The Paris financial market in the 19th century: an efficient multi-polar organization?

The literature in financial history usually considers London as the only centre of the late 19th century's financial globalization, and explains it at least in part by the efficient microstructure (organization) of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The LSE is characterized as having been a little regulated market, where entry was easy both for traders and issuers [Michie (1998), Neal (2004), White (2006)]. The LSE microstructure is also considered as the natural and optimal one by much of the theoretical literature on stock markets, which argues that free entry decreases transaction costs and increases both liquidity and diversification, resulting in economies of scale attracting traders, issuers and buyers. Our paper tries to explain why the Paris Bourse was able to be so successful in spite of the supposedly inefficient monopoly and regulations that the State imposed it. We focus on the fact that the Paris market actually included several different market places: the Parquet (the official Bourse, organized by the agents de change), the Coulisse, the Marché libre, and inter-bank direct operations. We argue that this multi-polar organization, was efficient, relying on the specialization it allowed, and the complementarities it helped develop among markets. We incorporate in the discussion the recent theoretical literature that shows that no single market can satisfy the heterogeneous preferences of all issuers and investors, so that a multi-polar organization can be a superior solution. We demonstrate our claim by looking not only at the rules but also at the actual functioning of the Parquet thanks to its archives which we recently classified. These archives also allow us to build new statistical series which permit evaluating the performances of the Parquet during the 19th century: volumes traded, seat prices, transaction costs, and operational risks. If one supposes that the Parquet was the least efficient segment of the Parisian market, this will provide us with a lower bound for the global efficiency of that market, which should be compared with other markets on similar concrete grounds.Paris Stock exchange ; microstructure ; monopoly ; regulation

How to regulate a financial market? The impact of the 1893-1898 regulatory reforms on the Paris Bourse

Theoretical and historical experience suggests a financial centre may either include a single, consolidated and loosely regulated stock exchange attracting all intermediaries and actors, or a variety of exchanges going from strictly regulated to completely unregulated and adapted to the needs of different categories of intermediaries, investors and issuers. Choosing between these two solutions is uneasy because few substantial changes occur at this "meta-regulatory" level. The history of the Paris exchanges provides a good example, since two legal changes in opposite directions occurred in the late 19th century, when Paris was the second financial centre in the world. In 1893, a law threatened the existing two-exchanges equilibrium by diminishing the advantages of the more regulated exchange; in 1898, another law brought them back. We analyse the impact of these two changes on the competition between the exchanges in terms of securities listed, traded volumes and spreads. We conclude competition among exchanges is a delicate matter and efficiency is not always where one would think.Paris stock exchange ; microstructure ; monopoly ; regulation

The Paris financial market in the 19th century: an efficient multi-polar organization?

The literature in financial history usually considers London as the only centre of the late 19th century's financial globalization, and explains it at least in part by the efficient microstructure (organization) of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The LSE is characterized as having been a little regulated market, where entry was easy both for traders and issuers [Michie (1998), Neal (2004), White (2006)]. The LSE microstructure is also considered as the natural and optimal one by much of the theoretical literature on stock markets, which argues that free entry decreases transaction costs and increases both liquidity and diversification, resulting in economies of scale attracting traders, issuers and buyers. Our paper tries to explain why the Paris Bourse was able to be so successful in spite of the supposedly inefficient monopoly and regulations that the State imposed it. We focus on the fact that the Paris market actually included several different market places: the Parquet (the official Bourse, organized by the agents de change), the Coulisse, the Marché libre, and inter-bank direct operations. We argue that this multi-polar organization, was efficient, relying on the specialization it allowed, and the complementarities it helped develop among markets. We incorporate in the discussion the recent theoretical literature that shows that no single market can satisfy the heterogeneous preferences of all issuers and investors, so that a multi-polar organization can be a superior solution. We demonstrate our claim by looking not only at the rules but also at the actual functioning of the Parquet thanks to its archives which we recently classified. These archives also allow us to build new statistical series which permit evaluating the performances of the Parquet during the 19th century: volumes traded, seat prices, transaction costs, and operational risks. If one supposes that the Parquet was the least efficient segment of the Parisian market, this will provide us with a lower bound for the global efficiency of that market, which should be compared with other markets on similar concrete grounds.L'histoire financière explique souvent le succès de Londres comme marché financier dominant au 19ème siècle par les microstructures efficaces de la Bourse de Londres (LSE). Le LSE se caractérise en particulier par une faible régulation, l'entrée libre des opérateurs, ce qui permettrait de réduire les coûts de transaction, d'accroître la liquidité et la diversification, attirant à la fois émetteurs et investisseurs. Nous montrons que les microstructures londoniennes ne sont pas nécessairement optimales et que des microstructures très différentes ont permis le succès de la Bourse de Paris, loin de l'idée reçue selon laquelle cette place aurait été victime d'un interventionnisme inefficace ou d'un monopole hostile à toute innovation. Nous étudions en détail l'organisation du Parquet parisien et ses complémentarités avec la Coulisse, le marché libre et les opérations des banques. Nous montrons qu'une telle organisation multi-polaire était efficace car elle permettait une spécialisation des agents (aussi bien intermédiaires qu'émetteurs et investisseurs) et des complémentarités qui permettaient au marché de joindre développement et stabilité. Grâce à l'usage des archives de la Bourse de Paris, nous pouvons construire des données sur les volumes échangés, les prix des charges, les coûts de transaction et les risques qui permettront à ce débat de prendre un tour plus empirique que jusqu'à présent

Phenotypic and genotypic data integration and exploration through a web-service architecture

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Linking genotypic and phenotypic information is one of the greatest challenges of current genetics research. The definition of an Information Technology infrastructure to support this kind of studies, and in particular studies aimed at the analysis of complex traits, which require the definition of multifaceted phenotypes and the integration genotypic information to discover the most prevalent diseases, is a paradigmatic goal of Biomedical Informatics. This paper describes the use of Information Technology methods and tools to develop a system for the management, inspection and integration of phenotypic and genotypic data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present the design and architecture of the Phenotype Miner, a software system able to flexibly manage phenotypic information, and its extended functionalities to retrieve genotype information from external repositories and to relate it to phenotypic data. For this purpose we developed a module to allow customized data upload by the user and a SOAP-based communications layer to retrieve data from existing biomedical knowledge management tools. In this paper we also demonstrate the system functionality by an example application of the system in which we analyze two related genomic datasets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this paper we show how a comprehensive, integrated and automated workbench for genotype and phenotype integration can facilitate and improve the hypothesis generation process underlying modern genetic studies.</p

Danger on the Exchange: How Counterparty Risk Was Managed on the Paris Bourse in the Nineteenth Century

Over the course of the nineteenth century, the struggles of Paris Bourse to manage counterparty risk revealed the awkward choices that face derivatives exchanges. Shortly after it was founded, the stock exchange, primarily a forward market, instituted a mutual guarantee fund to prevent broker failures from snowballing into a general liquidity crisis. The creation of the fund then forced the Bourse to search for mechanisms to control moral hazard. To study the determinants of broker failures, we collected new individual data on defaulting brokers and describe the evolving regulatory regime. To identify the factors behind the annual number of broker failures we use negative binominal regressions. To explain individual brokers’ duration in office, we employ a proportional hazard model, while logit regressions examine the causes of individual broker failures. In addition to declines in asset prices and trading volume, the moral hazard from the mutual guarantee fund contributed to brokers’ defaulting on their obligations. The Bourse faced a conundrum; when it finally imposed a tight regulatory regime that limited risk, trading began to migrate off the exchange to less regulated markets.

How to regulate a financial market? The impact of the 1893-1898 regulatory reforms on the Paris Bourse

Theoretical and historical experience suggests a financial centre may either include a single, consolidated and loosely regulated stock exchange attracting all intermediaries and actors, or a variety of exchanges going from strictly regulated to completely unregulated and adapted to the needs of different categories of intermediaries, investors and issuers. Choosing between these two solutions is uneasy because few substantial changes occur at this "meta-regulatory" level. The history of the Paris exchanges provides a good example, since two legal changes in opposite directions occurred in the late 19th century, when Paris was the second financial centre in the world. In 1893, a law threatened the existing two-exchanges equilibrium by diminishing the advantages of the more regulated exchange; in 1898, another law brought them back. We analyse the impact of these two changes on the competition between the exchanges in terms of securities listed, traded volumes and spreads. We conclude competition among exchanges is a delicate matter and efficiency is not always where one would think.Des considérations historiques et théoriques suggèrent qu'une place financière peut s'organiser autour soit d'un marché boursier peu réglementé dont le monopole résulte d'une attraction forte sur tous les intermédiaires, les émetteurs et les investisseurs, soit d'une pluralité de marchés en concurrence par leur niveau de réglementation et par la diversité des services qu'ils proposent, attirant des investisseurs, des émetteurs et des intermédiaires aux préférences différentes. Le choix entre ces deux solutions (unipolaire ou multipolaire) n'est pas facile dans la mesure où peu de changements ont lieu au niveau de cette "méta-organisation. L'histoire de la place de Paris fournit un exemple intéressant dans la mesure où, à la fin du 19e siècle, deux changements réglementaires ont fortement affecté la concurrence entre les différentes bourses : en 1893, une loi menaça l'équilibre existant en restreignant les avantages du marché officiel plus contrôlé, tandis qu'en 1898 une autre le rendit dominant. Nous étudions l'impact de ces lois sur les cotations, les volumes échangés et les spreads observables sur les deux principales bourses de la place. Nous montrons qu'une concurrence efficace entre bourse exige une réglementation délicate à mettre en place

