Sovereign Bond Yield Spreads: A Time-Varying Coefficient Approach

We study the determinants of sovereign bond yield spreads across 10 EMU countries between Q1/1999 and Q1/2010. We apply a semiparametric time-varying coefficient model to identify, to what extent an observed change in the yield spread is due to a shift in macroeconomic fundamentals or due to altering risk pricing. We find that at the beginning of EMU, the government debt level and the general investors' risk aversion had a significant impact on interest differentials. In the subsequent years, however, financial markets paid less attention to the fiscal position of a country and the safe haven status of Germany diminished in importance. By the end of 2006, two years before the fall of Lehman Brothers, financial markets began to grant Germany safe haven status again. One year later, when financial turmoil began, the market reaction to fiscal loosening increased considerably. The altering in risk pricing over time period confirms the need of time-varying coefficient models in this context.sovereign bond spreads, fiscal policy, euro area, financial crisis, semiparametric time-varying coefficient model, nonparametric estimation

How does European integration affect the European stock markets?

This paper examines the integration of stock markets in Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland and UK over January 1973-August 2008 at the aggregate market and industry level considering the following industries: basic materials, consumer goods, industrials, consumer services, health care and financials. The analysis is carried out by using correlation analysis, \udf-convergence and s-convergence methods. \udf-convergence serves to measure the speed of convergence and s-convergence serves to measure the degree of financial integration. It might be expected a priori that European stock markets have converged during the process of monetary, economic and financial integration in Europe. This study offers evidence for an increasing degree of integration both at the aggregate level and also at the industry level, although some differences in the speed and degree of convergence exist among stock markets. Surprisingly, there is an upswing of cross sectional dispersion for health care industry, which is more prone to regional shocks. The other industries show a significant s-convergence. The average half-life of a shock to convergence changes at a range from 5.75 days for aggregate market to 10.25 days for consumer goods

How Does European Integration Affect the European Stock Markets?

This paper examines the integration of stock markets in Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland and UK over the January 1973- August 2008 period at the aggregate market and industry level considering the following industries: basic materials, consumer goods, industrials, consumer services, health care and financials. The analysis is practised by using correlation analysis, $\beta$-convergence and $\sigma$-convergence methods. $\beta$- convergence serves to measure the speed of convergence and $\sigma$-convergence serves to measure the degree of financial integration. We might expect priori that European stock markets have been more integrated during the process of monetary, economic and financial integration in Europe. We find evidence for an increasing degree of integration both at the aggregate level and also at the industry level, although some differences in the speed and degree of convergence exist among stock markets. To our surprise, there is a downward trend in convergence for certain industries in certain countries in 2000s; especially for those industries, which are more prone to regional shocks, such as health care, financials and consumer services. Moreover, the cross sectional dispersion in health care industry has not shown a regular descending trend. Additionally, EU wide factors can better explain the changes in returns than those of US.Financial integration, EU, stock markets, correlation analysis

How Does European Integration Affect the European Stock Markets?

This paper examines the integration of stock markets in Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland and UK over the January 1973- August 2008 period at the aggregate market and industry level considering the following industries: basic materials, consumer goods, industrials, consumer services, health care and financials. The analysis is practised by using correlation analysis, $\beta$-convergence and $\sigma$-convergence methods. $\beta$- convergence serves to measure the speed of convergence and $\sigma$-convergence serves to measure the degree of financial integration. We might expect priori that European stock markets have been more integrated during the process of monetary, economic and financial integration in Europe. We find evidence for an increasing degree of integration both at the aggregate level and also at the industry level, although some differences in the speed and degree of convergence exist among stock markets. To our surprise, there is a downward trend in convergence for certain industries in certain countries in 2000s; especially for those industries, which are more prone to regional shocks, such as health care, financials and consumer services. Moreover, the cross sectional dispersion in health care industry has not shown a regular descending trend. Additionally, EU wide factors can better explain the changes in returns than those of US.Financial integration, EU, stock markets, correlation analysis

