Developing the Islamic Financial Services sector in Italy: An institutional theory perspective

The growth of the Islamic Financial Services (IFS) sector has received much attention recently due to the resilience demonstrated by the sector during the financial crisis. While IFS continue to grow rapidly in much of Asia, there has been limited institutional support for the development of the sector in Europe, which has historically been slow to realize the sector’s potential. Italy is one such country in Europe that has a growing Muslim population but has yet to develop the IFS sector. Using the institutional theory perspective, we highlight the role the Italian government can play in developing the regulative elements that facilitate the establishment of the IFS sector, and the introduction of Islamic financial products in the country. We propose that a developed IFS sector in Italy would help attract investment from countries in the Middle East and North African region, and would also facilitate the financial inclusion of the Muslim population in the domestic market.     

金融支持城镇化建设 有效解决“三农”问题的观察与思考——以吉林省为例

城镇化不仅能使人口向城镇集中,而且还能形成产业集群,吸引周边的人口、资源、生产要素迅速聚集。积极稳妥地推进城镇化战略部署,为金融业参与和创新发展带来新的历史机遇。本文结合实际,提出金融支持城镇化建设是解决吉林省"三农"问题的关键,并提出具体的政策建议。     

Evolving Connections Between Tax and Financial Reporting in Italy

We analyze the evolution of the relationship between tax and financial reporting in Italy after the mandatory introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2005. Italy represents an interesting case study among European countries, with domestic generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) oriented towards creditor protection and characterized by a close connection of financial and tax accounting. Unusually, the adoption of IFRS is compulsory for the unconsolidated financial statements of listed companies, but the process of alignment of domestic GAAP to IFRS, that has affected some countries, has had little effect on Italy. Thus, two accounting systems, IFRS and Italian GAAP, are used for the preparation of unconsolidated financial statements by different categories of companies and, as a consequence, two different linkages between tax and financial reporting emerge. In order to assess the degree and the direction of the book-tax linkages we use the methodology developed by Lamb, Nobes and Roberts (1998. International variations in the connections between tax and financial reporting, Accounting and Business Research, 28(3), pp. 173–188). IFRS and tax reporting show a high degree of disconnection, while Italian GAAP, in line with the accounting tradition of most continental European countries, are closely related to tax rules. The analysis points out a rapidly evolving situation, with links between accounting systems and taxation becoming tighter, mainly because of the changes in tax law introduced during the last few years.     

Demographics and asset returns: does the dynamics of population ageing matter?

The empirical connection between the population age-structure and financial asset returns has been so far investigated with special focus on the US, whereby weak or disparate results are obtained. This paper aims to assess whether this connection is affected by the demographic dynamics. To this end the analysis is based on a stylized overlapping generation model and on the empirical investigation for Italy, which is experiencing one of the most pronounced ageing in the world and, specifically, steeper than the US one. Following the approach used for the US, stock returns and Government bond yields are regressed over demographic and/or control variables using annual data over 1958–2004. Results for Italy are more clear-cut and thus support the importance of the country-specific age-dynamics in explaining the impact of demographics on financial markets.     

Funding a PAYG pension system: the case of Italy

Italy is characterised by a mature pay‐as‐you‐go social security system and by particularly adverse population projections. Given these trends, the social security contribution rate is expected to increase above its current high level. This hinders the development of employer‐provided pension funds and introduces a significant wedge between labour cost and earnings that discourages both labour demand and labour supply. Any proposal to reduce payroll taxes and to reform the system in the direction of partial funding has to cope with the state of Italian public finances. Italy has to comply with the Stability and Growth Pact that imposes constraints on budget deficit and debt trends. Using micro data from the Bank of Italy's Survey of Household Income and Wealth and official population projections, we estimate future employment trends under different demographic and macroeconomic scenarios and compute the cost of the transition. We show that it would be substantially reduced if positive effects on employment were induced by the payroll tax reduction.     

