Finance, economic development and the transition: the East German case

The role of banks in the transition concerns three issues: the bad loans problem, the role of banks in providing a solution to the problems of corporate governance of privatized enterprises and the access of new enterprises to finance for investment. This paper shows how the combination of early privatization of the banking system plus financial restructuring of enterprises by the Treuhand prevented the development of a 'bad loans' problem in East Germany. The merits of banks as large stakeholders in privatized enterprises has been frequently debated in Eastern Europe. Although the role of banks as owners of non-financial companies in West Germany is frequently exaggerated, there was a widespread public expectation that they would play a considerable role in the restructuring of East German enterprises. We show that their role in acquiring stakes in privatized firms in East Germany has been negligible and suggest reasons for this outcome. East Germany is characterized by a very high level of investment and the second part of the paper investigates how the financial system can affect the relationship between investment and growth. It has been argued that the inefficiencies of both development and commercial banking in the Italian Mezzogiorno have contributed to the failure there of high levels of investment to translate into growth. The efficiency characteristics of development and commercial banking in Southern Italy are contrasted with those in East Germany. Considerable attention is given to the extent of competition in commercial banking and to the delegation by the development banks of screening and monitoring activities to the commercial banks, which characterizes the German system. It is argued that the German banking system which has been transferred to East Germany does not suffer from the inefficiencies found in Italy. Evidence is provided for the convergence of the structure of banking in East and West Germany. Nevertheless, in spite of the extensive access of East German firms to development bank finance, evidence is provided that the financial system does not foster investment in intangibles such as in marketing and in R&D. This has serious consequences for those firms which are not owned by Western firms and hence do not have access to the retained earnings of the owner, nor to the ability of the owner to guarantee loans from the banking system. -- Die Rolle der Banken im Übergangsprozeß in Mittel- und Osteuropa umfaßt vor allem drei Aspekte: das Problem fauler Kredite, ihre Rolle bei der Lösung des corporate governance-Problems privatisierter Unternehmen und das Problem des Zugangs neuer Unternehmen zur Finanzierung ihrer Investitionen. In dem Papier wird dargelegt, wie die Kombination von früher Privatisierung des Bankensystems und der Wiederaufbau einer finanziellen Basis in den Unternehmen durch die Treuhand ein Faule-Kredite-Problem in Ostdeutschland verhinderten. Die Verdienste der Banken als große Anteilseigner in privatisierten Unternehmen sind in Osteuropa viel diskutiert worden. Auch wenn die Rolle der Banken als Eigentümer von Unternehmen in Westdeutschland häufig überschätzt wird, gab es eine verbreitete öffentliche Erwartung, daß die Banken eine bedeutende Rolle bei der Umstrukturierung der ostdeutschen Unternehmen spielen würden. In der Analyse wird gezeigt, daß ihre Rolle bei der Übernahme von Anteilen privatisierter Unternehmen in Ostdeutschland sehr gering ist und es wird versucht, die Gründe für diese Entwicklung darzulegen. In Ostdeutschland herrscht ein hohes Investitionsniveau. Der zweite Teil des Papiers untersucht daher, wie das Finanzsystem die Beziehung zwischen Investitionen und Wachstum beeinflussen kann. Bezogen auf die Entwicklung im Mezzogiorno in Italien wurde häufig argumentiert, Ineffektivitäten der Förder- wie der Geschäftsbanken hätten verhindert, daß ein hohes Investitionsniveau zu Wachstum geführt habe. Die Leistungsmerkmale der Förder- wie der Geschäftsbanken in Süditalien werden mit der Situation in Ostdeutschland kontrastiert. Dabei wird besonderes Augenmerk auf das Ausmaß des Wettbewerbs im Geschäftsbankensektor gelegt sowie auf die Auswahl- und Überwachungsfunktion der Geschäftsbanken, die sie im Auftrag der Förderbanken übernehmen, eine für das deutsche System typische Konstellation. Die Analyse kommt zu dem Schluß, daß das nach Ostdeutschland übertragene westdeutsche Bankensystem nicht an den Ineffektivitäten leidet, wie sie für Italien's Mezzogiorno festzustellen sind. Die Bankenstruktur in Ostdeutschland hat sich schnell derjenigen in Westdeutschland angenähert. Es ist offensichtlich: Auch wenn jedes Unternehmen in Ostdeutschland problemlosen Zugang zu Förderbanken- Krediten hat, bleibt die Kreditwürdigkeit von Investitionen in immaterielle Aktivitäten wie Marketing oder Forschung und Entwicklung wegen mangelnder Realsicherheiten problematisch. Dies hat ernsthafte Auswirkungen für solche Unternehmen, die nicht westdeutschen Unternehmen gehören und die von daher weder auf thesaurierte Gewinne noch auf die Kreditwürdigkeit ihrer Eigentümer zurückgreifen können.

