Does CEO gender matter for bank risk?

This paper addresses the relation between CEO gender and bank risk. We exploit a unique dataset of 365 Polish cooperative banks, 42% of which are run by female CEOs. We find that banks headed by female CEOs are less risky: they report higher capital adequacy and equity to assets ratios. Credit risk in female-led banks is not different from male-led banks, and therefore higher capital adequacy does not stem from lower asset quality and is likely to be linked to higher risk aversion of female CEOs. Our evidence supports the view that women are more risk averse bank CEOs than men. Our findings suggest that gender quotas in bank boards can contribute to reduce risk-taking behavior.     

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An Application of Hedonic Regression to Evaluate Prices of Polish Paintings

As the global financial crisis hit the world-wide stock markets, investors looked for alternative investments to diversify their portfolios. One of the more attractive alternate investment opportunities has been investment in art. However, in order to consider artworks as investment assets, the performance of the artworks must be evaluated in order to compare it to other financial instruments. Therefore, hedonic art price indexes are constructed for different art markets. The art market in Poland is characterized by a limited scale since it has only been developing since 1989. The aim of our research is evaluation of the hedonic art price indexes for Polish paintings. Hedonic regression models are estimated using data from auctions of paintings that took place in Poland in the years 2007–2010.     

Achieving Customer Satisfaction through Integrated Products and Services: An Exploratory Study

Complex products such as manufacturing equipment have always needed maintenance and repair services. Increasingly, leading manufacturers are integrating products and services to generate increased revenues and achieve customer satisfaction. Designing integrated products and services requires a different approach to new product development and a clear understanding of how customers perceive the value they obtain from actual usage of products and services—so‐called value‐in‐use. However, there is a lack of research on integrated products and services and how they impact customer satisfaction. An exploratory study was undertaken to understand customers' views on integrated products and services and the value‐in‐use derived from such offerings. As value‐in‐use and its impacts are complicated concepts, a technique from psychology—Repertory Grid Technique—was used to gather data in 33 interviews. The interviews allowed a deep understanding of customer views on integrated products and services to be obtained, and a systematic analysis identified the key attributes of value‐in‐use. In order to probe further, the data were then analyzed using Honey's procedure, which identified the impact of the attributes of value‐in‐use on customer satisfaction. Two key attributes—relational dynamic and access—were found to have the most influence on customer satisfaction. This paper contributes to the innovation field by identifying customer needs for integrated products and services and how these impact customer satisfaction. These are key points and need to be fully considered by managers during new product and service development. Similarly, the paper identifies a number of important areas for further research.     

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Gender Disparities in the Labor Market in the EU

Gender equality, a policy objective of basically universal acceptance, has become a subject of interest in national governments, international organizations, research instructions, and political pressure groups. This paper reports recent investigations regarding gender disparities in the labor market. The main aim of our study is to identify factors affecting gender earning disparities in the European Union member states. Empirical research is provided in two separate areas. The first one focuses on the gender pay gap in the EU based on SES 2006 data. The second one is a detailed analysis of factors influencing wages in Poland, employing LFS 2009 data.     

Applying artificial neural networks to bank-decision simulations

Artificial neural networks are nonlinear models that can be trained to extract hidden structures and relationships that govern the data. They can be used for analyzing relationships among economic and financial phenomena. This paper presents research on applying a back propagation algorithm to firm classification. Experiments were provided for three neural network architectures by applying training and testing samples constructed from actual data of the firms that applied for credit in regional banks for the period 1994–97. To study the effect of proportion between the number of firms that obtained and did not obtain credit, three proportions of the training and testing set compositions were created: 1:1, 2:1, and 4:1. Classification accuracy was evaluated in terms of errors made by the neural networks.     

Japanese cuisine in Poland: attitudes and behaviour among Polish consumers

In Poland, in recent years, the number of Japanese cuisine restaurants is still increasing. The aim of this article was to estimate the popularity of Japanese cuisine in Poland and to examine attitudes of Polish consumers towards it. The reasons why this cuisine is chosen by consumers are also studied. The scope of this work includes two anonymous questionnaires. The first study was conducted in Warsaw among 527 random respondents to estimate the level of familiarity with Japanese dishes. The second one was conducted among 115 consumers of a particular Japanese restaurant in Warsaw. Research of the target group was aimed at the characteristics of Japanese dishes consumers. On the basis of the results, it was found that random respondents have relatively little knowledge of Japanese dishes. However, a large percentage of them declared interest in Japanese culture and traditions and was inclined to taste the dishes of this region. Japanese restaurants are mainly popular among young people who follow current culinary trends and fashions and also care about their diet. High prices limit the customer group to well‐off people. Polish consumers visiting Japanese restaurants are usually persons between 31 and 40 years old, with higher education, live in the big cities, as well as with very good or good financial situation. Regular restaurant goers eat out quite often: once a week (38%) or at least once a month (27%). The restaurant studied is mainly visited by people familiar with Japanese cuisine. Sushi is the most popular of the dishes offered.     

Construction and Evaluation of Trading Systems: Warsaw Index Futures

This paper presents and compares 15 trading systems constructed for the Warsaw Stock Exchange futures contracts. These trading systems are constructed applying technical analysis and artificial neural networks (ANN). The efficiency of constructed trading systems is measured by the profit, which could be gained on the analyzed market when an investor uses various methods of buy and sell signals generating. Investigation is conducted for daily observations of stock index WIG20 futures from December 1, 1999 to November 28, 2003. The conclusion is that the combination of the technical analysis and artificial intelligence in order to gain profit from trading on the Polish futures market can bring much better investment results than trade in the traditional way (JEL G10, C45).