The Dynamics of Household Wealth Accumulation in Italy

We examine the dynamics of wealth accumulation distribution in Italy using data drawn from the Survey of Household Income and Wealth, a representative survey of the Italian population conducted by the Bank of Italy. We compare survey data with National Accounts data and discuss sample representativeness, attrition and measurement issues. We then look at wealth inequality (the cross‐sectional dispersion of wealth) and wealth mobility (individual transitions across the wealth distribution) and examine the age profile of wealth using repeated cross‐sectional data. Finally, we consider various explanations for the pattern of wealth accumulation in Italy, focusing on retirement, bequests, income risk, health shocks and credit market imperfections.     

The stock market effects of a securities transaction tax: Quasi-experimental evidence from Italy

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, in several countries new levies on the financial sector have been proposed and in some cases implemented. We focus in particular on the recent introduction of a securities transaction tax (STT) in Italy. A peculiarity of the Italian STT is that it only concerns stocks of corporations with a market capitalization above € 500 million. We exploit this feature via a differences-in-differences approach – comparing taxed and non-taxed stocks before and after the introduction of the tax – and via a regression discontinuity design – comparing the performance of stocks just above the threshold with those just below. Focusing on the regulated market, we find that the new tax reduced liquidity, but it left transaction volumes and returns substantially unaffected. There is also evidence – although not conclusive – that the tax increased volatility.     

Macro news and bond yield spreads in the euro area

This paper analyses the effects of newspaper coverage of macro news on the spread between the yield on the 10-year German Bund and on sovereign bonds in eight countries belonging to the euro area (Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) using daily data for the period 1999–2014. The econometric analysis is based on the estimation of a VAR-GARCH model. The results can be summarized as follows. Negative news have significant positive effects on yield spreads in all GIIPS (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) countries but Italy before September 2008; markets respond more to negative news, and their reaction has increased during the recent financial crisis. News volatility has a significant impact on yield spread volatility, the effects being more pronounced in the case of negative news and bigger in the most recent crisis period, especially in the GIIPS countries. Further, the conditional correlations between yield spreads and negative news increase in absolute value during the financial crisis (especially in the GIIPS countries), indicating a higher sensitivity of the former to the latter.     

Financial products: Rapid,iterative and segmented development by conjoint measurement and self-authoring iterative procedures

This paper combines existing and novel approaches to the development of financial products (here specifically insurance). Conjoint measurement identifies the key features of new insurance offerings through a procedure that does not require the customer to articulate needs, but rather simply respond to stimuli. Beyond conjoint measurement, however, lies segmentation, which when applied to the data set reveals the existence of new, and perhaps hitherto unexpected segments in the population. Conjoint measurement therefore further identifies the specific messages appealing to each segment. A ‘self-authoring’ (do-it-yourself) approach developed by the authors enables the developer to run several iterations of conjoint measurement rapidly, cost-effectively and with low risk. Rapid, safe, easy iterations increase the power of the approach because it is through these rapid iterations that additional learning and fine-tuning occur, and by means of which a better product emerges.     

Assessing the credit worthiness of Italian SMEs and mini-bond issuers

A number of innovations have been introduced in the last five years to counter the devastating impact of credit rationing in Europe, particularly from traditional bank lending. This is a major problem for the small and medium size firms' sector in Europe, which has also suffered from bank regulatory concerns of capital adequacy, heightened emphasis on default risk of bank counterparties and the general malfunctioning of credit extension and private sector growth. In Italy, some of these less traditional sources of funding for SMEs have started to become more popular and the development of the mini-bond market is a clear example. We believe “mini-bonds” can be a success in Italy as long as the market supplies an attractive risk/return tradeoff to investors as well as affordable and flexible financing for borrowers. Assessments of credit risk must be convincing and objective, providing complements to the traditional rating agency process. In this study, we develop a new innovative model to assess SMEs' creditworthiness and we test it on the companies that have issued mini-bonds so far. Our findings confirm that the amount of information asymmetry is still high in the market and is affecting the level of risk/return trade off potentially reducing the number of investors and small businesses that would be interested in using this new channel to fund their business growth.     

Bolstering family control: Evidence from loyalty shares

We study the introduction of a new control-enhancing mechanism in Italy, a country still characterized by family-controlled firms but with an increasing importance of institutional investors. Since 2014, Italian firms have been able to adopt loyalty shares, which allow a double voting right if shares are continuously held for at least two years. We find that about 20% of listed firms have introduced loyalty shares, and family-controlled firms are the most likely adopters. Loyalty shares neither anticipate acquisitions, nor equity issues by the adopting firm. Instead, they allow controlling shareholders to reduce their equity stake without losing control. We report no evidence of an adverse wealth effect both at the adoption and in the years following it. As expected, institutional investors vote against the introduction of loyalty shares. Yet, they do not reduce their holdings afterwards, as incremental governance costs are outweighed by the superior performance of adopting firms. Overall, our evidence suggests that bolstering family control is the main effect of the introduction of loyalty shares.     

海外私募股权基金在华Pre IPO投资的影响因素分析

金融危机后,海外私募股权基金在华发展迅速,中国已成为其新一轮投资目的地。从海外私募股权基金的角度出发,对比分析有无海外私募股权基金进入的企业状况,实证研究发现海外私募股权基金在投资时会着重考虑宏观环境,偏爱新兴产业、优质企业与成长性高的企业,并且倾向于安排专人参与公司股权治理。     

Mandatory IFRS adoption and the cost of debt in Italy and UK

This paper analyses the effect of the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) within the EU on the cost of corporate debt. In order to avoid the imprecision involved in a large-scale cross-country study, we examine the impact of IFRS in two very clearly different institutional settings, the UK and Italy. The UK is a common-law country characterised by strong enforcement and national generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) which are equivalent to IFRS. Italy is a typical European code-law country, characterised by a weak outside investor protection system, and national GAAP significantly different from the IFRS model. No IFRS effect is observed in the UK, consistent with it having standards which are close to IFRS. During the post-IFRS period, in Italy more weight is placed on the accounting numbers to assess the cost of debt. We also find that accruals quality improves in Italy, thus suggesting that public financial reporting data are enhanced relative to privately held information about borrowers' credit ratings.     

对我国非政府组织发展问题的若干思考

一般介绍市场经济的文献往往只谈到市场和政府的作用,好像市场和政府涵盖了整个社会。20世纪70年代末以来,随着政府改革运动席卷全球,世界上许多国家都经历了重大的变革。而这场变革的总趋势,就是疏离政府而亲近其他社会机构———即非政府组织(NGO)得到了相当大的发展。非政府组织在公共服务和公共管理中扮演了十分重要的角色,为公共服务和公共管理提供了不同于传统的新途径。实际上,NGO作为沟通政府与市民的中介机构和第三部门,与政府组织、营利组织(企业)一起构成社会机制三大板块。因此,发展非政府组织既有客观需要,又有现实的紧迫性。     

The translation and sedimentation of accounting reforms. A comparison of the UK,Austrian and Italian experiences

Since the late 1980s, there has been a significant and progressive movement away from the traditional Public Administration (PA) systems, in favour of NPM-type accounting tools and ideas inspired by the private sector. More recently, a new focus on governance systems, under the banner Public Governance (PG), has emerged. In this paper it is argued that reforms are not isolated events, but are embedded in more global discourses of modernisation and influenced by the institutional pressures present in a certain field at certain points in time. Using extensive document analysis in three countries with different administrative regimes (the UK, Italy and Austria), we examine public sector accounting and budgeting reforms and the underlying discourses put forward in order to support the change. We investigate the extent to which the actual content of the reforms and the discourses they are embedded within are connected over time; that is, whether, and to what degree, the reform “talk” matches the “decisions”. The research shows that in both the UK and in Italy there is consistency between the debates and the decided changes, although the dominant discourse in each country differs, while in Austria changes are decided gradually, and only after they have been announced well in advance in the political debate. We find that in all three countries the new ideas and concepts layer and sediment above the existing ones, rather than replace them. Although all three countries underwent similar accounting and budgeting reforms and relied on similar institutional discourses, each made its own specific translation of the ideas and concepts and is characterised by a specific formation of sedimentations. In addition, the findings suggest that, at present in the three countries, the PG discourse is used to supplement, rather than supplant, other prevailing discourses.     