Distributed Linear Algebra on Networks of Workstations

This thesis describes the development of a portion of a distributed linear algebra library for use on networks of workstations. The library was designed with special consideration towards three characterists of networks of workstations: small numbers of processes, availability of multithreading, and high communication latency. Two aspects of the library are highlighted. First, modifications to message passing primitives to permit their use in a multithreaded environment. Second, modifications to basic linear algebra algorithms to improve their performance on networks of stations. A model of distributed linear algebra on networks of workstations is developed, and used to predict the performance of the modified algorithms. These predictions are compared to experimental results on several networks of workstations

Independent Advocacy: A brief look at its past and present. Is its future under threat?

The need, in mental health care, for advocacy which is independent of the health care provider is clear and acknowledged but the existence of the schemes which provide it might be seriously threatened by PALS. Principles of independent advocacy have been developed over the last twenty five years. Unfortunately many advocates are unfamiliar with the law affecting their practice and its impact upon those principles, especially in respect of confidentiality. The advocate is the client’s agent, owing a duty of care but unable to guarantee confidentiality. It is likely that most independent advocacy schemes have wholly inaccurate and inadequate confidentiality policies and guidelines. If these inadequacies are not addressed independent advocacy will not be able to compete with rival systems and it will be in danger of disappearing

A Tutorial for CC++

[No abstract available

The Compositional C++ Language Definition

This document gives a concise definition of the syntax and semantics of CC++. Knowledge of the C++ language definition and the C++ language reference manual is assumed

Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars: The Dynamics and Metallicity of the Dwarf Spheroidal in Bootes

We report the results of a spectroscopic study of the Bootes (Boo) dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy carried out with the WIYN telescope and the Hydra multifiber spectrograph. Radial velocities have been measured for 58 Boo candidate stars selected to have magnitudes and colors consistent with its red and asymptotic giant branches. Within the 13' half-light radius, seven members of Boo yield a systemic velocity of V_r=95.6+-3.4 km/s and a velocity dispersion of 6.6+-2.3 km/s. This implies a mass on the order of 1 x 10^7 M_sun, similar to the inferred masses of other Galactic dSphs. Adopting a total Boo luminosity of L=1.8 x 10^4 L_sun to 8.6 x 10^4 L_sun implies M/L ~ 610 to 130, making Boo, the most distorted known Milky Way dwarf galaxy, potentially also the darkest. From the spectra of Boo member stars we estimate its metallicity to be [Fe/H] ~ -2.5, which would make it the most metal poor dSph known to date.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

The definite risks and questionable benefits of liberal pre-hospital spinal immobilisation

Introduction : The routine practice of pre-hospital spinal immobilisation (phSI) for patients with suspected spinal injury has existed for decades. However, the controversy surrounding it resulted in the 2013 publication of a Consensus document by the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care. The question remains as to whether the quality of evidence in the literature is sufficient to support the Consensus guidelines. This critical review aims to determine the validity of current recommendations by balancing the potential benefits and side effects of phSI. Method:  A review of the literature was carried out by two independent assessors using Medline, PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library databases. Manual searches of related journals and reference lists were also completed. The selected body of evidence was subsequently appraised using a checklist derived from SIGN and CASP guidelines, as well as Crombie's guide to critical appraisal. Results:   No reliable sources were found proving the benefit for patient immobilisation. In contrast there is strong evidence to show that pre-hospital spinal immobilisation is not benign with recognised complications ranging from discomfort to significant physiological compromise. The published literature supports the Consensus guideline recommendations for safely reducing the impact of these side effects without compromising the patient. Conclusion:   The literature supports the Consensus Guidelines but raises the question as to whether they go far enough as there is strong evidence to suggest phSI is an inherently harmful procedure without having any proven benefit. These results demonstrate an urgent need for further studies to determine its treatment effect.PostprintPeer reviewe

Molecular Targeting of Carbonic Anhydrase IX in Mice with Hypoxic HT29 Colorectal Tumor Xenografts

Background: Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) is a membrane spanning protein involved in the enzymatic regulation of tumor acid-base balance. CAIX has been shown to be elevated in a number of hypoxic tumor types. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficiency of intact and IgG fragments of cG250 to target CAIX in vivo in a hypoxic tumor model. Methodology/Principal Findings: Conventional biodistribution studies were performed with 111 In-DO3A-cG250, 111 In-DO3A-F(ab’)2-cG250 and 111 In-DO3A-Fab-cG250. Additional ex vivo analysis of the tumor was performed with markers for tumor hypoxia, blood perfusion and endogenous CAIX expression. All four data sets were digitally correlated to determine the optimal agent for determining hypoxia in a HT29 colon cancer xenograft. The HT29 human colorectal tumor xenografts show strong CAIX expression in hypoxic areas of poor blood perfusion. The intact IgG had an initial high focal uptake at the periphery of these hypoxic regions and penetration into the areas of highest CAIX expression over the 7-day study period. The lower molecular weight antibody fragments had a faster uptake into areas of high CAIX expression, but had a much lower absolute uptake at the optimal imaging times. Conclusions/Significance: For the clinical detection of hypoxia induced CAIX using cG250 antibody based agents, imagin

The Dual Role of Outflows in Quenching Satellites of Low-Mass Hosts: NGC 3109

While dwarf galaxies observed in the field are overwhelmingly star-forming, dwarf galaxies in environments as dense or denser than the Milky Way are overwhelmingly quenched. In this paper, we explore quenching in the lower density environment of the Small-Magellanic-Cloud-mass galaxy NGC 3109 ($\text{M}_* \sim 10^8 \, \text{M}_\odot$), which hosts two known dwarf satellite galaxies (Antlia and Antlia B), both of which are HI deficient compared to similar galaxies in the field and have recently stopped forming stars. Using a new semi-analytic model in concert with the measured star formation histories and gas masses of the two dwarf satellite galaxies, we show that they could not have been quenched solely by direct ram pressure stripping of their interstellar media, as is common in denser environments. Instead, we find that separation of the satellites from pristine gas inflows, coupled with stellar-feedback-driven outflows from the satellites (jointly referred to as the starvation quenching model), can quench the satellites on timescales consistent with their likely infall times into NGC 3109's halo. It is currently believed that starvation is caused by "weak" ram pressure that prevents low-density, weakly-bound gas from being accreted onto the dwarf satellite, but cannot directly remove the denser interstellar medium. This suggests that star-formation-driven outflows serve two purposes in quenching satellites in low-mass environments: outflows from the host form a low-density circumgalactic medium that cannot directly strip the interstellar media from its satellites, but is sufficient to remove loosely-bound gaseous outflows from the dwarf satellites driven by their own star formation.Comment: 20 pages and 2 appendices. To be submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcome