Monetary policy surprises and international bond markets

We examine the impact and spillover effects of monetary policy surprises on international bond returns. Within the framework of Campbell and Ammer (1993), we decompose international bond returns into news regarding future returns, real interest rates and future inflation for Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. We examine how excess bond returns in these three countries are affected by surprise changes in monetary policy in each country. Our measure of the unanticipated element of monetary policy is based on futures markets rather than the more traditional vector autoregression. Our results indicate that excess bond returns primarily react to domestic as compared to foreign monetary policy surprises. We also find there is a strong divergence between the effects of domestic monetary policy on excess bond returns in Germany relative to the U.K. A surprise monetary tightening in Germany (U.K.) leads to a rise (fall) in the excess holding period return. We trace this effect to news about lower (higher) inflation expectations and could be potentially rationalized by differences in the credibility of the monetary policy authority in each country.     

The Effects of Culture and Structure on Strategic Flexibility during Business Model Innovation

This study uses responses from 107 multinational firms to reveal CEO perceptions of the drivers of strategic flexibility during business model innovation. While the positive effect of creative culture is confirmed, partner reliance reduces strategic flexibility during business model innovation. Further, structural change is disaggregated into efforts that either focus managerial attention on core activities or reconfigure existing activities. CEOs perceive that structural flexibility requires structural simplification while retaining control of non‐core functions. We find that the relative magnitude of business model innovation effort moderates the effect of reconfiguration on strategic flexibility. The implications for theories of organizational design and dynamic capabilities are discussed.     

稳健的银行系统:金融监管在反周期中充当何种角色

本次金融危机之后,各国对金融监管体制进行了深刻的反思,也提出了许多改革方案,特别是越来越多人希望巴塞尔II以及其他监管体系能够较少地顺周期。世界银行经济学家杰勒德·卡普里奥分析了反周期监管的内在原理。反周期的拔备（或资本）要求是获得顺周期的一个重要途径,西班牙和哥伦比亚是实施反周期拨备的为数不多的国家,虽然实施时间太短而不能完全说明问题,但有限的实践结果显示与预期有差距。作者进一步分析了反周期的拨备和资本要求在实际运用中需考虑的具体问题,并为发展中国家降低金融风险提出了建议。     

Inflation risk and international asset returns

We show that inflation risk is priced in international asset returns. We analyze inflation risk in a framework that encompasses the International Capital Asset Pricing Model (ICAPM) of Adler and Dumas (1983). In contrast to the extant empirical literature on the ICAPM, we relax the assumption that inflation rates are constant. We estimate and test a conditional version of the model for the G5 countries (France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US) over the period 1975–1998 and find evidence of statistically and economically significant prices of inflation risk (in addition to priced nominal exchange rate risk). Our results imply a rejection of the restrictions imposed by the ICAPM. In an extension of our analysis to 2003, we show that even after the termination of nominal exchange rate fluctuations in the euro area in 1999, differences in inflation rates across countries entail non-trivial real exchange rate risk premia.     

Strategic online banking adoption

In this paper we study the determinants of banks’ decisions to adopt a transactional website for their customers. Using a panel of commercial banks in the United States for the period 2003–2006, we show that although bank-specific characteristics are important determinants of banks’ adoption decisions, competition also plays a prominent role. The extent of competition is related to the geographic overlap of banks in different markets and their relative market share in terms of deposits. In particular, banks adopt online banking services earlier in markets where their competitors have already adopted this technology. This paper is one of the first to construct local banking markets using the geographic market definitions delimited by the CASSIDI® Database compiled at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.     

Adoption of soil conservation practices in Belgium: An examination of the theory of planned behaviour in the agri-environmental domain

Soil erosion is a problem with serious on-site and off-site consequences. There exists a broad series of measures to mitigate soil erosion, unfortunately policy makers observe little voluntary adoption. This paper reports on a study to elicit the factors explaining adoption of soil erosion control practices in Belgium. Following a socio-psychological approach, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), adoption of cover crops, reduced tillage and buffer strips is evaluated using linear regression techniques. Results show that the most explaining factor is attitude towards the soil conservation practice. The TPB adapted to include perceived control and difficulty appears to provide a suitable framework for evaluating adoption of erosion control measures in Belgium. Future interventions directed at promoting erosion control measures should be directed at changing the attitude of farmers. Further study is, however, required in order to elucidate the cognitive foundations of the negative attitude of a majority of farmers towards the implementation of erosion control practices.     

Apples and oranges? Corporate rescue and functional convergence in the US and UK

This paper challenges the standard characterisation that US law in the sphere of corporate bankruptcy is ‘pro debtor’ and UK law is ‘pro creditor’. It suggests that the traditional thesis is, at best, a potentially misleading over‐simplification. It also offers the conclusion that there is functional convergence in practice, while acknowledging that corporate rescue, as distinct from business rescue, still plays a larger role in the US. The functional convergence has partly come through the UK Enterprise Act 2002 but the paper suggests that the main move has been that of US law and practice in a UK direction with more emphasis on business disposals and speedier cases than on corporate reorganisations, as traditionally understood. This mirrors practice in the UK where the emphasis has always been on business disposals. Unfortunately, the current economic recession on both sides of the Atlantic has shone a heightened spotlight on business bankruptcy and is likely to generate further changes in practice and ultimately legislation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PROFITS,INVESTMENT AND BUSINESS FLUCTUATIONS

In this paper we analyze the impact of profits on investment in a simple Kaleckian investment model in which profits and capacity determine the level of investment. The analysis leads to the following conclusions. In the first place, the estimated impact of profits on investment behaviour in the Netherlands has diminished in the 1980s. The impact of the stock of capital on investment has remained constant in our sample period. In the second place, it can be observed that the impact of both profits and capital on investment is countercyclical. In periods of boom entrepreneurs prefer public capital markets as a source of investment funds, whereas in a recession they primarily rely on cheaper internal funds.     

Networking strategy of boards: implications for small and medium-sized enterprises

Development of linkages with the external environment, e.g. interlocks, is a mechanism to access scarce resources. Creating and maintaining these linkages may be an organizational capability that creates a competitive advantage for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A partial model of networking strategy is proposed, which includes measures of board composition, interlocks, entrepreneurial orientation and environmental hostility. Analysis of 70 community bank Chief Executive Officer (CEO) responses (58% response rate) lends support to the proposition that firms with a networking strategy performed better (higher return on assets (ROA) and higher return on expenditure (ROE)) than those firms that did not actively pursue the development of networks.