An automated reasoning framework for translational research

AbstractIn this paper we propose a novel approach to the design and implementation of knowledge-based decision support systems for translational research, specifically tailored to the analysis and interpretation of data from high-throughput experiments. Our approach is based on a general epistemological model of the scientific discovery process that provides a well-founded framework for integrating experimental data with preexisting knowledge and with automated inference tools.In order to demonstrate the usefulness and power of the proposed framework, we present its application to Genome-Wide Association Studies, and we use it to reproduce a portion of the initial analysis performed on the well-known WTCCC dataset. Finally, we describe a computational system we are developing, aimed at assisting translational research. The system, based on the proposed model, will be able to automatically plan and perform knowledge discovery steps, to keep track of the inferences performed, and to explain the obtained results

The 3' untranslated region of human Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 Regulatory subunit 1 contains regulatory elements affecting transcript stability

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>CDK5R1 </it>plays a central role in neuronal migration and differentiation during central nervous system development. <it>CDK5R1 </it>has been implicated in neurodegenerative disorders and proposed as a candidate gene for mental retardation. The remarkable size of <it>CDK5R1 </it>3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) suggests a role in post-transcriptional regulation of <it>CDK5R1 </it>expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The bioinformatic study shows a high conservation degree in mammals and predicts several AU-Rich Elements (AREs). The insertion of <it>CDK5R1 </it>3'-UTR into luciferase 3'-UTR causes a decreased luciferase activity in four transfected cell lines. We identified 3'-UTR subregions which tend to reduce the reporter gene expression, sometimes in a cell line-dependent manner. In most cases the quantitative analysis of luciferase mRNA suggests that CDK5R1 3'-UTR affects mRNA stability. A region, leading to a very strong mRNA destabilization, showed a significantly low half-life, indicating an accelerated mRNA degradation. The 3' end of the transcript, containing a class I ARE, specifically displays a stabilizing effect in neuroblastoma cell lines. We also observed the interaction of the stabilizing neuronal RNA-binding proteins ELAV with the CDK5R1 transcript in SH-SY5Y cells and identified three 3'-UTR sub-regions showing affinity for ELAV proteins.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings evince the presence of both destabilizing and stabilizing regulatory elements in <it>CDK5R1 </it>3'-UTR and support the hypothesis that <it>CDK5R1 </it>gene expression is post-transcriptionally controlled in neurons by ELAV-mediated mechanisms. This is the first evidence of the involvement of 3'-UTR in the modulation of <it>CDK5R1 </it>expression. The fine tuning of <it>CDK5R1 </it>expression by 3'-UTR may have a role in central nervous system development and functioning, with potential implications in neurodegenerative and cognitive disorders.</p

Autonomous Observations in Antarctica with AMICA

The Antarctic Multiband Infrared Camera (AMICA) is a double channel camera operating in the 2-28 micron infrared domain (KLMNQ bands) that will allow to characterize and exploit the exceptional advantages for Astronomy, expected from Dome C in Antarctica. The development of the camera control system is at its final stage. After the investigation of appropriate solutions against the critical environment, a reliable instrumentation has been developed. It is currently being integrated and tested to ensure the correct execution of automatic operations. Once it will be mounted on the International Robotic Antarctic Infrared Telescope (IRAIT), AMICA and its equipment will contribute to the accomplishment of a fully autonomous observatory.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, Advances in Astronomy Journal, Special Issue "Robotic Astronomy", Accepted 11 February 201