A unifying approach to risk-measure-based optimal reinsurance problems with practical constraints

The design of optimal reinsurance treaties in the presence of multifarious practical constraints is a substantive but underdeveloped topic in modern risk management. To examine the influence of these constraints on the contract design systematically, this article formulates a generic constrained reinsurance problem where the objective and constraint functions take the form of Lebesgue integrals whose integrands involve the unit-valued derivative of the ceded loss function to be chosen. Such a formulation provides a unifying framework to tackle a wide body of existing and novel distortion-risk-measure-based optimal reinsurance problems with constraints that reflect diverse practical considerations. Prominent examples include insurers’ budgetary, regulatory and reinsurers’ participation constraints. An elementary and intuitive solution scheme based on an extension of the cost–benefit technique in Cheung and Lo [Cheung, K.C. & Lo, A. (2015, in press). Characterizations of optimal reinsurance treaties: a cost–benefit approach Scandinavian Actuarial Journal. doi:10.1080/03461238.2015.1054303.] is proposed and illuminated by analytically identifying the optimal risk-sharing schemes in several concrete optimal reinsurance models of practical interest. Particular emphasis is placed on the economic implications of the above constraints in terms of stimulating or curtailing the demand for reinsurance, and how these constraints serve to reconcile the possibly conflicting objectives of different parties.     

Foreign ownership and the financing constraints of firms operating in a multinational environment

We examine the effects of foreign ownership as well as other firm-specific variables on enterprises' access to credit in 135 underdeveloped nations using micro survey data from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys. The analysis takes into consideration the role of the multinational environment in the structure and operation of firms. The findings demonstrate that foreign ownership is a strong predictor of a company's ability to acquire financing, but with restrictions. Government ownership and local private owners tend to be significant in line with the control criteria in the research, but foreign ownership and often dominating investors are highly predictive of financing limitations. Whether the firm is a foreign subsidiary and operates separately from its mother company significantly mitigates the foreign ownership effect. Firm-specific traits including size, industry of operation, export status, and accounting auditing represent significant indicators as well. In addition, the caliber of institutions of governance, cultural and social circumstances, and overall measures of financial, political, and human development all seem to be important determinants of access to financing and greatly lessen the impact of ownership structure in various nations.     

Optimal life insurance with no-borrowing constraints: duality approach and example

We solve an optimal portfolio choice problem under a no-borrowing assumption. A duality approach is applied to study a family’s optimal consumption, optimal portfolio choice, and optimal life insurance purchase when the family receives labor income that may be terminated due to the wage earner’s premature death or retirement. We establish the existence of an optimal solution to the optimization problem theoretically by the duality approach and we provide an explicitly solved example with numerical illustration. Our results illustrate that the no-borrowing constraints do not always impact the family’s optimal decisions on consumption, portfolio choice, and life insurance. When the constraints are binding, there must exist a wealth depletion time (WDT) prior to the retirement date, and the constraints indeed reduce the optimal consumption and the life insurance purchase at the beginning of time. However, the optimal consumption under the constraints will become larger than that without the constraints at some time later than the WDT.     

A stochastic frontier approach to modelling financial constraints in firms: An application to India

We propose the use of stochastic frontier approach to modelling financial constraints of firms. The main advantage of the stochastic frontier approach over the stylised approaches that use pooled OLS or fixed effects panel regression models is that we can not only decide whether or not the average firm is financially constrained, but also estimate a measure of the degree of the constraint for each firm and for each time period, and also the marginal impact of firm characteristics on this measure. We then apply the stochastic frontier approach to a panel of Indian manufacturing firms, for the 1997–2006 period. In our application, we highlight and discuss the aforementioned advantages, while also demonstrating that the stochastic frontier approach generates regression estimates that are consistent with the stylised intuition found in the literature on financial constraint and the wider literature on the Indian credit/capital market.     

State-ownership and financial constraints on investment of Chinese-listed firms: new evidence

We examine how state-ownership affects financial constraints on investment of Chinese-listed firms during 1999–2008. We find that although an average sample firm experiences some degree of financial constraints, state-ownership does not necessarily help in reducing the firm's financial constraints on investment. Further evidence shows that state-ownership does not lead to more borrowing from the Chinese banking sector, implying that state-ownership does not necessarily reduce the firm's financial constraints via the state-controlled banking sector. We consider not only the standard factors in the investment equation, but also the firm's equity financing behaviour explicitly. The result is robust to both the conventional proxy for financial constraints, i.e. the investment–cash-flow sensitivity, and a recently developed proxy for financial constraints, i.e. the KZ index. Our results suggest that China's corporatisation movement is effective in that soft budget constraints once enjoyed by former state-owned enterprises have been removed along with the progress of corporatisation. These firms, although still state-involved, can be seen as modern corporations operating in a market environment.     

