Search results for "Finance"
showing 10 items of 4676 documents
Finding socially responsible portfolios close to conventional ones
2015
Abstract An increasing number of investors are interested in sustainable, responsible and impact investment (SRI). However, there is a concern about the possible financial sacrifice associated to this kind of investments. The design of Decision Support Systems assisting socially responsible investors in their investment decisions can contribute to stimulate SRI. In this paper the financial content of a portfolio selection model is discussed in order to justify that it can be integrated into a Decision Support System designed for investors interested in socially responsible investment but initially reluctant to pay a financial cost in exchange for increasing the social responsibility of thei…
Deregulation, liberalization and consolidation of the Mexican banking system: Effects on competition
2011
Este articulo analiza la evolucion de la competencia en el sistema bancario Mexicano en el periodo 1993-2005, periodo de desregulacion, liberalizacion y consolidacion del sector. Para ello se utilizan dos medidas de competencia derivadas de la teoria de la Organizacion Industrial: el indice de Lerner y el estadistico H de Panzar y Rosse. La evidencia empirica no permite rechazar la existencia de competencia monopolistica. El indice de Lerner muestra una disminucion en la rivalidad competitiva en el mercado de los depositos y un incremento en el mercado de los prestamos, observandose una estrategia de subsidiacion cruzada entre ambos mercados. Los resultados obtenidos cuestionan la efectivid…
Producer Services and the Current Account
2022
Abstract In this paper, we present evidence that countries which experienced a larger expansion of services as a share of GDP in recent years exhibited lower current account balances. We argue that this relationship is compatible with the notion that producer services raise aggregate productivity by enhancing increasing returns to specialization, and we develop a model in which the deregulation of the services industry results in higher GDP growth, a reallocation of resources into the services industry, and a temporary current account deficit. We demonstrate that our theoretical argument is supported by the data, even if we control for a multitude of other factors that potentially affect th…
Is external debt sustainable? A probabilistic approach
2020
Abstract We develop a probabilistic approach to measure a country's external debt sustainability. Using data on international investment position and balance of payments from the International Monetary Fund, we estimate a vector autoregressive model for 38 countries (11 developed and 27 developing). Using the estimated parameters, we perform a Monte Carlo simulation to compute the distribution of the capacity to repay for each country. A large portion of the projected distribution to the right of current debt is a warning indicator, signalling the need for devaluation. We provide simulations for each country. One scenario is where the discount factor is lower than 1. According to the litera…
The effect of round-off error on long memory processes
2011
We study how the round-off (or discretization) error changes the statistical properties of a Gaussian long memory process. We show that the autocovariance and the spectral density of the discretized process are asymptotically rescaled by a factor smaller than one, and we compute exactly this scaling factor. Consequently, we find that the discretized process is also long memory with the same Hurst exponent as the original process. We consider the properties of two estimators of the Hurst exponent, namely the local Whittle (LW) estimator and the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA). By using analytical considerations and numerical simulations we show that, in presence of round-off error, both…
Rank response functions in an online learning environment
2021
Abstract We estimate rank response functions after receiving rank-order feedback in an online learning platform. We find that the shapes of the rank response functions depend on the outcome measure under consideration. For our effort measure, i.e., whether learners continue to interact with the platform, we can reject a linear rank response function and find significant evidence of a U-shaped relationship. For our performance measure, i.e., correctly solved exercises, we find no clear pattern overall but suggestive evidence for a linearly decreasing rank response function for individuals in the lower half of the ability distribution, i.e., the lower the rank the lower the performance.
Tax Evasion and Tax Progressivity
2003
In a pure tax evasion framework in which the monetary penalty is a function of the evaded tax, more progressive income taxes will reduce tax evasion if income has to be declared. However, if tax payments have to be declared, higher tax progressivity will have no effects. Thus, the relationship between tax evasion and tax progressivity depends on whether income or taxes have to be divulged to tax authorities. If the fine is a function of undeclared income, higher tax progressivity will always raise evasion.
Tax evasion, tax progression, and efficiency wages
2004
Abstract More progressive taxes raise employment in imperfect labour markets. However, this prediction is not robust. For example, any employment effect vanishes in a constant profit efficiency wage economy. It is demonstrated that tax evasion opportunities can re-establish positive employment effects of higher tax progression.
Forecasting industry sector default rates through dynamic factor models
2008
In this paper we use a reduced-form model for the analysis of portfolio credit risk. For this purpose, we fit a dynamic factor model to a large data set of default rate proxies and macro-variables for Italy. Multiple step ahead density and probability forecasts are obtained by employing both the direct and indirect methods of prediction together with stochastic simulation of the dynamic factor model. We first find that the direct method is the best performer regarding the out-of-sample projection of financial distressful events. In a second stage of the analysis, we find that reducedform portfolio credit risk measures obtained through the dynamic factor model are lower than those correspond…
Expanding education through user charges : what can be achieved in Malawi and other LDCs ?
1986
International audience; Two features mark the education sector in many LDCs today: first, education is publicly provided; and second. governments are faced with severe financial constraints. As a result, enrollmrnts are confined to low Ievels, and there is excess demand. To mitigate these adverse outcomes, we consider user charges as a means to mobilize additional resources for education. Under the circumstances that characterize most LDCs. we show that (i) families are willing to pay for education: (ii) the resources collected through user charges could finance a sizable expansion of education; and (iii) scholarships can offset the equity effects of user charges.