15 research outputs found
Credit Crunch in Germany?
No full textThis paper evaluates whether the Germany economy is currently affected by a credit crunch, i.e. a supply-side restriction of loans that is not in line with market interest rates and profitability of investment projects.With help of a disequilibrium- model, we calculate a credit supply and a demand-function. We compare estimated demand with estimated supply, finding a considerable excess- demand particularly in the second half of 2002. The main reason for this restriction is the drop in earnings in the banking sector. Applying the model to Großbanken (big banks) and other credit institutions separately, shows that the situation in the former is more severe than in the latter.
Der Zins-Pass-Through deutscher Geschäftsbankengruppen
No full textDer Zins-Pass-Through, also die Geschwindigkeit, mit der Geschäftsbanken einen Geldmarktimpuls an ihre Kunden weitergeben, ist aus zwei Gründen wirtschaftspolitisch relevant. Zum einen ist er eine wichtige Determinante für die Wirksamkeit der Geldpolitik, da er die erste Stufe der geldpolitischen Transmission darstellt. Zum anderen lässt er auf den Wettbewerb auf dem Bankenmarkt schließen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Weitergabe von Zinsimpulsen in theoretischer, institutioneller und empirischer Hinsicht untersucht. Ein besonderes Augenmerk liegt dabei auf der Frage, ob sich Großbanken, Sparkassen, Kreditgenossenschaften und Regionalbanken in ihrer Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit unterscheiden. Dabei werden jeweils die Zinsen von vier Retail-Produkten geprüft. Zunächst wird der theoretische Rahmen der empirischen Messung entwickelt. Flankierend werden die aus der Literatur bekannten Determinanten des Zins-Pass-Through zusammengestellt. An ihnen orientiert werden die vier Institutsgruppen verglichen. Die empirische Analyse erfolgt im Rahmen eines Panel-Fehlerkorrekturmodells. Insgesamt zeigen die Schätzungen, dass Großbanken und Sparkassen fast gleich - und deutlich schneller als Regional- und vor allem Genossenschaftsbanken - auf Geldmarktimpulse reagieren. Erklärt werden kann dies durch institutionelle Unterschiede und die jeweilige Ausrichtung auf Geschäftsfelder und Kundengruppen. Bei den Sparkassen wären jedoch größere Ähnlichkeiten mit den Kreditgenossenschaften als mit den Großbanken zu vermuten gewesen. Die sofortige Anpassung der Hypothekenzinsen in allen untersuchten Bankengruppen kann als Hinweis darauf gelten, dass der Wettbewerb im deutschen Bankenmarkt grundsätzlich funktioniert, allerdings je nach Produkt in unterschiedlicher Intensität
The Interest Rate Pass-Through in German Banking Groups
No full textThe pass-through of market rates to retail interest rates is generally found to be particularly slow in Germany compared to other countries. One popular explanation is the organisation of the banking system in three strictly segregated "pillars": savings banks, credit cooperatives and private banks, and the low competitiveness of the first two of them. In this paper we analyse the differences of the interest rate pass-through between these banking groups. We employ a dataset covering (roughly) 30 banks' retail interest rates of four standard banking products (mortgages, consumer credit, savings accounts and time deposits). In a panel ECM we first estimate reference models of the interest pass-through for the four products. In a second step they are augmented by dummies representing the respective banking group. We find remarkable differences in the interest rate pass-thorugh: in general it is the big banks and savings banks reacting significantly quicker to changes in the market than regional banks and credit cooperatives. Hence, in contrast to the "common knowledge" of sluggish reactions of state banks, the savings banks take full part in competition. The credit cooperatives however, smoothing their retail rates, shield their customers from interest rate change risks.Interest rate pass-through, banking groups, panel ECM
Der Zins-Pass-Through deutscher Geschäftsbankengruppen
No full textDer Zins-Pass-Through, also die Geschwindigkeit, mit der Geschäftsbanken einen Geldmarktimpuls an ihre Kunden weitergeben, ist aus zwei Gründen wirtschaftspolitisch relevant. Zum einen ist er eine wichtige Determinante für die Wirksamkeit der Geldpolitik, da er die erste Stufe der geldpolitischen Transmission darstellt. Zum anderen lässt er auf den Wettbewerb auf dem Bankenmarkt schließen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Weitergabe von Zinsimpulsen in theoretischer, institutioneller und empirischer Hinsicht untersucht. Ein besonderes Augenmerk liegt dabei auf der Frage, ob sich Großbanken, Sparkassen, Kreditgenossenschaften und Regionalbanken in ihrer Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit unterscheiden. Dabei werden jeweils die Zinsen von vier Retail-Produkten geprüft. Zunächst wird der theoretische Rahmen der empirischen Messung entwickelt. Flankierend werden die aus der Literatur bekannten Determinanten des Zins-Pass-Through zusammengestellt. An ihnen orientiert werden die vier Institutsgruppen verglichen. Die empirische Analyse erfolgt im Rahmen eines Panel-Fehlerkorrekturmodells. Insgesamt zeigen die Schätzungen, dass Großbanken und Sparkassen fast gleich - und deutlich schneller als Regional- und vor allem Genossenschaftsbanken - auf Geldmarktimpulse reagieren. Erklärt werden kann dies durch institutionelle Unterschiede und die jeweilige Ausrichtung auf Geschäftsfelder und Kundengruppen. Bei den Sparkassen wären jedoch größere Ähnlichkeiten mit den Kreditgenossenschaften als mit den Großbanken zu vermuten gewesen. Die sofortige Anpassung der Hypothekenzinsen in allen untersuchten Bankengruppen kann als Hinweis darauf gelten, dass der Wettbewerb im deutschen Bankenmarkt grundsätzlich funktioniert, allerdings je nach Produkt in unterschiedlicher Intensität
Credit Crunch in Germany?
No full textCredit Crunch in Germany?
This paper evaluates whether the German economy was affected by a credit crunch from 2001 to 2003, i.e. a supply-side restriction of loans that is not in line with market interest rates and profitability of investment projects. With the help of a disequilibrium-model, we calculate a credit supply and a demand-function. We have compared estimated demand with estimated supply, finding evidence for a substantial supply side restriction of the German credit market, particularly since the end of 2002. The main reason for this restriction is the drop in earnings in the banking sector. Applying the model to Großbanken (big banks) and other credit institutions separately shows that the former were more affected than the latter. (JEL C32, E51, G2]1
Credit Crunch in Germany?
No full textThis paper evaluates whether the Germany economy is currently affected by a credit crunch,i.e.a supply-side restriction of loans that is not in line with market interest rates and profitability of investment projects.With help of a disequilibrium-model,we calculate a credit supply and a demand-function.We compare estimated demand with estimated supply,finding a considerable ex- cess-demand particularly in the second half of 2002.The main reason for this restriction is the drop in earnings in the banking sector.Applying the model to Großbanken (big banks)and other credit institutions separately,shows that the situation in the former is more severe than in the latter
Enhanced charge-carrier mobility in ?-phase polyfluorene
No full textAlkyl substituted polyfluorenes are promising candidates for use in organic display applications due to efficient, pure blue (polarized) luminescence, high charge carrier mobility, and good processabilty. Poly(9,9?-dioctylfluorene) (PFO) is an especially interesting polyfluorene derivative, because of its self-organization into distinct supramolecular structures at room temperature. In addition to the amorphous glassy phase, PFO exhibits a unique packing behavior, the so-called ?-phase formation, which leads to a higher degree of organization. We show that the ?-phase is an energetically favorable environment for charge carriers. We look into the migration of charges from glassy polyfluorene to areas where PFO exhibits ?-phase organization and find that the charge carrier mobility is higher in ?-phase polyfluorene than in glassy polyfluorene. Our results illustrate that the order on a supramolecular scale determines the conductive properties of conjugated polymers to a large extent. We conclude that the performance of devices based on polyfluorene can be significantly improved by the enhancement of the supramolecular order.DelftChemTechApplied Science
Trying to make sense of the chaos: Clinical psychologists' experiences and perceptions of clients with borderline personality disorder'
No full textBackground Evidence of negative perceptions of clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) in mental health professionals has been well documented. However, few researchers have focused upon perspectives of clinical psychologists on this client group. The aim of the present research was to explore clinical psychologists' experiences and perceptions of clients with BPD. Method Sixteen female clinical psychologists (including trainees and qualified staff) participated in focus groups, 12 of whom had direct clinical experience with this client group. All four groups' audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, 1996). Results The following eight superordinate themes emerged from the analysis: negative perceptions of the client, undesirable feelings in the psychologist, positive perceptions of the client, desirable feelings in the psychologist, awareness of negativity, trying to make sense of the chaos, working in contrast to the system and improving our role. Discussion Implications include concerns regarding negativity, yet also the suggestion of hope and optimism in working with this client group. Copyright (C) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</p
Microresonators for organic semiconductor and fluidic lasers
No full textThis thesis describes a number of studies of microstructured optical resonators,
designed with the aim of enhancing the performance of organic semiconductor lasers
and exploring potential applications. The methodology involves the micro-engineering
of the photonic environment in order to modify the pathways of the emitted light and
control the feedback mechanism. The research focuses on designing new organic
microstructures using established semi-analytical and numerical methods, developing fabrication techniques using electron-beam lithography, and optically characterising the resulting structures.
Control of the feedback mechanism in conjugated polymer lasers is first investigated by studying Distributed Feedback or photonic crystal resonators based on a square feedback lattice. This study identified the diffraction to free space radiation as a major source of loss in current microstructured resonator designs. By cancelling the coupling to free space through the use of different feedback symmetries and diffraction orders, a threshold reduction by almost an order of magnitude is demonstrated.
The introduction of mid-gap defect photonic states in an otherwise uniformly periodic
structure was studied in Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) resonators. This enabled
GaN diode pumped polymer lasers to be demonstrated, indicating that the transition
from complex excitation sources to more compact systems is possible. Devices for
potential applications in the field of optical communications are also explored by
demonstrating a polymer DBR laser based on silicon. In this way, the potential for
integrating conjugated polymers with silicon photonics is confirmed.
Photonic crystal fibres, which have a periodic microstructure in the transverse
direction, are explored as an alternative means for controlling the optical properties of organic lasers. Fluidic fibre organic lasers were demonstrated as efficient sources with good spectral purity. In these devices, mechanisms to tune the emission wavelength
were explored and the origin of the frequency selection mechanism was investigated.The author received a Wingate Scholarship for the Si experiments
