Governance and banking system morphology in China: the evolution over the last two decades (1995-2015)

Over the past two decades in the Chinese banking system substantial progress has been made, and reforms have been mainly aimed at improving its governance and efficiency, but many governance problems still exist and hinder a complete transition to a market economy. Through the analysis of the economic freedom and the global governance indicators, in the context of a comparative analysis with European and North American countries, this paper shows that, despite a considerable economic growth, economic and financial reforms, Chinese governance variables are likely to have a second order effect in comparison with fundamental economic variables in favouring (or not) Chinese growth. However the high rate of growth, over the years of the financial turmoil as well, may have paradoxically prevented the improvement of governance indexes, meanwhile financial sector and global governance issues will have to be improved in order to promote efficient financial intermediation and sustainable growth in China

Money Market Funds, Shadow Banking and Systemic Risk in United Kingdom

Shadow banking entities have been repeatedly charged with the breaking up of the recent financial crises. This paper examines the contribution of the money market funds, an important part of the shadow banking entities, to the systemic risk in United Kingdom by using the CoVaR methodology (Adrian and Brunnermeier, 2016). Using a sample of 143 money market funds, continuously listed between 2005Q4 and 2013Q4, we investigate the impact of institutional corporate variables on the systemic risk. Our results show that liquidity mismatch increases the average systemic risk over the whole period, but decreases the risk during the Great Financial Depression

The Effect of the Adoption of an Alternative Corporate Governance System on Firms’ Performances. The Case of Italian Unlisted SMEs.

Purpose – Alternative corporate governance systems (CGSs) have attracted a significant bulk of research recently. While the connection between the adoption of an alternative system (one tier board or two tier board system) and firms’ performances has not been fully analysed yet, the purpose of this paper is to analyse whether companies which have turned into an alternative board system have eventually improved their performance over time. Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of more than 15,000 Italian unlisted joint stock companies, the authors compare performance outcomes in 2009 of firms adopting alternative systems with performances of firms that maintained the system in force before the 2003 Corporate Law Reform (defined as “traditional”). Because of the choice of an alternative system (one tier or two tier board) instead of a traditional one is not random, the authors reduce selection bias implementing matching methods and comparing firms that are close in terms of propensity score measured in 2003 (the year before the new CGSs have been introduced by a corporate law reform). Findings – The authors do not find evidence of a significant improvement of performances in 2009 concerning those firms that have adopted a one tier or two tier board systems with respect to those which maintained a traditional one. Originality/value – The novelty of the study concerns the application of propensity score matching for the evaluation of the impact of the change of the CGS that is possible in presence of two conditions that are all verified in our setting: first, to have a country where corporate law allows for choosing among different systems; in this case Italy is a good laboratory, because it allows for the choice among three different systems; and second, to have the opportunity to evaluate the effect of the change in light of a relatively recent “pre-treatment” condition; this is made possible by the fact that before the 2003 Reform of corporate law all the companies had a traditional system

Stock Returns, Productivity, and Corruption in Eight European Fast-Emerging Markets

This article addresses the impact of productivity, corruption, and trade openness on the stock returns of 265 industrial companies listed in eight Eastern European fast-emerging markets, over the 2004–2013 period. Through a three-factor model that includes both measures at firm level and macro-level control variables, our findings suggest that country corruption index is negatively correlated with the total annual return of the stocks of the listed industrial companies of our sample. Moreover, the most productive firms are featured by higher stock returns, while leverage seems not to be a key predictor of stock returns. In addition, the article uncovers innovative evidence about trade openness that is negatively correlated with stock returns due to its connection with the recent financial crisis

Does diversity in the payroll affect soccer teams’ performance? Evidence from the Italian Serie A

This paper empirically investigates the impact of diversity in wage levels of players on seasonal performances of teams in the top Italian soccer league, namely the Serie A . We explore the payroll of 32 professional football teams in the Italian Serie A to compute three measures of diversity and concentration in wage levels, namely the Gini, the Shannon and the Simpson indexes from season 2007/08 to 2015/16. We use the percentage of points achieved by teams as dependent variable, and then we employ panel data techniques estimating random and fixed effect models. We find that only the Simpson index is significantly associated with sport performance. In particular, it appears that sport performance improves as diversity in payroll decreases

Does diversity in the payroll affect soccer teams’ performance? Evidence from the Italian Serie A

This paper empirically investigates the impact of diversity in wage levels of players on seasonal performances of teams in the top Italian soccer league, namely the Serie A . We explore the payroll of 32 professional football teams in the Italian Serie A to compute three measures of diversity and concentration in wage levels, namely the Gini, the Shannon and the Simpson indexes from season 2007/08 to 2015/16. We use the percentage of points achieved by teams as dependent variable, and then we employ panel data techniques estimating random and fixed effect models. We find that only the Simpson index is significantly associated with sport performance. In particular, it appears that sport performance improves as diversity in payroll decreases

Nanotechnology in Medicine: From Inception to Market Domination

Born from the marriage of nanotechnology and medicine, nanomedicine is set to bring advantages in the fight against unmet diseases. The field is recognized as a global challenge, and countless worldwide research and business initiatives are in place to obtain a significant market position. However, nanomedicine belongs to those emerging sectors in which business development methods have not been established yet. Open issues include which type of business model best fits these companies and which strategies would lead them to sustained growth. This paper describes the financial and strategic decisions by nanomedicine start-ups to reach the market successfully, obtain a satisfactory market share, and build and maintain a competitive defendable advantage. Walking nanomedicine-product from the hands of the inventor to those of the doctor, we explored the technological transfer process, which connects laboratories or research institutions to the marketplace. The process involves detailed analysis to evaluate the potentials of end-products, and researches to identify market segment, size, structure, and competitors, to ponder a possible market entry and the market share that managers can realistically achieve at different time horizons. Attracting funds is crucial but challenging. However, investors are starting to visualize the potentials of this field, magnetized by the business of “nano.

Circular Economy Approach: The benefits of a new business model for European Firms

This study investigates the relationship between Firms’ Performance and the adoption of a Circular Economy (CE) Approach. Considering different “recovery-recycling” models embraced by European countries between 2003 and 2016, the empirical analysis aims to highlight benefits related to CE approach. Specifically, we built a sample of panel data, which involved 60 European listed companies producing several types of packaging (including plastic, glass, cardboard and metal), and raw materials (glass and paper). Over the last decades, the increasing attention to Circular Economy issues in Europe has been followed by an important regulation’s activity aimed to define a common policy on the production and treatment of waste. However, European countries due to their different economic conditions, experienced more or less effectively benefits of CE models which are still under-explored. Our empirical findings confirm previous economic literature (Ferreira N. et al. 2014; CIWM, 2016), pointing out better Perfomances for European companies adopting “Extended Producer Responsability” (ERP) scheme, such as PRO's Competition model. Empirical evidences suggested a positive and highly significant impact on Firms’ Performance as results of more competition among recovery organizations which can be justified by lower costs for companies joining collective recovery schemes