Substitution or complementarity between Information "soft" and information "hard": 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, "soft" information, "hard" information, credit decision-making process, bank performance, Bank-SMEs relationship.

Fefferman's mapping theorem on almost complex manifolds

We give a necessary and sufficient condition for the smooth extension of a diffeomorphism between smooth strictly pseudoconvex domains in four real dimensional almost complex manifolds. The proof is mainly based on a reflection principle for pseudoholomorphic discs, on precise estimates of the Kobayashi-Royden infinitesimal pseudometric and on the scaling method in almost complex manifolds

PROMOTING MULTIFUNCTIONALITY WHILE MINIMIZING TRADE DISTORTION EFFECTS: THE RELATIVE MERITS OF TRADITIONAL POLICY INSTRUMENTS

In relation to the growing debate around multifunctionality, this paper attempts to classify alternative measures of agricultural income support according to their ability in achieving three policy objectives (supporting agricultural income, promoting positive externalities and reducing negative ones) as well as to their induced trade distortion effects. Four income support programs are considered: a production-linked payment program, a land-based payment program and two decoupled payment programs. Their effectiveness as regards to the three policy objectives and their relatives induce trade distortion effects are examined on an equal cost/support basis through a conceptual framework that allows for free entry in the sector and the land price to adjust endogenously. Analytical results show clearly that no program uniformly dominates others. They also allow to identify the key parameters that have a substantial bearing on the relative merits of these programs.International Relations/Trade,

Banking Relationships and Syndicated Loans during the 2008 Financial Crisis

International audienceThe research shows that banking relationships are important to lending. However, few studies focus on the banking relationships in syndicated loans, although these loans have became a major source of financing. The last financial crisis clearly shows the impacts of credit rationing and tightening credit conditions, even in the syndicated loans market. We investigate whether banking relationships help firms to benefit from better terms for syndicated loans in a chaotic financial environment. Using a sample of syndicated loans arranged from 2003 to 2008 in North America and Europe, we find that firms with a previously developed relationship with a lead bank obtained a lower spread and a longer maturity during the financial crisis but did not benefit from larger loan facilities

Does a banking relationship help a firm on the syndicated loans market in a time of financial crisis?

The volume of credit granted in the form of syndicated loans saw a marked downturn in 2008. This article seeks to understand how certain firms were nonetheless able to benefit from larger facilities or a lower interest rate than others. Using a sample of syndicated loans issued in 2008 in North America and Europe, and records of syndicated loans since 2003, we show that firms that had developed a relationship with an investment bank obtained a lower spread, but did not benefit from greater loan facilities or longer maturities

Disclosure, banks CDS spreads and the European sovereign crisis

We investigate the impact of banks disclosure on the evolution of their CDS spreads during the European sovereign crisis. The disclosure of information helps investors in building expectations; disclosure may participate into the reduction of the information risk premium and may lead to a decrease of CDS spreads. We analyze the CDS spreads changes following the announcement of sovereign credit rating downgrades. We consider 16 dates in the period 2011-2013 and, for each one, we assess the cumulative abnormal CDS spread change (CASC). We build two disclosure indexes: one general and one specifically dedicated to sovereign exposure. We show that the bank exposure to sovereign risk has a positive impact on the CASC. Disclosure about sovereign exposure has a negative impact on CASC showing that information reduce risk premiums. However, the global disclosure increases the CASC; investors may disapprove the disclosure of too much abundant and broad information

Prevalence and Correlates of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in adults from a French Community Sample

Validated tools are lacking in languages like French to diagnose ADHD in adults. The Adult ADHD symptoms Self-Report (ASRS) was filled out by 1,171 parents of 900 school-aged youths in the context of the Children and Parents with ADHD and Related Disorders study. Prevalence estimates based on three scoring methods are compared (6-item screener, all 18 items, or the screener followed by the 12 remaining items). Based on the recommended and more conservative scoring method, the overall prevalence of ADHD symptoms is estimated to be 2.99%, without significant group differences between genders, or between younger and older adults. Potential correlates of ADHD symptoms were also examined in their relatives (children, brothers/sisters, uncles/aunts, and parents): birth order, level of education, body mass index categories, enuresis, suicide attempts, depression, and learning disabilities. Adults can be screened for ADHD symptoms using the ASRS; negative long-term outcomes should be assessed in patients’ relatives too