Levi-flat filling of real two-spheres in symplectic manifolds (I)

Let (M,J,w) be a manifold with an almost complex structure J tamed by a symplectic form w. We suppose that M has complex dimension two, is Levi convex and has bounded geometry. We prove that a real two-sphere with two elliptic points, embedded into the boundary of M may be foliated by the boundaries of pseudoholomorphic discs.Comment: 18 page

Substitution or complementarity between “soft” information and “hard” information: why and which effect on bank profitability?.

The Basel II committee set up directives encouraging banks to use internal scores in order to assess the risk of their customers. This new form of information competes with the existing ones. SMEs are most concerned by these new stakes, due to the lack of transparency. The aim of this paper is to understand the determinants of the choice between substitution and complementarity between the two types of information: “soft” and “hard”, to test a potential effect of this choice on the banking performance and to describe which variables are involved in the decision-making process. The originality of this work is to try to quantify the information costs and to use it as a variable which is affecting the adopted choice.Basel directives; Bank-SMEs relationship; bank performance; credit decision-making process; “hard” information; “soft” information;

The Complementarity of Regulatory and Internal Governance Mechanisms in Banks.

Decisions taken by the manager of a bank are subject to the regulatory discipline of the Basel Committee in conjunction with the supervisory discipline of the Board of Directors, a body that represents shareholders. This research demonstrates that the two types of discipline act in complement to each other, whereas the extant literature shows that regulatory discipline is replacing the internal discipline exercised by the Board of Directors. We also show that these internal and external governance mechanisms are relevant to explain the simultaneous influences between financial performance, risk-taking and the capitalization of French banks from 1998 to 2004.Bank governance; financial performance; capital adequacy; risk-taking; banking regulation;

Substitution or complementarity between “soft” information and "hard" information : why and which effect on bank profitability ?.

The Basel II committee set up directives encouraging banks to use internal scores in order to assess the risk of their customers. This new form of information competes with the existing ones. SMEs are most concerned by these new stakes, due to the lack of transparency. The aim of this paper is to understand the determinants of the choice between substitution and complementarity between the two types of information: “soft” and “hard”, to test a potential effect of this choice on the banking performance and to describe which variables are involved in the decision-making process. The originality of this work is to try to quantify the information costs and to use it as a variable which is affecting the adopted choice.Basel directives; Bank-SMEs relationship; bank performance; credit decision-making process; “hard” information; “soft” information;

Plateformes et évolution du système bancaire

The US bank Citigroup1 maintains that the bank of the future will be a platform and is actively preparing for this eventuality. The most striking example of this change of tack is CitiDirectBE, which aims to provide a number of services to Citigroup’s institutional clients, including online treasury and trade services. Citigroup is not the only banking group to view its future in this way, but not all are moving at the same pace. ING intends becoming “the Spotify of banking”, by speeding up its technological transition and emphasizing its flexibility and adaptability and its experience of digital banking. French banks too are making headway and have recently increased their advertising and investment in digital banking. The challenge is to be present “anytime anywhere” and to be able to respond individually to every customer. These examples, while symbolically interesting, underline the need to define a platform in economics before we can consider what a banking platform might be. Taking advantage of smartphone use to add a new distribution channel is only a partial approach and does not amount to creating a platform, at least not in terms of economic theory and managerial practices. Rather than talking about the “uberization” of banking, which is reductive and somewhat off topic, it is rather a question of addressing the “platformization” of banking and its possible effect on the entire value chain and in particular on the management of payment methods.It is essential first of all to define and present the idea of a platform in economics. This notion is quite recent and draws on two theoretical currents: first, the theory of networks in economics and, second, the two-sided market approach in industrial economics. The first is concerned with the process of economic intermediation between producers and users of a good or a service. It focuses on regulation as well as the problems of optimizing the externalities produced by these networks and their capacity to attract suppliers and demanders. The two-sided markets approach focuses more specifically on the structure of these markets and pricing on each side of the market.A platform therefore has a much broader meaning than that used by Citigroup or ING. Once organizations adopt a platform, it implies a profound change in the structure of their markets and governance. An organization that decides to develop one of its activities in the form of a platform would be making a basic strategic mistake if it were to view it simply as the diversification of its distribution channels. The fact that customers can contact their bank via smartphone as well as by computer or through the relationship with their bank branch does not constitute a platform positioning. Similarly, the mushrooming of fintech in recent years should not be analysed in terms of the creation of new products or distribution channels. Rather, it points to the emergence of platforms that call into question the use of money, through new means of payment, and more generally of banking and financial services for which technical expectations are moderate. Indeed, we will see that banking businesses such as investment and finance, which are more complex, involve a relationship that it is difficult to reduce simply to digital contact. The behaviour of private individuals in their relationship with a commercial bank is different to that of multinationals using the sophisticated services of an investment bank.Dans une période de digitalisation de l'ensemble de l'activité économique, il est intéressant de s’interroger sur le niveau de transformation que les services bancaires et financiers vont subir suite à ce phénomène. On constate en effet, depuis une dizaine d’années, une modification profonde de la manière qu'ont les gens de consommer de la musique ou de la vidéo, d'échanger des photos, de louer une voiture ou un appartement. On n’achète plus de disques ou de DVD, on consomme de la musique ou des films. L’usage prend le pas progressivement sur la propriété, quel que soit le bien considéré. Ce phénomène ne touche pas uniquement les biens ou services dont la valeur est modique. Il concerne également les biens pour lesquels la propriété a longtemps été un facteur d’affichage de réussite sociale ou de constitution de patrimoine constitué afin de réduire les aléas de la vie ou pour transmettre aux générations à venir, comme l’automobile ou les biens immobiliers. Si tous les services et les biens semblent affectés par ce phénomène, qu'en est-il de l’argent, un bien très particulier, et de l’activité de paiement si intimement liée ?La gestion de la monnaie a longtemps été considérée comme un “service financier” fondamental. La monnaie devait être un bien réel, désiré et au coût de production connu. La lente disparition de la monnaie physique n'a pu s’opérer que parallèlement à un accroissement de la confiance que les individus portent aux banques. La confiance en la matière s'est transférée en une confiance en l’institution. Il apparaît aujourd'hui clairement que la composante physique de la monnaie disparaît, du fait notamment de la généralisation du paiement électronique et des smartphones comme outil permettant l’échange économique et le paiement et de l’apparition de nouveaux acteurs non bancaires permis par une régulation évoluant rapidement.Les comportements des individus face à la digitalisation de l’argent peuvent être plus aisément compris à partir de l’approche de Kahneman (2012). Ce dernier sépare le mécanisme cognitif en deux systèmes, le premier adapté aux prises de décisions rapides et simples, le second mieux à même de traiter des problèmes complexes avec des conséquences de plus long terme. Cette approche des comportements face à l’argent est d’autant plus pertinente depuis l’émergence des smartphones dans la vie quotidienne, notamment lors de transactions économiques et financières. Cette évolution des comportements suppose de tenir compte également des différences générationnelles et géographiques des individus.Une part croissante des échanges économiques implique que ces derniers soient portés à la connaissance d'une communauté. L'échange est alors partagé avec d'autres membres de la communauté et éloigne encore plus cette utilisation de l'argent d'une utilisation plus personnelle pour laquelle la technicité mais également la discrétion sont de rigueur. On constate ici une nouvelle illustration de la dichotomie entre l'argent immédiat lié à l’usage et l'argent objet pour lequel d'autres processus cognitifs sont à l’œuvre

Les privatisations.

Les privatisations sont un phénomène maintenant ancien mais dont la nature a fortement évolué ces dix dernières années. Parallèlement à ce mouvement observé depuis la fin des années quatre-vingt-dix, les recherches se focalisent sur les privatisations des pays émergents et (ou) sortant d'une èconomie planifiée et centralisée. Les privatisations menées actuellement dans les pays de l'OCDE concernent des entreprises agissant sur des secteurs réglementés, souvent en position de monopole, et suscitent une littérature plutôt axée sur les problèmes de recherche d'une réglementation optimale que nous n'aborderons pas ici.Privatization is an old phenomenon but with important changes for the ten last years. According to the movement observed in practice, since the end of the nineties, researches are focused on privatizations in emergent countries and (or) outgoing of a planned and centralized economy. Privatizations currently carried out in the OECD countries relate to companies acting on regulated sectors, often in position of monopoly, and cause a literature centered on the problems of the search for an optimal regulation which we will not approach here.privatisation; pays émergents; réforme économique; économie politique; réorganisation des entreprises; privatization; economic reform; economic policy; corporate reorganizations;