费申请网上银行业务时，作为消费与商业银行之间的合同——客户服务协议书是否含有霸王条款，逐渐成为每个消费关注的话题。与一般银行用户在商业银行柜台前签订的协议不同，网上银行的客户服务协议书是在网页上显示的。柜台前的客户或许还有少许耐心应对那些冗长的条例，     

信息化建设推动保险业持续快速发展

在经过20多年的持快速发展后,中国保险行业已经全面进入高速发展的阶段。2004年4月中国保险业总资产首次历史性地突破了1万亿元大关,之后仅用一年半时间,即在2006年底突破了2万亿元。2007年,中国保险业的发展和成绩更加令人瞩目。一年之内,中国排名前三位的保险集团公司中国人寿、中国平安、中国太保相继成功在A股上市,保险股成为中国资本市场不可忽视的力量。同时,保险资金的投资渠道和比例进一步放宽,保险资金运用形式逐步放宽到基础建设项目、股票乃至境外投资。上市融资及投资渠道的增多,意味着保险企业总体实力得到大大增强。2007年的前11个月,中国保险业保费收入达7000多万元,总资产已经达到2．89万亿元,距离突破3万亿元的总资产规模仅咫尺之遥。     

Competition in fragmented markets: New evidence from the German banking industry in the light of the subprime crisis

Of all of the EU member states, Germany has the largest banking market. However, not all German banking institutions necessarily face fierce competition. Because the industry is highly fragmented, strict separation of the three existing banking pillars may impede competition, with negative effects on financial stability. We assess the competitive stances of 1,888 universal banks from 2001 to 2009 by using the Panzar–Rosse revenue test. We find evidence that measuring competition at an average country level does not necessarily generate valid evaluations of fragmented markets. In addition, we find no clear indication that either the particular objectives of cooperative and savings banks or the legal protection of these institutions impedes competition or discriminates against private banks. Therefore, as long as the relationship between competition and financial stability is dubious, the overall effect and the social costs or benefits of political measures that influence the structure of the German banking market are at least questionable.     

Discussion about the implementation of the ISO 9000 Quality Assurance System in construction industry

The paper analyses the reasons that result in poor quality in construction industry and introduces the definition and functions of the ISO 9000 Quality Assurance System.In addition, the paper critically explains the advantages and disadvantages of this system and how the implementation of it improves the quality of work provided by the local constructionindustry.     

Foreign-currency transactions and the recovery of German industry in the aftermath of the First World War: the case of Schering AG

While historians have for a long time recognized the importance of the First World War to the general flow of history, business economists do not fully appreciate the impact of the war on commercial relationships. The First World War transformed the political, economic, and social context, in which business was done, forcing companies to develop new strategies and activities, some of which were almost unimaginable before August 1914. This article focuses on one aspect of doing business: foreign exchange management. It argues that Schering AG and its parent, like many German companies after the First World War, were obliged to refocus their activities around their foreign exchange exposures and that the management of foreign exchange issues contributed to a much tighter relationship between businesses, government, and business associations than had existed before the war and for which some aspects of Germany's system of corporate control were not well adapted to handle.     

Option clauses and the stability of a laisser faire monetary system

This article examines the potential of option clauses to stabilize a banking system with multiple banks of issue and convertible banknotes. It suggests that under laisser faire, banks will introduce option clauses and the public will be willing to accept them even when fully convertible notes are also available. This will be in the interest of both parties since option clauses protect banks against a liquidity crisis. The article then examines the historical experience of option clauses in Scotland in 1730–1765 and finds it to be broadly consistent with our prior expectations.     

An examination of the role of security clauses and deposits in residential lease contracts

This paper argues that security clauses in lease contracts create a contingent claim on the value of the leased property, which resembles a put option on common stock. Adapting the standard results from option pricing theory gives insight into how landlords determine security deposit amounts, which serve to guarantee performance of the contract. Empirical tests show that deposit amounts are affected by the propensity of a property to be damaged, the propensity of a tenant to cause damage, and other characteristics of the landlord-tenant relationship. Two-stage least squares and probit regression estimates, however, provide only limited evidence to suggest that advance deposits significantly reduce tenant damages in the residential rental market.     

中国保险监督管理委员会:保险业信息化建设全面深入推选

近年来,保险业信息化工作以科学发展观为指导,全面落实<中国保险业发展"十一五"规划信息化重点专项规划>的有关要求,扎实开展各项工作,稳步提升信息化应用水平,呈现出平稳健康的发展态势,有效地支撑和促进了保险业务的发展.在当前的保险业信息化工作中,呈现出多个鲜明的发展特点和趋势.