Transmission of the 2007–2008 financial crisis in advanced countries of the European Union

The aim of this paper is to identify the main factors responsible for the 2007–2008 crisis development and transmission across the 10 developed European Union (EU) countries. In order to achieve this objective, trade and financial linkages, crisis contagion from the United States and EU countries and countries' internal and external economic vulnerabilities are examined. The results of logistic regression model covering the period from 2002 to 2012 presented in this paper indicate that the transmission of the crisis occurred through contagion from the United States but also from other EU countries. Additionally, the empirical results confirm that high inflation, a decrease in the exchange rate, and a decrease in the US long-term interest rates increased the probability of the 2007–2008 financial crisis.     

Factors influencing buying behavior of Lebanese consumers towards fashion brands during economic crisis: A qualitative study

The purpose of this article is to contribute to an understanding of the impact of the Lebanese economic crisis on fashion buying behavior. It uses a qualitative approach by conducting semi-structured interviews with 29 Lebanese consumers. The study reveals that consumer fashion purchases are motivated by emotional, social, and functional drivers. It also indicates that subjective norms, such as societal and cultural values dictate buying behaviors. The findings provide further insights into social media and highlight its influence on shaping trends and making fashion products desirable. The article concludes that Lebanese consumers exhibit impulsive buying behavior, and explains how fashion brands can remain relevant amidst a wrenching economic crisis.     

Promoting remote workers' psychological health: Effective management practices during the COVID-19 crisis

The aim of this study was to identify specific management practices that promote the psychological health of remote workers in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. A two-round Delphi study was conducted among 28 teleworkers and 22 managers. A list of 60 specific management practices was presented and participants had to identify whether each one could be used in the current remote working context and, if so, how useful it was to promote psychological health at work. Results indicate that most specific management practices usually used in a face-to-face setting can also be used in a remote context (85%). Practices that show consideration, establishing work structure, and allowing flexibility were also identified as the most useful to promote remote workers' psychological health during the pandemic. This study contributes to the advancement of knowledge about specific management practices, remote working, and crisis management. It also suggests specific practices that managers can adopt to promote the psychological health of their employees during a period of crisis, even while managing from a distance.     

Organization of innovation and capital markets

This paper develops a theory of the firm scope where not only research but also ordinary production employees can generate inventions. Separating research from production (“specialization”) solves the two-tier agency problem of inducing simultaneously research effort and managerial truthful-reporting but is costly when capital markets are imperfect. Improvements in capital markets, therefore, promote specialization, allowing a greater number of specialized firms to be established and also enabling them to undertake innovative projects with larger potential outcomes. Moreover, this capital market improvement effect is stronger for innovative activities that are less capital-intensive and that have weaker synergies with existing production activities. The model can help us understand the explosion of small company innovation in the U.S. since late 1970s and the contribution of venture capital to this change.     

国家基础设施投资与区域发展战略耦合——一项抵御国际金融危机冲击的经济增长策略

为应对1997年东南亚金融危机冲击,我国政府把西部地区作为基础设施投资重点,取得了加快西部地区发展,同时刺激全国经济持续增长的成功经验。这证明,国家基础设施投资与区域发展战略耦合是一项值得重视的抵御国际金融危机冲击的经济增长策略。当前,为抵御新的国际金融危机冲击,我国政府实施了大规模的基础设施投资计划。国家宜把中部地区作为这轮基础设施投资的重点区域,以收到加快中部地区崛起步伐、营造区域热点、刺激全国经济持续增长的效果。 ?     

The determinants of commercial banking profitability in low-, middle-, and high-income countries

Using a broad bank-level dataset and the GMM estimator technique described by Arellano and Bover (1995), this paper analyses how bank-specific characteristics, macroeconomic variables, and industry-specific factors affect the profitability of 10,165 commercial banks across 118 countries over the period from 1998 to 2012. Grouping the countries according to three income levels, we show that the determinants of bank profitability included in our model can explain existing profitability differences among commercial banks in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. The profitability determinants vary quite widely across the different levels of income in terms of significance, sign and size of the effect. The level of income has thus an important impact on the determinants of bank profitability.     

Trade Credit in the Crisis： Selling or Financing？

The work investigates the use of trade credit in Italy for reasons of a financial nature. The analysis considers Italian small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs） and investigates, over the years of 2009-2011： the existence of functional relationships between the incidence of trade receivables and payables and corporate profitability; the existence of interdependencies between trade credit policy and trade debt policy; and the coexistence of interchangeable and complementary conditions between trade debts and bank loans and other sources of funding. To verify the research hypotheses, linear regression models on a yearly basis are used and these models are put under observation over the years of 2009-2011. We can conclude that there are interdependencies between trade credit policy and trade debt policy and that trade credit is a source of flexible way of financing, also available in periods of crisis, which has a positive effect on the profitability of SMEs and can be utilized as a complementary and substitute source of financing to bank loans.     

FROM INSTITUTIONS TO FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH: WHAT ARE THE LINKS?

This paper presents an integrated overview of the literature linking institutions, financial development, and economic growth. From the large body of research on institutional development, the paper first selects those contributions that make it possible to study the role of institutional arrangements in ameliorating/worsening the information frictions and transaction costs that characterize the development of financial markets. The paper then investigates the theoretical mechanisms by which these specific frictions affect economic growth and presents the stock of empirical evidence quantifying the impact of institutions on growth through financial development.     

国际资金循环测度的统计方法及应用

研究目标：本文研究如何测量国际资金循环（Global Flow of Funds,GFF）,试图整合国际金融相关数据源,创建GFF统计矩阵。研究方法：讨论了GFF的基本概念,确定了国际资金循环的统计范围。按照2008SNA所提倡的From Whom to Whom 的统计基准,建立了GFF的统计框架,据此框架整合了国际金融组织之间的数据系统关系和现有的国际金融统计数据源。研究发现：利用相关统计创建了GFF矩阵模型表,试编了一个包含中国在内的由11个国家所构成的“国家×国家”的GFF统计矩阵表。研究创新：创建了GFF矩阵表,展开了以中国为主要观测对象的国际跨境资本比较分析。研究价值：建立了观测GFF统计,开辟了新的分析视野,客观揭示了中国在GFF中的状况及现存的主要问题。     

Globalization,political institutions,financial liberalization,and performance of the insurance industry

This paper investigates the impacts of globalization, political institutions, and financial liberalization on the performance and risk-taking of insurance firms covering 1324 individual firms in 30 selected OECD countries. We find that greater globalization and a stable political institution lead insurance companies to exhibit a better performance—i.e., insurers adjust their strategies while being aware of institutional changes. By contrast, financial liberalization has an inverse impact on insurance company performance. Thus, greater globalization and a stable political environment both drive less risk-taking for insurers. These findings are particularly important to insurance markets’ competitors and national policymakers.