Banking consolidation in Nigeria, 2000-2010

This study examines the Nigerian banking consolidation process using a dynamic panel for the period 2000-2010. The Arellano and Bond (1991) dynamic GMM approach is adopted to estimate a cost function taking into account the possible endogeneity of the covariates. The main finding is that the Nigerian banking sector has benefited from the consolidation process, and specifically that foreign ownership, mergers and acquisitions and bank size decrease costs. Directions for future research are also discussed

Productivity drivers in European banking: Country effects, legal tradition and market dynamics

This paper analyses efficiency drivers of a representative sample of European banks by means of the two-stage procedure proposed by Simar and Wilson (2007). In the first stage, the technical efficiency of banks is estimated using DEA (data envelopment analysis) in order to establish which of them are most efficient. Their ranking is based on total productivity in the period 1993-2003. In the second stage, the Simar and Wilson (2007) procedure is used to bootstrap the DEA scores with a truncated bootstrapped regression. The policy implications of our findings are considered

Analysing The Efficiency Of Portuguese Pension Funds:A Stochastic Frontier Model

This paper examines technical efficiency of Portuguese pension funds management companies, using a stochastic frontier model in order to obtain estimates of economies of scale and scope. The empirical findings reveal a significant effect of efficiency measures on pension funds efficiency. Their implications for managers and policy makers are discussed

Ageing and personal retirement savings plan participation with heterogeneity in preferences: The Portuguese case

This paper analyses the relationship between ageing and personal retirement savings plan participation in the Portuguese population, taking into account heterogeneity and endogeneity in preferences. A mixed logit model is used to analyse the determinants of retirement saving behaviour, allowing for heterogeneity and endogeneity in the responses. We find considerable heterogeneity among individuals (in terms of socio-economic variables such as age, gender and income), which must be taken into account by any policy aimed at changing retirement saving behaviour

Long memory in German energy price indices

This study examines the long-memory properties of German energy price indices (specifically, import and export prices, as well as producer and consumer prices) for hard coal, lignite, mineral oil and natural gas adopting a fractional integration modelling framework. The analysis is undertaken using monthly data from January 2000 to August 2011. The results suggest nonstationary long memory in the series (with orders of integration equal to or higher than 1) when breaks are not allowed for. However, endogenous break tests indicate a single break in all series except for producer prices for lignite for which two breaks are detected. When such breaks are taken into account, and with autocorrelated disturbances, evidence of mean reversion is found in practically all cases.This study is partially funded by the Ministry of Education of Spain (ECO2011-2014 ECON Y FINANZAS, Spain) and from a Jeronimo de Ayanz project of the Government of Navarra

Identification of segments of European banks with a latent class frontier model

This paper analyses technical efficiency of European banks over the period 1996-2003 with unbalanced panel data techniques. A latent class frontier model is used which allows the identification of different segments in the production frontier. We find that there are three statistically significant segments in the sample. Therefore, we conclude that no common banking policy can be effective for all the banks included in the sample, and that banking policies by segments are required instead

Eta Terrorism: Police Action, Political Measures And The Influence Of Violence On Economic Activity In The Basque Country

In the last 15 years or so, ETA activity has substantially decreased, but also changed. Whilst the type of killings has become more specialised (politicians, reporters, etc.), a new phenomenon based on urban guerrilla tactics, and called in Basque “kale borroka” (street fighting), has emerged, creating an atmosphere of violence in the streets. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, we create a daily measure of the level of violence in the area. Second, we examine if police action and the repressive policy measures adopted by government have been effective in reducing the intensity of violence. Third, we investigate whether the level of violence has had an effect on the stock market index in the Basque Country. The results, based on daily data from July 1st, 2001 to November 15th, 2005 suggest that the only effective measure to reduce violence was the banning of Herri Batasuna (HB), the radical party close to ETA supporters. Moreover, there was a decrease in the stock market index as a consequence of the violence in the area

Long memory in Angolan macroeconomic series: Mean reversion versus explosive behaviour

This study examines the time series behaviour of several Angolan macroeconomic variables, using monthly data from August 1996 to June 2011. The series are the inflation rate, M1, M2, the exchange rate at the beginning and the end of the period, and the monthly average exchange rate. In the first stage univariate fractional integration models are estimated in order to determine whether shocks to the variables have transitory or permanent effects. In the second stage fractional cointegration techniques are applied to test for the existence of long-run equilibrium relationships between the variables of interest. The results suggest a high degree of persistence in the individual series (that are not mean-reverting) and the existence of bivariate long-run cointegrating relationships between prices and money, and prices and nominal exchange rates.This study is partly funded by the Ministry of Education of Spain (ECO2011-2014 ECON Y FINANZAS, Spain) and from a Jeronimo de Ayanz project of the Government of Navarra

Conservation intervention on an embroidery with beads on perforated cardboard: problems and solutions

Perforated cardboard is a rigid material widely used during the second half of the 19th century as an embroidery support, but very little-known today. Intervention cases are rare, and so an intervention on a poor condition 1879 glass beads embroidered specimen is presented here. The intervention was a complex task, mainly due to the fragility of the object and the existence of different materials linked to each other, that did not allow the execution of treatments to which they are usually subjected when isolated. The most intricate operation was the simultaneous action of micro-consolidation and micro-infill. These involved the insertion of Japanese paper fibres and 4 % Tylose MH300 between the perforated paper layers, and the insertion of Japanese paper strips between the embroidery lines. For the embroidery housing, it was necessary simultaneously to avoid the most unfavourable conditions for both the preservation of the glass and the paper.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio