1,721,144 research outputs found

    Financial Intermediation, Competition, and Risk: A General Equilibrium Exposition

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    We study a simple general equilibrium model in which investment in a risky technology is subject to moral hazard and banks can extract market power rents. We show that more bank competition results in lower economy-wide risk, lower bank capital ratios, more efficient production plans and Pareto-ranked real allocations. Perfect competition supports a second best allocation and optimal levels of bank risk and capitalization. These results are at variance with those obtained by a large literature that has studied a similar environment in partial equilibrium. Importantly, they are empirically relevant, and demonstrate the need of general equilibrium modeling to design financial policies aimed at attaining socially optimal levels of systemic risk in the economy

    Systemic Real and Financial Risks: Measurement, Forecasting, and Stress Testing

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    Building on De Nicolò and Lucchetta (2010), this paper presents a novel modeling framework that delivers: (a) forecasts of indicators of systemic real risk and systemic financial risk based on density forecasts of indicators of real activity and financial health; (b) reduced-form stress tests as historical simulations; and (c) structural stress-tests as impulse responses of systemic risk indicators to structural shocks identified by standard macroeconomic and banking theory. This framework is implemented using large sets of quarterly time series of the G-7 economies in 1980Q1-2010Q2. We show that the model exhibits significant out-of sample forecasting power for tail real and financial risk realizations in each country. Furthermore, reduced-form stress tests, as well as structural stress tests in which aggregate demand shocks and bank credit demand shocks are identified as the main drivers of cycles in real activity and bank lending, provide significant early warnings on the build-up of real and financial vulnerabilities

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Description of Study Population and Analysis of Factors Influencing Adherence in the Observational Italian Study "Evaluation of Pharmacotherapy Adherence in Bipolar Disorder" (EPHAR)

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    Background: In patients with bipolar disorder, medication is effective in preventing relapses. Unfortunately, adherence to treatment in bipolar disorder, as in other chronic or recurrent conditions, is not optimal. Estimates of nonadherence to prescribed treatment range from 30% to 60% in epidemiological studies, and are at around 30% in clinical trials. Adherence to treatment is a potent predictor of effectiveness, both in clinical trials and cohort studies, therefore is a very relevant area of investigation. This study will try to show a picture of the real life care where adherence is influenced by a wide range of variables. Methods: Prospective, observational, multicenter study in 650 adult patients with bipolar disorder, who had to initiate or change their treatment regimen, observed for 1 year. Adherence was measured by the Simplified Medication Adherence Questionnaire (SMAQ). Additional variables: Symptom severity, Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Clinical Global Impression-Bipolar Disorder (CGI-BD), the Drug Attitude Inventory score (DAI-30), and quality of life (EuroQoL 5 Dimensions). The variables were recorded every 3 months for the next year. Results: Most subjects were out-patients (77.1%), female (58.8%), aged 31-50 years (50.1%) and overweight (41.8%) or obese (28.7%); 67.4% had type I bipolar disorder and 66.8% had depressive or mixed symptoms. Adherence was 39.9% at baseline (and increased up to 67.0% at completion. The main predictors of nonadherence were alcohol consumption, severe bipolar symptoms, young age at time of first treatment, negative attitude towards treatment. Conclusions: The patient population of this observational trial was representative of the patients changing their therapy for bipolar disorder seen in clinical practice in Italy. Lack of adherence to pharmacotherapy for bipolar disorder is a serious issue, which is more likely to arise in alcohol users and patients with severe symptoms, negative attitude towards medication and/or initiation of treatment early in life. The findings could lead to a more adequate approach of adherence in patients with bipolar disorders. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

    Gender diversity and online intellectual capital disclosure: Evidence from Italian-listed firms

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    The present research investigates the impact that certain gender diversity attributes exert on online intellectual capital (IC) disclosure in the context of Italian-listed firms where regulations promoted gender balance in the governing bodies. The websites of a sample of 123 Italian listed companies are content-analyzed to retrieve the level of voluntary IC disclosure (ICD). Drawing on Agency and Resource Dependence theory perspectives, an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model, is estimated to test the association between online ICD and different gender diversity measures, specifically: the proportion of women on boards and the presence of female Chairpersons and female CEOs. The content analysis results show that listed companies in Italy make extensive disclosure of IC on their websites. The results based on the regression analysis confirm that women's presence on boards is conducive to higher voluntary ICD. The analysis also demonstrates that Italian-listed firms tend to convey more voluntary information on IC resources when a woman is appointed as a CEO. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that provides a snapshot of the potential association between gender diversity—in terms of both the proportion of women on the boards and the presence of women in top executive positions—and the level of web-based ICD
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