Bank lending and the stock market's response to monetary policy shocks

This paper explores whether a limited participation model modified to include features of the bank lending channel can account for the empirically observed reaction of stock market returns to monetary policy shocks. When calibrated to match characteristics of US data, the model generates responses that broadly match the empirical counterparts. The results also suggest, that the higher exposure of bank-dependent firms to liquidity shocks generates substantial heterogeneity of the responses across firms.     

South African consumers' opinions and consumption of soy and soy products

Interest in soy foods has increased with consumer awareness of its health benefits, especially with soy‐related ingredients being utilized as one of the major sources of high‐protein fortification. The aim of the present study was to assess South African (SA) consumers' opinion of soy and soy products through different statements on consumption, taste, protein value and healthiness. The respondents (n = 3001) for this randomized cross‐sectional study were randomly selected from metropolitan and rural areas in South Africa. Trained fieldworkers administered questionnaires by conducting face‐to‐face interviews. Fourteen statements from four sections of the questionnaire (consisting of 17 food‐related topics in total), probing information on consumers' opinion on soy and soy products, were used. Data on 81% of the respondents (n = 2437), who had heard of soy before, were used for statistical analyses. The data were weighted to be representative of the total SA population based on gender, age and race. No practically significant differences among metropolitan and rural respondents' opinion, gender or age variables regarding any statement were found. A practically significant higher percentage (>60%) of respondents in the total population and within all race groups were positive about soy and agreed that soy is a good source of protein, has many health benefits, associated soy with meat substitutes, were aware of a number of meat substitutes and agreed that soy can replace meat in their diet. Medium to large practically significant differences were found between racial groups regarding certain statements. More Blacks and Indians (76% and 68% respectively) than Whites (25%) use soy. Almost two‐thirds of Indians (65%) and Blacks (64%) eat or drink soy products, compared with only 22% for Whites, indicating that the potential target market for soy products should be chosen accordingly. Higher percentages of Blacks than Whites also indicated that they liked the taste of soy, would use more soy if it was readily available and if a bigger product range existed and would replace cow's milk with soy milk, confirming that Blacks are more positive about soy and would use even more soy if a bigger range of soy products were available. The findings from the current study indicated that more than 70% of SA consumers believe that soy has many health benefits and more than 60% already use soy. Insight gained from this first study of its kind in SA provided valuable information to developers and marketers, and signified that consumer segmentation should be taken into consideration to focus on developing more acceptable soy products that appeal to these consumer segments that are more positive towards the taste of soy and might consume soy regularly. Within the discipline of Consumer Science, efforts to inform consumers about the advantages of soy in terms of its health benefits, and to support it in terms of a greater availability of more acceptable soy products at reasonable prices, would support the ideal of informed, responsible buying decisions across all socio‐economic groups.     

Downsizing and the fragility of corporate reputation: An analysis of the impact of contextual factors

This study extends prior research on the impact of downsizing on corporate reputation by investigating how specific aspects of downsizing measures influence this relationship. Using panel data on the S&P 100 companies for the period 1990–2000, we find that downsizing affects corporate reputation negatively and that the size of the effect depends on the content and the context of the downsizing announcement. More specifically, we find that the motive for downsizing, the time period in which it is announced as well as the extent of previous layoffs significantly influence the reputational penalties that are associated with corporate downsizing. Our results thus elucidate how contextual factors of a downsizing decision can influence the extent of the reputational damage of this measure.     

Revisiting the trans-situationality of values in Schwartz’s Portrait Values Questionnaire

Quality & Quantity - Schwartz in his famous theory of basic values follows Parsons and Rokeach in arguing that human values are trans-situational or context free. For any individual, the same...     

Banks,Financial Markets and International Consumption Risk Sharing

In this article, we explore how characteristics of the domestic financial system influence the international allocation of consumption risk in a sample of OECD countries. Our results show that the extent of risk sharing achieved does not depend on the overall development of the domestic financial system per se. Rather, it depends on how the financial system is organized. Countries characterized by developed financial markets are less exposed to idiosyncratic risk, whereas the development of the banking sector contributes little to the international diversification of consumption risk.     

Private Sector Debt,Financial Constraints,and the Effects of Monetary Policy: Evidence from the US

We characterize the response of U.S. real GDP to monetary policy shocks conditional on the level of private sector debt and the degree to which financial constraints are binding. To incorporate state-dependent effects of monetary policy, we use the local projection framework. We find that although the amount of private sector debt potentially weakens the monetary policy transmission mechanism, policy shocks exert substantially larger effects on output when high private debt coincides with binding financial constraints.     

Goodness-of-fit measures for multiple correspondence analysis

This paper presents three results: (1) It is shown that the explained variance criterion is inappropriate for multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). (2) There are two strategies to interpret a MCA configuration: factor analytical interpretation and cluster analytical interpretation. Goodness-of-fit measures for both interpretations are constructed. (3) These measures give (a) a more adequate picture of the model fit and (b) allow to differentiate whether a factor analytical interpretation or a cluster analytical interpretation is more adequate.     

The prognosis and surveillance of risks from commercial credit borrowers

This paper reports the main results of an empirical research project dealing with the prognosis and surveillance of corporate credit risks. In the course of the research programme both quantitative (balance sheet analysis, current accounts data analysis) and qualitative (assessment of management) methods were applied. Each of the three parts of the project is independently usable However, the combined application of the three approaches avoids deficiencies of using only one of the components and improves the early detection of credit risks.