Search results for "General Business"

International evidence on alternative models of the term structure of volatilities

2009

The term structure of instantaneous volatilities (TSV) of forward rates for different monetary areas (euro, U.S. dollar and British pound) is examined using daily data from at-the-money cap markets. During the sample period (two and a half years), the TSV experienced severe changes both in level and shape. Two new functional forms of the instantaneous volatility of forward rates are proposed and tested within the LIBOR Market Model framework. Two other alternatives are calibrated and used as benchmarks to test the accuracy of the new models. The two new models provide more flexibility to adequately calibrate the observed cap prices, although this improved accuracy in replicating cap prices …

Rolling over stock index futures contracts

2009

Derivative contracts have a finite life limited by their maturity. The construction of continuous series, however, is crucial for academic and trading purposes. In this study, we analyze the relevance of the choice of the rollover date, defined as the point in time when we switch from the front contract series to the next one. We have used five different methodologies in order to construct five different return series of stock index futures contracts. The results show that, regardless of the criterion applied, there are not significant differences between the resultant series. Therefore, the least complex method can be used in order to reach the same conclusions. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, I…

Peter Zweifel's Bonus Options in Health Insurance

1993

Asymmetric covariance in spot-futures markets

2003

This article studies how the spot-futures conditional covariance matrix responds to positive and negative innovations. The main results of the article are achieved by obtaining the Volatility Impulse Response Function (VIRF) for asymmetric multivariate GARCH structures, extending Lin (1997) findings for symmetric GARCH models. This theoretical result is general and can be applied to analyze covariance dynamics in any financial system. After testing how multivariate GARCH models clean up volatility asymmetries, the Asymmetric VIRF is computed for the Spanish stock index IBEX-35 and its futures contract. The empirical results indicate that the spot-futures variance system is more sensitive to…

Efectos de las fusiones bancarias en los resultados. El caso de las cajas rurales en España durante la primera mitad de la década de 2000

2010

ResumenDurante los últimos diez años se han producido numerosos episodios de fusiones entre cajas rurales españolas. El objetivo del trabajo es analizar el efecto que las fusiones entre cajas rurales llevadas a cabo durante la primera mitad de la década del 2000 han tenido sobre los niveles de rentabilidad, eficiencia y productividad y sobre el comportamiento estratégico de estas entidades. Para ello, se han seleccionado las fusiones realizadas durante el período considerado y se han analizado diferentes variables en comparación con la media del sector (grupo de control) para los cinco años anteriores y posteriores a la fusión. El estudio demuestra que las fusiones en las cajas rurales espa…

Outside‐in Politicization of EU–Western Africa Relations: What Role for Civil Society Organizations?

2021

This article explores the empirical relevance of researching outside-in politicization processes in European studies. To this end, it examines to what extent and how civil society organizations (CSOs) have contributed to the politicization of EU policies towards Western Africa in two cases: the negotiation of Economic Partnership Agreements and the EU's engagement with the G5 Sahel. CSOs were strongly engaged in the trade negotiations, while they were largely excluded from the G5 Sahel process. In both cases this was due to CSOs' own initiatives, or the absence thereof, with these strongly linked to being either invited or discouraged by official actors. The article argues that authority tr…

Ambidexterity in micro and small firms: Can competitive intelligence compensate for size constraints?

2021

Ambidexterity has been linked to firm structures that are typical of organizations with a larger size. However, further research is needed to analyze whether the effect of firm size on ambidexterity is contingent on other aspects. We argue that micro and small firms that have developed some competitive intelligence routines (CIRs) may foster ambidextrous behavior and compensate for the limitations arising from a smaller size and lack of resources. We test our proposal on a sample of 200 firms in the furniture sector. Our results show that CIRs compensate for size constraints in that size is no longer a relevant variable to increase ambidextrous behavior in firms that achieve higher levels i…

From custom to law, an economic rationale behind the black lettering

2018

This article employs the number of rule recipients in order to explain the transformation of some customs into laws. The publication of rules may mark the reaching of the threshold number beyond which the spontaneous rule leaves room for the State intervention. In addition, the publication resolves a couple of questions that Hayek left unresolved. Examples are provided from ancient merchant customs and contemporary international law.

Leadership Manipulation and Ethics in Storytelling

2012

This article focuses on exerting influence in leadership, namely manipulation in storytelling. Manipulation is usually considered an unethical approach to leadership. We will argue that manipulation is a more complex phenomenon than just an unethical way of acting in leadership. We will demonstrate through an empirical qualitative study that there are various types of manipulation through storytelling. This article makes a contribution to the literature on manipulation through leadership storytelling, offering a more systematic empirical analysis and a more nuanced view of the topic than previously existed by outlining how managers engage in manipulative storytelling and what kind of ethics…

Researching European Union Agencies: What Have We Learnt (and Where Do We Go from Here)?

2017

This review article, with a clear political science and public administration bias, takes stock of the existing literature on EU agencies and suggests a future research agenda. The article reviews studies on EU agencies' organization, tasks, proliferation and location in the political-administrative space. Whether the advent of EU agencies tends to underpin a basically intergovernmental, transnational or supranational order has potentially huge consequences for the distribution of power across levels of government, for the degree of policy uniformity and pooling of administrative resources across countries, for the role of genuinely European perspectives in the policy process, and for accou…