A semiparametric graphical modelling approach for large-scale equity selection

We propose a new stock selection strategy that exploits rebalancing returns and improves portfolio performance. To effectively harvest rebalancing gains, we apply ideas from elliptical-copula graphical modelling and stability inference to select stocks that are as independent as possible. The proposed elliptical-copula graphical model has a latent Gaussian representation; its structure can be effectively inferred using the regularized rank-based estimators. The resulting algorithm is computationally efficient and scales to large data-sets. To show the efficacy of the proposed method, we apply it to conduct equity selection based on a 16-year health care stock data-set and a large 34-year stock data-set. Empirical tests show that the proposed method is superior to alternative strategies including a principal component analysis-based approach and the classical Markowitz strategy based on the traditional buy-and-hold assumption.     

A systematic review of risk management in innovation-oriented firms

Innovation and risk are inseparable. In fact, literature on innovation management often recommends that innovation-oriented firms must actively monitor, evaluate, analyze and treat future events in order to mitigate risks whenever possible. This approach is particularly important in emergent economies characterized by unstructured national innovation systems and constant economic and market instability. However, there has been no systematic effort to identify and categorize risks that potentially impact businesses based on innovation. Thus, we propose an interpretative framework of risk events with potential financial impact in innovation-oriented firms constructed and tested by means of a mixed studies review. The risk events were identified through a comprehensive systematic search and review of the published literature on risk and innovation. From the 115 works that were analyzed, it was possible to identify nine categories of risk events frequently associated with innovation-oriented businesses that may generate financial impacts. The proposed interpretative framework was tested in an empirical study with 13 innovation-oriented firms located in six Brazilian technological parks. Results from the empirical study suggest that managers found the proposed interpretative framework complete and comprehensive. Moreover, the empirical study signaled which risk events are more relevant for the Brazilian context. The proposed framework is a first necessary step for future development of ERM models applicable in innovation-intensive contexts.     

Risk contagion of COVID-19 in Japanese firms: A network approach

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is one of the worst pandemics in human history. Our research objective is to assess the contagion effect on Japanese firms and to evaluate the Japanese government's COVID-19 measures during the period from April 7, 2020, to May 25, 2020. We propose a susceptible-infected-recovered-dead model for COVID-19 and derive COVID-19 parameters for Japan. Subsequently, we analyze the effect of COVID-19 on Japanese firms through correlation-based network and credit risk analyses. The main findings are that the Tokyo Stock Price Index moved in the opposite direction of COVID-19 parameters and COVID-19 parameters are almost the only risk factors that impact a firm's credit risk during the period. Finally, we find that the interconnection analysis between the COVID-19 infection network and the financial networks contribute to the existing pandemic risk management knowledge.     

上市公司中期票据融资的影响因素研究

本文以发行中期票据的A股上市公司为样本,通过配对样本研究以及Logistic判定分析方法,从企业财务特征视角深入研究影响企业发行中期票据的相关因素。研究结果表明,中期票据已经成为企业代替中期贷款的重要融资形式;同配对样本相比,发行中期票据的上市公司具有较大的规模、较高的财务成本以及较低的财务杠杆和经营风险,即公司规模与财务成本越高,财务杠杆与经营风险越低,则公司发行中期票据的概率越高。     

A note on institutional hierarchy and volatility in financial markets

From a statistical point of view, the prevalence of non-Gaussian distributions in financial returns and their volatilities shows that the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) often does not apply in financial markets. In this article, we take the position that the independence assumption of the CLT is violated by herding tendencies among market participants, and investigate whether a generic probabilistic herding model can reproduce non-Gaussian statistics in systems with a large number of agents. It is well known that the presence of a herding mechanism in the model is not sufficient for non-Gaussian properties, which crucially depend on the details of the communication network among agents. The main contribution of this article is to show that certain hierarchical networks, which portray the institutional structure of fund investment, warrant non-Gaussian properties for any system size and even lead to an increase in system-wide volatility. Viewed from this perspective, the mere existence of financial institutions with socially interacting managers contributes considerably to financial volatility.     

Identification and the narrative approach: A reply to Leeper

Contrary to the arguments of Leeper (1997), the problems that arise in VAR investigations of monetary policy do not arise with our use of the narrative approach. The apparent high predictability of our monetary-policy variable that Leeper finds is due to overfitting. And the estimated effects of our measure when variables other than output are considered are unsurprising given Leeper's specifications.     

Financial expertise on audit committees of loan applicants: a research note to test the effects on lending decisions

The purpose of this study is to examine whether audit committee financial expertise matters when making commercial lending decisions. Commercial lenders rely on audited financial statements in making lending decisions, and the quality of these financial statements is impacted by the capabilities of audit committees having oversight of financial reporting. It is widely believed that this oversight is enhanced when audit committees contain members with financial expertise. A behavioural experiment is conducted where commercial lending officers make risk assessments and provide probabilities of granting loans based on a hypothetical scenario. This paper finds insufficient evidence to conclude that the existence of financial expertise on audit committees makes a difference to lenders. When replacing audit committee members, however, financial expertise does appear to matter to lenders in some cases.     

