Determinants of Bank Distress in Europe: Evidence from a New Data Set

Using a unique data set on bank distress, this paper provides novel empirical evidence on the determinants of bank soundness in the European Union (EU) as a whole. The estimation results are consistent with the hypothesis that bank risks have converged across EU members, providing empirical support for introduction of a more centralized system of financial regulation in the EU. We show that asset quality and earning profile of banks are important determinants of bank distress next to leverage, suggesting that these should be central in EU-wide financial regulation and supervision. We find that market discipline, both by depositors and by stock market participants, plays a role in the EU, supporting the notion that transparency and dissemination of financial information would contribute to the financial soundness of banks. Our data also point to the presence of contagion effects, relatively higher fragility of concentrated banking sectors, and hazards associated with high ratios of wholesale funding.     

How Advergame Content Influences Explicit and Implicit Brand Attitudes: When Violence Spills Over

Well-liked advergames foster favorable brand attitudes. Research has been conducted on games where the content offers positive associations (e.g., racing: speed) that may transfer to the brand. Yet games may offer negative associations (e.g., combat: violence). Using the affect transfer and associative-propositional evaluation models, we test the influence of game content (combat, racing) on implicit and explicit brand attitudes. Results of an experiment showed that negative content resulted in less favorable attitudes toward the game and the implicit (unfamiliar) brand attitudes. The relationship between content and explicit attitude toward the brand was mediated by attitude toward the game.     

A Participatory Simulation to Facilitate Farmers' Adoption of Livestock Feeding Systems Based on Conservation Agriculture in the Uplands of Northern Vietnam

In the mountain areas of northern Vietnam, extensive husbandry of large-ruminants is limited by the lack of natural forage. Since 2000, the Mountain Agrarian System Program has been concerned with this issue and has evaluated technical alternatives aimed at sustainable integration of crop-livestock systems. One alternative consists of feeding systems for largeruminants based on cropping systems with plant cover. Diffusion of information about the new system is supported by a set of interactive communication tools for use between farmers and researchers. A participatory simulation method was developed that combines a compartmental model of the village territory with five technical innovations. Farmers simulate the adoption of the innovations they choose among food-forage cropping systems in rotation or in association, and urea-treated straw. They evaluate the quantity of forage that can be grown for their herd using the chosen set of techniques.

Simulations revealed farmers' constraints and objectives in adopting sustainable cropping systems on the hillsides while maintaining a small animal husbandry system. The results obtained by each farmer provide a useful basis for discussion about the implementation of innovation. This participatory simulation method could be more widely used to facilitate the diffusion of innovations such as integrating livestock feeding systems with conservation cropping practices.     

Price discovery and investor structure in stock index futures

Previous literature on price discovery in stock index futures and spot markets neglects the role of different investor groups. This study relates time‐varying spot‐futures linkages studied within a VECM‐DCC‐GARCH framework to changes in the investor structure of the futures market over time. Empirical results suggest that during the dominance of presumably uninformed private investors, the futures market does not contribute to price discovery. By contrast, there is evidence of information flows from futures to spot markets and a significant increase in conditional correlation between both markets as institutional investors' share in trading volume increases. We derive implications for the design of emerging futures markets. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark31:282–306, 2011     

BOOK REVIEW

Tourism Planning and Development. By Charles Kaiser, Jr., and Larry E. Helber. Boston, CBI Publishing Co., 1978. Pp. x + 238, indexed. Hardcover, $13.50.

Essentials of Recreational Services. By Jay S. Shivers. Lea &; Febiger, Philadelphia, 1978. Pp. x + 348. Hardcover, $15.75.

The Process of Recreation Programming. By Patricia Farrell and Herberta M. Lundegren. New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1978. Pp. xii + 313, index. Hardcover, $12.95.

YV88: An Eco‐Fiction of Tomorrow. By Christopher Swan and Chet Roaman. San Francisco, Sierra Club Books, 1977. 248 + viii, illustrated. Paperbound, $7.95.

Tourism Multipliers: The State of the Art. By Brian H. Archer. Bangor Occasional Papers in Economics (General Editor: Jack Revell), No. 11. Bangor: University of Wales Press, 1977. Pp. ix + 85.

A Good Age. By Alex Comfort. New York City, Simon and Schuster (Fireside Books), 1978. Pp. 224, indexed and illustrated. Paperbound, $5.95.