Testing for Convergence in Stock Markets: A Non-Linear Factor Approach

This paper applies the Phillips and Sul (2007) method to test for convergence in stock returns to an extensive dataset including monthly stock price indices for five EU countries (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK) as well as the US over the period 1973-2008. We carry out the analysis on both sectors and individual industries within sectors. As a first step, we use the Stock and Watson (1998) procedure to filter the data in order to extract the long-run component of the series; then, following Phillips and Sul (2007), we estimate the relative transition parameters. In the case of sectoral indices we find convergence in the middle of the sample period, followed by divergence, and detect four (two large and two small) clusters. The analysis at a disaggregate, industry level again points to convergence in the middle of the sample, and subsequent divergence, but a much larger number of clusters is now found. Splitting the cross-section into two subgroups including Euro area countries, the UK and the US respectively, provides evidence of a global convergence/divergence process not obviously influenced by EU policies.stock market, financial integration, European Monetary Union convergence, factor model

Testing for Convergence in Stock Markets: A Non-linear Factor Approach

This paper applies the Phillips and Sul (2007) method to test for convergence in stock returns to an extensive dataset including monthly stock price indices for five EU countries (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK) as well as the US over the period 1973-2008. We carry out the analysis on both sectors and individual industries within sectors. As a first step, we use the Stock and Watson (1998) procedure to filter the data in order to extract the long-run component of the series; then, following Phillips and Sul (2007), we estimate the relative transition parameters. In the case of sectoral indices we find convergence in the middle of the sample period, followed by divergence, and detect four (two large and two small) clusters. The analysis at a disaggregate, industry level again points to convergence in the middle of the sample, and subsequent divergence, but a much larger number of clusters is now found. Splitting the cross-section into two subgroups including Euro area countries, the UK and the US respectively, provides evidence of a global convergence/divergence process not obviously influenced by EU policies.Stock Market, Financial Integration, European Monetary Union Convergence, Factor Model

Zinsspreads auf europäische Anleihen: Finanzmärkte verstärken Druck zu mehr Haushaltsdisziplin

Der seit der Finanzkrise steile Anstieg der Zinsdifferenzen zwischen europäischen Staatsanleihen bringt mehrere Mitgliedsländer der europäischen Währungsunion (EWU) unter erhebliche Refinanzierungsschwierigkeiten und wirft die Frage nach den Ursachen auf. Dieser Bericht fasst die Ergebnisse einer aktuellen DIW- Studie zusammen. Sie untersucht, in wiefern die fiskalische Lage einzelner Länder deren Zins in die Höhe treibt, oder ob die Finanzmärkte das Kreditrisiko zunehmend stärker einpreisen. Wir finden, dass die Finanzmärkte in den Jahren vor der Finanzkrise eine recht eingeschränkte Risikowahrnehmung hatten und kaum zwischen einzelnen Ländern unterschieden. Doch bereits Ende 2006, zwei Jahre vor dem Fall der Investmentbank Lehman, wurden die Finanzmärkte generell risiko-averser und begannen, Deutschland einen Zinsvorteil als Ausdruck eines "Sicherer- Hafen"-Status zu geben. Ein weiteres Jahr später erhöhten die Märkte ihren Preis für eingegangenes Kreditrisiko, indem sie stärker auf eine Verschlechterung der Fiskalsituation eines Landes reagierten.Sovereign bond spreads, Fiscal policy, Euro area, Financial crisis, Semiparametric timevarying coefficient model, Nonparametric estimation

Therole of microtubule plus-end binding protein TACC3 during axon outgrowth and guidance:

Thesis advisor: Laura Anne LoweryAxon guidance is a critical process in forming the connections between a neuron and its target. Development of a properly functioning nervous system relies heavily on how accurately an axon is guided to the right target. Defects in the guidance machinery may result in neurological disorders. The growth cone that is formed at the tip of a growing axon is responsible for navigating axons to their final targets. The growth cone steers the growing axon towards the appropriate direction by integrating extracellular guidance cues received by membrane-associated receptors at the growth cone periphery. Upon receiving guidance cues, a number of intracellular signal transduction pathways are initiated downstream of the guidance receptors, that can promote or halt growth cone advance. The growth cone generates these responses by remodeling its cytoskeletal components, which are actin network in the periphery and microtubules in the growth cone center. In this thesis, we focus on understanding the role of microtubule dynamics regulation within the growth cone as it makes guidance decisions. Specifically, we examine the role of TACC3 as a microtubule plus-end binding protein during axon outgrowth and guidance. We show that TACC3 localizes at microtubule plus-ends in embryonic Xenopus laevis growth cones and regulates microtubule growth parameters. We also show that TACC3 is important for promoting axon outgrowth in cultured neural tube explants. Furthermore, our data suggests that TACC3 affects axon guidance in vivo and ex vivo. Examination of embryos depleted of TACC3 revealed guidance defects in the spinal cord neurons, while TACC3-overexpressing cultured spinal neurons showed increased resistance to Slit2-induced growth cone collapse. Finally, in an attempt to delineate the mechanism behind TACC3-mediated axon guidance under Slit2, we studied the importance of tyrosine phosphorylation induced by Abelson tyrosine kinase. We find that retaining phosphorylatable tyrosines within the TACC domain is important for its microtubule plus-end tracking behavior and its impact on microtubule dynamics regulation, axon outgrowth and guidance. Together, this thesis contributes new insights to the understanding of the role of TACC3 as a microtubule plus-end binding protein and identifies TACC3 as a potential regulator of axon outgrowth and guidance during Xenopus laevis embryonic development.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Biology

Expectation of Accounting Professionals From Accounting Education: An Antalya Research

AbstractFeedback from the sectors about the efficiency of accounting education is very important for accounting educators and academicians. This kind of feedback enables to include the issues into the curriculum that are needed by the business. So the feedbacks from accounting professionals about the efficiency of the accounting courses in faculties, if they are attuned to practice and the courses that should be included in the curriculum are also important for the quality and future of the accounting education. The aim of this study is to present the opinions and expectations of certified public accountants operate in Antalya and registered in chamber of public accountants of Antalya about the current situation of the accounting education in universities. A likert type survey is prepared and the results of the survey are analyzed in SPSS package program and results are discussed. Results show that, accountants think that students don’ graduate with sufficient accounting knowledge. Accounting lessons aren’ sufficient to meet the needs of companies and to understand the accounting procedures and financial structures of the companies. Recommendations according to the results will be useful for the development of the accounting education

An Exploratory Analysis of the Neural Correlates of Human-Robot Interactions With Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been gaining increasing interest as a practical mobile functional brain imaging technology for understanding the neural correlates of social cognition and emotional processing in the human prefrontal cortex (PFC). Considering the cognitive complexity of human-robot interactions, the aim of this study was to explore the neural correlates of emotional processing of congruent and incongruent pairs of human and robot audio-visual stimuli in the human PFC with fNIRS methodology. Hemodynamic responses from the PFC region of 29 subjects were recorded with fNIRS during an experimental paradigm which consisted of auditory and visual presentation of human and robot stimuli. Distinct neural responses to human and robot stimuli were detected at the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) regions. Presentation of robot voice elicited significantly less hemodynamic response than presentation of human voice in a left OFC channel. Meanwhile, processing of human faces elicited significantly higher hemodynamic activity when compared to processing of robot faces in two left DLPFC channels and a left OFC channel. Significant correlation between the hemodynamic and behavioral responses for the face-voice mismatch effect was found in the left OFC. Our results highlight the potential of fNIRS for unraveling the neural processing of human and robot audio-visual stimuli, which might enable optimization of social robot designs and contribute to elucidation of the neural processing of human and robot stimuli in the PFC in naturalistic conditions