Inefficiency and heterogeneity in Turkish banking: 1990–2000

Recent studies have stressed the importance of privatization and openness to foreign competition for bank efficiency and economic growth. We study bank efficiency in Turkey, an emerging economy with great heterogeneity in bank types and ownership structures. Earlier studies of Turkish banking had three limitations: (i) excessive reliance on cost‐function frontier analyses, wherein volume of loans is a measure of banking output; (ii) pooling all banks or imposing ad hoc heterogeneity assumptions; and (iii) lack of a comprehensive panel data set for proper analysis of productivity and heterogeneity. We use an estimation–classification procedure to find likelihood‐driven classification of bank technologies in an 11‐year panel. In addition, we augment traditional cost‐frontier analysis with a labour‐efficiency analysis. We conclude that state banks are not particularly inefficient overall, but that they do utilize labour inefficiently. This partially supports recent calls for privatization. We also conclude that special finance houses (or Islamic banks) utilize the same technology as conventional domestic banks, and do so relatively efficiently. This suggests that they do not cause harm to the financial system. Finally, we conclude that foreign banks utilize a different technology from domestic ones. This suggests that one should not overstate their value to the financial sector. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cross‐Country Evidence on the Importance of Auditor Choice to Corporate Debt Maturity

We examine the importance of Big Four audits in reducing agency costs evident in corporate debt maturity worldwide. Analyzing a large sample of public firms from 42 countries reveals that the fraction of long‐term debt in firms' capital structures rises with the presence of a Big Four auditor, suggesting that higher‐quality audits substitute for short‐term debt for monitoring purposes. In additional analyses, we find that the role that auditor choice plays in debt maturity is concentrated in firms from countries with strong legal institutions governing property rights and creditor rights. Collectively, our research implies that Big Four audits matter to corporate debt maturity, although the impact is isolated in firms operating in countries with more protective legal regimes.     

Share transfer behaviour of newly introduced Tunisian companies and its determinants: An empirical analysis

This study seeks to determine the reasons behind original shareholder sales of particular numbers of shares at the IPO date. It also examines whether share transfer behaviour reveals specific characteristics of blockholders and if a non-linear relationship emerges between the variable representing the shares held by controlling shareholders immediately prior to the transaction and the share transfer variable. The sample consists of 46 Tunisian companies listed on the Tunis Stock Exchange during the period 1992–2012. Results show that the original shareholders sale decision depends significantly on company growth opportunities. Assignee shareholders benefit from favourable stock market conditions when they sell their shares at the IPO time. Share transfer behaviour depends on whether company ownership consists of a family or not, and on whether the shareholders are blockholders or not. Besides, controlling shareholders benefit from IPO to enhance their ownership.     

Economic burden,work, and school productivity in individuals with tuberous sclerosis and their families

Aims: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a multi-organ autosomal-dominant, genetic disorder with incomplete penetrance. The multiple manifestations of TSC and impacts to numerous organ systems represent significant disease, healthcare, and treatment burden. The economic and employment burden of the disease on individuals and their families is poorly understood. This study assessed the cost of illness and work and school productivity burden associated with TSC in a cross-sectional web-survey sample.

Materials and methods: Eligible TSC individuals and caregivers were invited through the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance advocacy group to complete a web-based survey about illness characteristics, treatment, disease burden, direct and indirect healthcare costs, work and school impairment.

Results: Data from 609 TSC adults or caregiver respondents with no cognitive impairments were analyzed. TSC adults (>18 years of age) had significantly higher direct out-of-pocket costs for ER visits, expenses for medical tests and procedures, alternative treatments, medications and lifetime cost of surgeries compared to TSC pediatric individuals. Both TSC adults and TSC caregivers reported work and school absenteeism and presenteeism; however, adults reported significantly higher absenteeism and presenteeism and overall activity impairment due to TSC, as might be expected, compared to TSC caregivers. TSC adults had significantly higher absenteeism and presenteeism rates compared to adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and muscular sclerosis.

Conclusions: TSC results in considerable direct out-of-pocket medical costs and impairment to work productivity, especially for adults. Future studies should include the comparator group and examine direct cost burden in the US using electronic medical records and insurance databases.     

How does shopper-based mall equity generate mall loyalty? A conceptual model and empirical evidence

Understanding the antecedents of shopper mall loyalty remains one of the crucial issues for both mall managers and retailing researchers. We propose a conceptual model that explains the psychological process by which shopper-based mall equity (e.g., the perceived mall value) generates mall loyalty. We collected data from shoppers in two urban North-American shopping malls (N=905). The empirical results were generally supportive of the model: Mall loyalty was significantly predicted by the commitment that shoppers held toward the mall; and that commitment, in turn, was significantly predicted by shopper's positive awareness of the mall's characteristics, and shopper's self-congruity. The latter construct, in turn, was significantly predicted by mall image dimensions such as the mall's environment and the quality of the products and services found in the mall. We also found the model to be invariant between female and male shoppers. Theoretical and managerial implications of the model and the findings were also discussed.     

The GCC’s Fixed Exchange Rate: A Major Anomaly for OCA Analysis

From the standpoint of traditional optimal currency area (OCA) analysis, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are a major anomaly. They successfully maintained pegged exchange rates among themselves for two decades while failing to meet a number of major OCA criteria. Contrary to the optimistic predictions of some of the most enthusiastic advocates of endogenous OCA analysis, intra‐regional trade has remained low and there is little synchronisation of their business cycles or harmonisation of their fiscal positions. We argue that their success in operating a fixed rate regime has been due to a combination of high oil revenue, the heavy use of foreign workers and the limited extent to which their economies rely on market forces. These are conditions that are not met by most other countries.     

AN EXACT FORMULA FOR DEFAULT SWAPTIONS’ PRICING IN THE SSRJD STOCHASTIC INTENSITY MODEL

We develop and test a fast and accurate semi‐analytical formula for single‐name default swaptions in the context of a shifted square root jump diffusion (SSRJD) default intensity model. The model can be calibrated to the CDS term structure and a few default swaptions, to price and hedge other credit derivatives consistently. We show with numerical experiments that the model implies plausible volatility smiles.     

DO MULTIPLE LARGE SHAREHOLDERS PLAY A CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ROLE? EVIDENCE FROM EAST ASIA

We examine the governance role of multiple large shareholder structures (MLSS) to determine their valuation effects in a sample of 1,252 publicly traded firms from nine East Asian economies. We find that the presence, number, and size of multiple large shareholders are associated with a significant valuation premium. Our results also show that the identity of MLSS influences corporate value and that the valuation effects of MLSS are more pronounced in firms with greater agency costs. Our results imply that MLSS play a valuable monitoring role in curbing the diversion of corporate resources.