Quantifying preferential trading in the e-MID interbank market

Interbank markets allow credit institutions to exchange capital for purposes of liquidity management. These markets are among the most liquid markets in the financial system. However, liquidity of interbank markets dropped during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, and such a lack of liquidity influenced the entire economic system. In this paper, we analyse transaction data from the e-MID market which is the only electronic interbank market in the Euro Area and US, over a period of 11 years (1999–2009). We adapt a method developed to detect statistically validated links in a network, in order to reveal preferential trading in a directed network. Preferential trading between banks is detected by comparing empirically observed trading relationships with a null hypothesis that assumes random trading among banks doing a heterogeneous number of transactions. Preferential trading patterns are revealed at time windows of 3-maintenance periods. We show that preferential trading is observed throughout the whole period of analysis and that the number of preferential trading links does not show any significant trend in time, in spite of a decreasing trend in the number of pairs of banks making transactions. We observe that preferential trading connections typically involve large trading volumes. During the crisis, we also observe that transactions occurring between banks with a preferential connection occur at larger interest rates than the complement set—an effect that is not observed before the crisis.     

External Conditions,the Evolution of Financial Risks,and the Informational Content of Stock Prices: The Case of Chile

ABSTRACT

In this article, we find that the dynamics of local financial risks in the Chilean stock market are associated with the evolution of external economic conditions, with a strong reduction in both idiosyncratic and systematic risks during periods of stable conditions. Despite this, we fail to find any significant change in the traditional measures of stock price synchronicity developed in the R² literature in our sample. We argue that these measures neglect the relationship between stock prices and fundamentals and find that the strength of the association between prices and fundamentals changes during our sample period, being much stronger during times of stable external conditions and diminished stock price volatility.     

A Comparison of Residents' Perceptions in Two Cruise Ports in the Mediterranean Sea

This paper examines residents' perceptions of a wide set of externalities exerted by the development of cruise tourism. The research involved data collection in two ports located in the two largest Mediterranean islands, Sicily and Sardinia, during the summer peak of the cruise season 2011. These two cruise destinations are especially interesting as they are characterized by a distinct life cycle. The empirical findings show that the two groups of residents have statistically equal perceptions on cruise activity in their destination. A correspondence analysis shows that residents have an overall positive attitude on the development of cruise tourism with respect to social, cultural and economic impacts. Nevertheless, they also feel that cruise activity has a negative impact, especially on the environment. Heterogeneity in occupation is explicitly taken into account. These findings provide directions for local policy‐makers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Green practices in restaurants: Impact on firm performance

Although some researchers have recently studied green practices in restaurants, scant previous research has analyzed the impact of these practices on overall performance in this field. Moreover, these studies have generally focused on mega-sized restaurants in the United States. The primary objective of this study is therefore to examine the motivations for the adoption of green practices in restaurants in Spain and the impact of this adoption on firm performance. The results are based on a survey completed by 374 small restaurant managers. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze links between the studied dimensions. The findings indicate that green practices have a strong positive direct influence on operational performance and competitiveness in Spanish restaurants and that they indirectly influence overall firm performance. Therefore, the results of this paper suggest that being proactive about environmental issues can provide restaurants with a great number of benefits that improve firm competitiveness and performance.     

Viability of competencies,skills and knowledge acquired by industrial design students

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - Many Industrial Design professionals in Spain have difficulties when it comes to getting a job related to their field. They also have...     

Asymmetric rivalry within and between strategic groups

Our study examines asymmetric rivalry within and between strategic groups defined according to the size of their members. We hypothesize that, owing to several forms of group‐level effects, including switching costs and efficiency, strategic groups comprising large firms expect to experience a large amount of retaliation from firms within their group and accommodation from the group comprising smaller firms. Small firms, on the other hand, expect to experience a small amount of retaliation from the group comprising large firms and no reaction from the other firms in their group. We estimate the effect of group‐level strategic interactions on firm performance. Our analysis reveals that the rivalry behavior within and between groups is asymmetric, which supports the dominant‐fringe relation between firms, as described in our hypothesis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Building product diversification through contractual R&D agreements

Firms engage in contractual R&D agreements for several reasons, including product innovation motives, firm performance goals, and technological diversification. This article demonstrates that firms also might enter into external collaborations to penetrate new markets. This study therefore explores both the effects and the strategic risks of contractual R&D agreements and their related knowledge structures for a firm's capacity to diversify into new markets. Drawing on a novel panel data set obtained from 102 Fortune high‐tech firms, the authors demonstrate that strategic alliances enable knowledge‐integrated firms to penetrate new businesses; however, these organizations should be cautious about engaging in licensing‐in agreements, which have negative effects on product diversification.