Redenomination Risk

Euro redenomination risk is the risk that a euro asset is redenominated into a devalued legacy currency. We propose a time‐varying, country‐specific intra‐euro area redenomination risk measure, defined as the quanto credit default swaps (CDS) of a member country relative to the quanto CDS of a benchmark member country. Focusing on Italy, Spain, and France and using Germany as benchmark, we show that the redenomination risk shocks significantly affect sovereign yield spreads, with Italy and Spain being most adversely affected. Finally, foreign redenomination risk shocks spill over and above local redenomination risk shocks, suggesting that this risk is systemic.     

The differences in perception of radiological risks: lay people versus new and experienced employees in the nuclear sector

This paper studies the differences in perception of two radiological risks – an accident at a nuclear installation and medical X-rays – between four different groups: the general population without (1) and with experience related to radiological risks (2), new employees (3) and professionally exposed people (4) in the nuclear sector. More precisely, this study determines if differences in risk perception can be explained by the level of experiences with ionizing radiation, the knowledge level about radiological risks, the confidence in authorities, the attitude towards nuclear energy, the trust in a management of nuclear installations, gender and age. The data are gathered using computer assisted personal interviews based on the SCK-CEN Barometer of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre. The relations between risk perception and the independent variables are tested with linear regression analysis. The risk perception of both risks differs significantly between the four population groups. The professionally exposed people and the new employees in the nuclear sector have a significant higher risk perception for medical X-rays compared to the risk for an accident at a nuclear installation. For the general population without experience, it was just the opposite. The general population with experience does not have a significant difference in risk perception between the two radiological risks. Level of experiences with ionizing radiation is determined as an important variable; people have a lower perception of radiological risks when they have higher experiences with risk.     

Cost and performance information for doctors: an international comparison

In the last decade many OECD countries have undertaken substantial changes to their system of healthcare administration and funding. These changes have been characterised as being economically and managerially focused. However, doctors remain central to any system of healthcare and therefore to the implementation of these reforms. Therefore, if these changes have had any real impact on doctors then there should be a clear interest in and access to information on the cost and outcome of clinical activity. This paper attempts to evaluate whether this is the case. We have conducted a case study of hospital sites in the UK, Germany and Italy. We have found that although there was some interest in cost and activity information that clinical staff generally did not have access to it. Cost and activity information were only available to clinical staff at the most senior levels. Therefore, serious questions must be raised about the extent of penetration that these reforms have had at the clinical level.     

Building breakthrough businesses within established organizations

Many companies assume that once they've launched a major innovation, growth will soon follow. It's not that simple. High-potential new businesses within established companies face stiff headwinds well after their inception. That's why a company's emphasis must shift: from ideas to execution and from leadership excellence to organizational excellence. The authors spent five years chronicling new businesses at the New York Times Company, Analog Devices, Corning, Hasbro, and other organizations. They found that a breakthrough new business (referred to as NewCo) rarely coexists gracefully with the established business in the company (called CoreCo). The unnatural combination creates three specific challenges--forgetting, borrowing, and learning--that NewCo must meet in order to survive and grow. NewCo must first forget some of what made CoreCo successful. NewCo and CoreCo have elemental differences, so NewCo must leave behind CoreCo's notions about what skills and competencies are most valuable. NewCo must also borrow some of CoreCo's assets--usually in one or two key areas that will give NewCo a crucial competitive advantage. Incremental cost reductions, for example, are never a sufficient justification for borrowing. Finally, NewCo must be prepared to learn some things from scratch. Because strategic experiments are highly uncertain endeavors, NewCo will face several critical unknowns. The more rapidly it can resolve those unknowns--that is, the faster it can learn--the sooner it will zero in on a winning business model or exit a hopeless situation. Managers can accelerate this learning by planning more simply and more often and by comparing predicted and actual trends.     

Support for pension reforms: What is the role of financial literacy and pension knowledge?

Despite the relevance of the issue of pension system sustainability in most advanced economies, the factors associated with the opposition to pension reforms are still under-studied. In this paper, we investigate the correlation between financial, pension and institutional knowledge and support for pension reforms. Using an ad hoc module of the SHARE data for Italy, we find that financially literate and pension knowledgeable individuals are more willing to accept pension reforms. In particular, individuals with a basic level of pension knowledge recognize that population ageing, low economic growth, and low contributions by the young make the public pension system hardly sustainable.