Why do countries matter so much for corporate governance?

This paper develops and tests a model of how country characteristics, such as legal protections for minority investors and the level of economic and financial development, influence firms’ costs and benefits in implementing measures to improve their own governance and transparency. We find that country characteristics explain much more of the variance in governance ratings (ranging from 39% to 73%) than observable firm characteristics (ranging from 4% to 22%). Further, we show that firm characteristics explain almost none of the variation in governance ratings in less-developed countries and that access to global capital markets sharpens firms’ incentives for better governance.     

Anticipated growth and business cycles in matching models

In a business cycle model that incorporates a standard matching framework, employment increases in response to news shocks, even though the wealth effect associated with the increase in expected productivity reduces labor force participation. The reason is that the matching friction induces entrepreneurs to increase investment in new projects and vacancies early. If there is underinvestment in new projects in the competitive equilibrium, then the efficiency gains associated with an increase in employment make it possible that consumption, employment, output, as well as the investment in new and existing projects jointly increase long before the actual increase in productivity materializes. If there is no underinvestment, then investment in existing projects decreases, but total investment, consumption, employment, and output still jointly increase.     

Why disagreement may not matter (much) for asset prices

A simple consumption-based two-period model is used to study the (theoretical) effects of disagreement on asset prices. Analytical and numerical results show that individual uncertainty has a much larger effect on risk premia than disagreement if (i) the risk aversion is reasonably high and (ii) individual uncertainty is not much smaller than disagreement. Evidence from survey data on beliefs about output growth suggests that the latter is more than satisfied.     

Bank business models,negative policy rates,and prudential regulation

Annals of Finance - Using data from Italian banks over the period 2011–2017, we study how negative interest rate policy and prudential regulation impact on bank business models. We report...     

The success of business failure prediction models: An international survey

This paper surveys and discusses numerous studies, both published and unpublished, that have attempted to construct and test business failure models outside the United States. Failure risk models are one of the few types of financial models that have been applied pervasively on an international level. A considerable flow of literature has gone relatively unnoticed due to the fact that the reference source is not well known or the source material is not available in English. It is the purpose of this paper to document these efforts and thereby increase the discourse and knowledge about such studies and others not surveyed here. This survey complements the other company related studies found in this Special Issue.     

Why Gaussian macro-finance term structure models are (nearly) unconstrained factor-VARs

This paper explores the implications of filtering and no-arbitrage for the maximum likelihood estimates of the entire conditional distribution of the risk factors and bond yields in Gaussian macro-finance term structure model (MTSM) when all yields are priced imperfectly. For typical yield curves and macro-variables studied in this literature, the estimated joint distribution within a canonical MTSM is nearly identical to the estimate from an economic-model-free factor vector-autoregression (factor-VAR), even when measurement errors are large. It follows that a canonical MTSM offers no new insights into economic questions regarding the historical distribution of the macro risk factors and yields, over and above what is learned from a factor-VAR. These results are rotation-invariant and, therefore, apply to many of the specifications in the literature.     

Stock market momentum, business conditions, and GARCH option pricing models

This paper examines the forecasting performance of GARCH option pricing models from a market momentum perspective, and the possible impacts of financial crises and business conditions are also examined. The empirical results demonstrate that market momentum impacts the forecasting performance of GARCH option pricing models. The EGARCH model performs better under downward market momentum, while the standard GARCH performs better under upward market momentum. In addition, parsimonious models generally outperform richly parameterized ones. The above findings are robust to financial crises, and the results further demonstrate that business conditions influence the forecasting performance of GARCH option pricing models.     

Comparing New Keynesian models of the business cycle: A Bayesian approach

The baseline New Keynesian model cannot replicate the observed persistence in inflation, output, and real wages for sensible parameter values. As a result, several extensions have been suggested to improve its fit to the data. We use a Bayesian approach to estimate and compare the baseline sticky price model of Calvo's [1983. Staggered prices in a utility maximizing framework. Journal of Monetary Economics 12, 383-398.] and three extensions. Our empirical results are as follows. First, we find that adding price indexation improves the fit of Calvo's [1983. Staggered prices in a utility maximizing framework. Journal of Monetary Economics 12, 383-398.] model. Second, models with both staggered price and wage setting dominate models with only price rigidities. Third, introducing wage indexation does not significantly improve the fit. Fourth, all model estimates suggest a high degree of price stickiness. Fifth, the estimates of labor supply elasticity are higher in models with both staggered price and wage contracts. Finally, the estimated inflation parameters of the Taylor rule are stable across models.     

Instability of sunspot equilibria in real business cycle models under adaptive learning

We provide conditions under which a general, reduced-form class of real business cycle (RBC) models has rational expectations equilibria that are both indeterminate and stable under adaptive learning. Indeterminacy of equilibrium allows for the possibility that non-fundamental “sunspot” variable realizations can be used to drive the model, and several researchers have offered calibrated structural models where sunspot shocks play such a role. However, we show that the structural restrictions researchers have adopted lead to reduced-form systems that are always unstable under adaptive learning dynamics, thus calling into question the plausibility of these sunspot-driven RBC models.     

经营太阳

尚德公司的董事长兼CEO施正荣,缀在一家名不见经传的公司后面的一个名不见经传的名字, 在新年伊始不到两周的时间里,国内各大财经媒体就迫不及待地给他贴上2006年中国新首富的标签,这一极富戏剧性的市场传奇究竟是如何发生的呢?尚德公司经营的是什么“宝贝”产品竟有如此财富魔力?名不见经传的施正荣又到底是因何而荣登2006年中国新首富的宝座? 1月23日,对于新年新首富施正荣来说,是个有纪念意义的日子:这一天,根据美国纽交所当日“市价”计算,持有尚德公司6800万股的他总计拥有29．512亿美元(约合人民币238亿元)的     

经营太阳：中国新首富的财富密码

尚德公司的董事长兼CEO施正荣，缀在一家名不见经传的公司后面的一个名不见经传的名字在新年伊始不到两周的时间里，国内各大财经媒体就迫不及待地给他贴上2006年中国新首富的标签，这一极富戏剧性市场传奇究竟是如何发生的呢？尚德公司经营的是什么宝贝产品竟有如此财富魔力？名不见经传的施正荣又到底是因何而荣登2006年中国新首富的宝座？[编按]     

综合代理业务系统——中间代理业务的通用化设计

银行中间代理业务主要是指企业委托银行代办企业与众多个体客户之间发生的债务清算。开发中间代理业务系统的着眼点应该是如何有效地建立企业客户与个体客户之间的联系,应该考虑解决企业用怎样的方式将代理金额通知银行和银行用什么办法与个体客户进行清算。从形式上看,客户与银行的清算方式有两种:一种方式是客户不直接办理业务,只要企业通知银行代理金额,由银行在客户账户与企业账户之间进行资金划转;另一种方式是客     

Why hierarchies thrive

Hardly anyone has a good word to say about hierarchies. Academics, consultants, and management gurus regularly forecast their imminent replacement because hierarchies--even when populated by considerate and intelligent people--can be cruel and stupid. They routinely transform motivated and loyal employees into disaffected Dilberts. It's no wonder that we continue to search for more humane and productive alternatives to them. Yet the intensity with which we struggle against hierarchies only serves to highlight their durability. Hierarchy, it seems, may be intrinsic not only to the natural world but also to our own natures. In this article, organizational behavior expert Harold J. Leavitt presents neither a defense of human hierarchies nor another attack on them. Instead, he offers a reality check, a reminder that hierarchy remains the basic structure of most, if not all, large, ongoing human organizations. That's because although they are often depicted as being out of date, hierarchies have proved to be extraordinarily adaptive. Over the past 50 years, for example, they have co-opted the three major managerial movements--human relations, analytic management, and communities of practice. Hierarchies also persist because they deliver real practical and psychological value, and they fulfill our deep need for order and security. Despite the good they may do, hierarchies are inevitably authoritarian. That authoritarianism shows up in all kinds of ways and influences everything in organizations, particularly communication. In multilevel organizations, for instance, messages get distorted as they travel up and down the ladder of command. Self-protection and self-interest weigh in, and relevant information is lost as messages make stops along the route. Sensitive leaders take steps to make speaking the truth as painless as possible. But it never is in organizations, because authoritarianism is an immutable element of hierarchy.     

国际贸易商务礼仪活动中的商务英语语用分析

由于我国经济快速的发展势头已经吸引了越来越多的外国投资者的注意,而中国企业也开始争夺国际市场的竞争,对外贸易经营活动产生大量的商务接待以及有关的商务洽谈.但是因为传统的商务英语教育方式的影响,大家还是倾向于注重英语单词和语法和句子反复实践.这样的话对我们交流的开展极为不利.     

探讨商务英语在国际商务谈判中的运用(英文)

当前的国际经济一体化发展步伐逐渐加快,各行各业的企业和组织之间的合作交流日渐增多,其中涉及到不少跨国商务谈判。由于各个国家之间的企业经济效益为最终目标,追求他们的经济利益,因此在资源有限的情况下,他们的经济利益必然有冲突,这样就让彼此间商务谈判显得尤为重要。     

国际贸易商务礼仪活动中的商务英语语用分析(英文)

由于我国经济快速的发展势头已经吸引了越来越多的外国投资者的注意,而中国企业也开始争夺国际市场的竞争,对外贸易经营活动产生大量的商务接待以及有关的商务洽谈。但是因为传统的商务英语教育方式的影响,大家还是倾向于注重英语单词和语法和句子反复实践。这样的话对我们交流的开展极为不利。     

Why entrepreneurs don't scale

It's well known that many executives who excel at starting businesses or projects fizzle out--in other words, they fail to "scale"--as their ventures grow. But the reasons have remained fuzzy. In this article, leadership coach John Hamm identifies four management tendencies that work for small-company or business-unit leaders but become Achilles' heels as those individuals try to run larger organizations. The first tendency is loyalty to comrades. In entrepreneurial mode, you need to lead as though you're in charge of a combat unit on the wrong side of enemy lines. But blind loyalty can become a liability in managing a complex organization. The second tendency, task orientation, is critical in driving toward a big product launch, but excessive attention to detail can cause a large organization to lose sight of its long-term goals. The third tendency, single-mindedness, is important in a visionary unleashing a revolutionary product or service on the world but can limit the company's potential as it grows. And the fourth tendency, working in isolation, is fine for the brilliant scientist focused on an ingenious idea. But it's disastrous for a leader whose expanding organization increasingly relies on many other people. Leaders who scale deal honestly with problems and quickly weed out nonperformers. They see past distractions and establish strategic priorities. They learn how to deal effectively with diverse employees, customers, and external constituencies. And, most important, they make the company's continuing health and welfare their top concern.