Is bank default risk systematic?

We evaluate the impact of commonly used indicators of bank distress on broad (i.e. sector and country) risks. This issue deserves special attention in the banking industry where there is a strong degree of interconnectedness among institutions and the default of a single bank may cause a cascading failure, which could potentially bankrupt the entire system. Using several measures of individual bank risk our results show that these measures have a direct impact on European banking (i.e. systemic) stock market risk. We also provide strong evidence suggesting that, for listed banks, default risk tends to be systematic (i.e. non-diversifiable).     

Peer choice in CEO compensation

Current research shows that firms are more likely to benchmark against peers that pay their Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) higher compensation, reflecting self serving behavior. We propose an alternative explanation: the choice of highly paid peers represents a reward for unobserved CEO talent. We test this hypothesis by decomposing the effect of peer selection into talent and self serving components. Consistent with our prediction, we find that the association between a firm's selection of highly paid peers and CEO pay mostly represents compensation for CEO talent.     

Heterogeneity in health responses and anchoring vignettes

In this article we employ the tool of anchoring vignettes to analyze gender differences in self-assessments of health in Europe. We propose and estimate an extension of the basic vignette model for correcting the lack of interpersonal comparability of self-assessments on a categorical scale. Our extension allows for potential correlation in the self-assessments of health on different domains by including an unobservable individual effect, common to all domains but different across individuals, in both the thresholds and the equations for the latent health problems. After applying this model to the SHARE data, we find that vignettes help narrow gender differences in self-assessments of health, although these differences are not entirely eliminated.     

Efficiency and risk in European banking

We assess the inter-temporal relationship between bank efficiency, capital and risk in a sample of European commercial banks employing several definitions of efficiency, risk and capital and using the Granger-causality methodology in a panel data framework. Our results suggest that lower bank efficiency with respect to costs and revenues Granger-causes higher bank risk and that increases in bank capital precede cost efficiency improvements. We also find that more efficient banks eventually become better capitalized and that higher capital levels tend to have a positive effect on efficiency levels. These results are generally confirmed by a series of robustness tests. The results have potentially important implications for bank prudential supervision and underline the importance of attaining long-term efficiency gains to support financial stability objectives.     

On rankings and top choices in random utility models with dependent utilities

Different aggregate preference orders based on rankings and top choices have been defined in the literature to describe preferences among items in a fixed set of alternatives. A useful tool in this framework is constituted by random utility models, where the utility of each alternative, or object, is represented by a random variable, indexed by the object, which, for example, can capture the variability of preferences over a population. Applications are derived in diverse research fields, including computer science, management science and reliability. Recently, some stochastic ordering conditions have been provided for comparing alternatives by means of some aggregate preference orders in the case of independent random utility variables by Joe (Math Soc Sci 43:391–404, 2002). In this paper we provide new conditions, based on some joint stochastic orderings, for aggregate preference orders among the alternatives in the case of dependent random utilities. We also provide some examples of application in different research fields.      

Cystadenoma of the seminal vesicle: US and CT findings

Ultrasonographic (US) and computed tomographic (CT) features of a cystadenoma of the seminal vesicle are presented.     

Firms’ exporting and importing activities: is there a two-way relationship?

The literature on firm heterogeneity and trade has highlighted that most trading firms tend to engage in both importing and exporting activities. This paper provides some evidence that helps understanding to what extent this is the result of a two-way relationship. Using firm-level data for a group of 27 Eastern European and Central Asian countries from the World Bank Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) over the period 2002–2008, we estimate a bivariate probit model of exporting and importing. After controlling for size (and other firm-level characteristics) we find that firms’ exporting activity does not increase the probability of importing, while the latter has a positive effect on foreign sales. This effect is mainly channeled through an increase in firm productivity and product innovation.     

Post-merger Price Dynamics Matters,So Why Do Merger Retrospectives Ignore It?

Review of Industrial Organization - The overwhelming majority of retrospective merger studies pool the post-merger data to estimate the average price effect of the merger. Pooled post-merger...     

Academic spin-off creation: barriers and how to overcome them

The aim of this study is to analyze the process of academic spin-off creation, identifying the barriers to suggest how to overcome them. For this purpose, a case study method was adopted, and as data-collecting instruments, several in-depth interviews and documentary analysis were used from three academic spin-offs. The empirical evidence captures the different views of the founding researchers of the academic spin-offs, the researching lecturers in the department creating the spin-offs and the manager of the technology transfer office at the Portuguese university studied here. The results show that the different perceptions of barriers are seen to be solved through an internal strategy within the university. The findings also show that applied research should be valued in assessing lecturers, as it contributes, not only to the link with industry, and therefore to regional development, but also to universities' sustainability, overcoming the lack of financial support as a result of constant budget cuts. The contact networks resulting from universities' links with the different stakeholders will benefit the spin-offs themselves, facilitating their survival in the first years of their life.     

Segmentation and motivation of foreign tourists in world heritage sites. A case study,Quito (Ecuador)

This paper presents an analysis of the current relationships between three fundamental constructs in the decision-making process of the visitor – motivation, satisfaction and loyalty – of a tourist destination World Heritage Site like the city of Quito, Ecuador. The results demonstrate the existence of three motivational dimensions among foreign visitors to visit the city: firstly cultural, secondly circumstantial and finally hedonic-gastronomic. Additionally, and tending to the motivational schemes, four types of foreign visitors have been identified: a hedonic-gastronomic cultural tourist, a hedonic-gastronomic tourist, a circumstantial hedonic-gastronomic cultural tourist and an alternative tourist. The reasons or motives of the visit reveal that only the hedonic-gastronomic dimension discriminates significantly as far as the degree of perceived satisfaction and loyalty declared by the visitors are concerned.