The Government Transformation Programme of Malaysia: a successful approach to public service reform

The 2009 Malaysian Government Transformation Programme (GTP) could be useful as a model for reform given its positive impact on improving public services in targeted key result areas. This paper assesses the GTP's approach in the context of the wider debate on whether reforms should be based on best practices or whether they should be diagnostic or problem-solving in approach. The GTP's success was largely the result of blending both approaches. The GTP experience in Malaysia provides a number of insights and lessons for delivering intelligent reforms quickly and effectively.     

A macroprudential approach to address liquidity risk with the loan-to-deposit ratio

This paper maps the empirical features of the loan-to-deposit (LTD) ratio with an eye on using it in macroprudential policy to mitigate liquidity risk. We examine the LTD trends and cycles of 11 euro area countries by filtering methods and analyse the interaction between loans and deposits. We propose macroprudential policy to prevent an unsustainable level of the LTD ratio and policy measures to counter destabilizing cyclical developments.     

产业集群、区域经济与金融深化——金融支持中国戴南产业集群发展模式研究

积极实施城市反哺农村,工业反哺农业,以工业化致富农民,城市化带动农村,产业化提升农业,是建设社会主义新农村的成功经验。金融作为现代经济的核心,是支持社会主义新农村建设不可或缺的重要因素。本文结合中国戴南产业集群发展的轨迹,剖析了戴南产业集群发展的现状、特点以及制约集群进一步发展的金融瓶颈,提出了金融支持戴南产业集群发展的构想,着重指出了转变观念、创新机制、组合产品、完善体系等四个方面金融支持的新路径,为金融助推产业集群在经济欠发达地区的率先发展,提供了重要的实践模式。     

A Benchmark Approach to Filtering in Finance

The paper proposes the use of the growth optimal portfolio for pricing and hedging in incomplete markets when there are unobserved factors that have to be filtered. The proposed filtering framework is applicable also in cases when there does not exist an equivalent risk neutral martingale measure. The reduction of the variance of derivative prices for increasing degrees of available information is measured. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification: primary 90A09; secondary 60G99; 62P20 JEL Classification: G10, G13     

完善地方自发自还债券制度体系建设的思考

财政部于2014年5月正式推出地方政府自发自还债券试点。自发自还债券试点可谓地方政府市场化融资的标志性事件,试点省市将成为独立的举债主体,须主动适应市场规则,接受市场检验,此次试点具有里程碑意义。但同时也要看到,目前包括自发自还债券融资在内的地方政府各类举债行为,还欠缺完善的制度保障。文章回顾了地方政府债券市场融资的模式变迁,在梳理地方政府融资现有制度的基础上,分析了地方政府融资相关制度存在的问题,就构建并完善我国地方政府债券的制度体系提出相关建议。     

Competition in markets with dominant firms: A note on the evidence from the Italian banking industry

In this paper we consider the Italian banking industry, where the eight largest firms operate at a national level, manage about a half of total loans, and have a notably larger dimension than the other competitors. We estimate a structural model containing a behavioural parameter, in order to assess the market conduct of the largest banks for the period 1988–2000. Our finding is that, in spite of their noteworthy size and significant market share, these banks have been characterised by a more competitive conduct than the Bertrand–Nash outcome: this is in line with the results of the latest literature of the field, for which in the banking industry there is often no conflict between competition and concentration.     

A constraint-free approach to optimal reinsurance

Reinsurance is available for a reinsurance premium that is determined according to a convex premium principle H. The first insurer selects the reinsurance coverage that maximizes its expected utility. No conditions are imposed on the reinsurer's payment. The optimality condition involves the gradient of H. For several combinations of H and the first insurer's utility function, closed-form formulas for the optimal reinsurance are given. If H is a zero utility principle (for example, an exponential principle or an expectile principle), it is shown, by means of Borch's Theorem, that the optimal reinsurer's payment is a function of the total claim amount and that this function satisfies the so-called 1-Lipschitz condition. Frequently, authors impose these two conclusions as hypotheses at the outset.     

R&D sensitivity to asset sale proceeds: New evidence on financing constraints and intangible investment

We examine the intersection between corporate divestitures of tangible assets and investment in intangible capital (R&D) to provide new tests for the impact financing constraints have on real activity. A positive R&D sensitivity to asset sale proceeds indicates binding financing constraints since cash inflows from tangible asset sales are negatively correlated with productivity shocks and not otherwise connected to intangible investment via non-financial channels. Using a variety of estimation approaches, we document a strong, positive link between cash inflows from fixed asset sales and corporate R&D investment, but only among firms most likely facing binding financing constraints. These results offer robust evidence that financing frictions impact the increasingly important yet understudied intangible corporate investments that drive innovative activity, and they highlight a previously unexplored but potentially valuable use of proceeds from fixed asset divestitures.