Transferable E-cash: A Cleaner Model and the First Practical Instantiation

Transferable e-cash is the most faithful digital analog of physical cash, as it allows users to transfer coins between them in isolation, that is, without interacting with a bank or a “ledger”. Appropriate protection of user privacy and, at the same time, providing means to trace fraudulent behavior (double-spending of coins) have made instantiating the concept notoriously hard. Baldimtsi et al. (PKC\u2715) gave a first instantiation, but, as it relies on a powerful cryptographic primitive, the scheme is not practical. We also point out a flaw in their scheme. In this paper we revisit the model for transferable e-cash and propose simpler yet stronger security definitions. We then provide the first concrete construction, based on bilinear groups, give rigorous proofs that it satisfies our model, and analyze its efficiency in detail

UCITS : Past, present and future in a world of increasing product diversity

This Paper will look at the changing nature of asset management, and will examine the nature of the European framework for collective investment undertakings, enshrined in the UCITS Directive2 in that light. This question whether the UCITS Directive in its current form remains an appropriate European response to the changing investment management landscape is an issue with which the European Commission is actively engaging through its Green Paper on the Enhancement of the EU Framework for Investment Funds, published in July 2005.3 But before considering these important questions, it is necessary to begin with an idea of what a collective investment, more specifically a UCITS actually is and how it fits conceptually in the broader world of pooled investments....

TESTING FOR THE PRESENCE OF FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS IN U.S.

It is commonly argued in the literature that agricultural cooperatives are financially constrained because they are unable to acquire sufficient risk capital to invest in productive assets. This study examines whether agricultural cooperatives' investment is constrained by estimating neoclassical and cash flow augmented Q investment models. Panel data regression results suggest that cooperative physical capital investment responds positively and significantly to both the marginal profitability of capital and cash flow. Results also indicate that all cooperative sub-samples face binding financial constraints when making investment decisions, but some cooperatives appear to be less financially constrained than others. The empirical analysis of the cooperative financial constraint hypothesis suggests that eliminating restrictions on residual claims might be a necessary condition for the attenuation of capital constraints in agricultural cooperatives.Agribusiness,

Market versus Non-Market Assignment of Initial Ownership

We study the initial assignment of ownership of a good. When the good is sold at the market-clearing price, wealthy agents may acquire it instead of poor agents who value it more highly, all else equal. Non-market assignment schemes such as random rationing may allocate the good more efficiently than the competitive market would --- if recipients of the good are allowed to resell. Schemes that favor the poor are even more desirable in that context. The ability to resell is critical to the results, but resale induces speculators to participate, so regulation of resale may be beneficial.

The Evolutionary Chain of International Financial Centers

Financial products are unstandardized and subject to a great deal of uncertainty. They tend to concentrate geographically because of the reduction in information costs resulting from close contacts. Concentration leads to economies of scale and encourages external economies. Great financial centers enjoy a high degree of persistence but are not immune from decline and eventual demise. Yet, their achievements are passed along in a an evolutionary manner. In revisiting the historical record of seven international financial centers – Florence, Venice, Genoa, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London and New York — the paper finds evidence of a long evolutionary chain of banking and finance. As to the present and the future, the forces of integration are likely to give an additional boost to the persistence of international financial centers.banking, evolution, finance, money, Genoa, Venice, Florence, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London, New York

Debt Instruments and Eurosystem Eligible Assets - A Revisit

This article explores the possible rationale behind the selection of the specific eligibility criteria in relation to asset-backed securities (ABS).

Optimal Corporate Governance Structures

This paper explores how motivating an incumbent CEO to make investments that improve the effectiveness of the firm organization under his management interacts with the replacement policy of the board of directors. We characterize the optimal compensation package (including severance pay) under governance structures that differ in the power that the incumbent CEO has on the board of directors. We explain why yielding the incumbent CEO some control of the board (entrenchment) can be desirable and offer predictions on when this arrangement is optimal. We also examine the correlation between the elements of his compensation package and the structure of the board.

"Outside" Cooperative Equity: Obligations, Tradeoffs, and Fundamental Cooperative Character

Agribusiness,