Too-connected-to-fail Institutions and Payments System’s Stability: Assessing Challenges for Financial Authorities

The most recent episode of market turmoil exposed the limitations resulting from the traditional focus on too-big-to-fail institutions within an increasingly systemic-crisis-prone financial system, and encouraged the appearance of the too-connected-to-fail (TCTF) concept. The TCTF concept conveniently broadens the base of potential destabilizing institutions beyond the traditional banking-focused approach to systemic risk, but requires methodologies capable of coping with complex, cross-dependent, context-dependent and non-linear systems. After comprehensively introducing the rise of the TCTF concept, this paper presents a robust, parsimonious and powerful approach to identifying and assessing systemic risk within payments systems, and proposes some analytical routes for assessing financial authorities’ challenges. Banco de la Republica’s approach is based on a convenient mixture of network topology basics for identifying central institutions, and payments systems simulation techniques for quantifying the potential consequences of central institutions failing within Colombian large-value payments systems. Unlike econometrics or network topology alone, results consist of a rich set of quantitative outcomes that capture the complexity, cross-dependency, context-dependency and non-linearity of payments systems, but conveniently disaggregated and dollar-denominated. These outcomes and the proposed analysis provide practical information for enhanced policy and decision-making, where the ability to measure each institution’s contribution to systemic risk may assist financial authorities in their task to achieve payments system’s stability.Payments systems, too-connected-to-fail, too-big-to-fail, systemic risk, network topology, simulation, central bank liquidity. Classification JEL:E58, E44, C63, G21, D85.

Board Structure and Price Informativeness

We develop and test the hypothesis that private information incorporated into stock prices affects the structure of corporate boards. Stock price informativeness may be a complement to board monitoring, because the information revealed by prices can be used by directors to monitor management. But price informativeness may also be a substitute for board monitoring, because more informative prices can trigger external monitoring mechanisms, such as takeovers. We find robust evidence for the substitution effect: Stock price informativeness, as measured by the probability of informed trading (PIN), is negatively related to board independence. Consistent with the model's predictions, this relationship is particularly strong for firms exposed to external governance mechanisms and internal governance mechanisms, and firms for which firm-specific knowledge is relatively unimportant. We address endogeneity concerns in a number of different ways and conclude that our results are unlikely to be driven by omitted variables or reverse causality. The results are also robust to using different measures of price informativeness and different proxies for board monitoringCorporate boards, Independent directors, Price informativeness

¿Para que "Estado"? Introducción a "Ética de Estado y Estado pluralista", de Carl Schmitt

Sin resume

Pensar al borde de la tradición. La lectura arendtiana de Marx

The aim of this paper is to determine the role, not always unambiguous, that Karl Marx plays in Hannah Arendt’s endeavour of outlining a thought of the political free from metaphysical categories. Both a modern thinker of labour, History and violence, and at the same time the last tie to the forgotten Greek, pre-philosophical experience of the political, the keys of the Arendt’s dialogue with Marx help to illuminate Arendt’s own theoretical project.El objetivo de este artículo es precisar el papel, no exento de ambigüedades, que Karl Marx juega en el intento de Hannah Arendt de trazar un pensamiento de lo político no secuestrado por las categorías de la metafísica. Tan pronto pensador moderno del trabajo, la historia y la violencia, como último lazo con la olvidada experiencia griega, pre-filosófica de lo político, las claves del diálogo de Arendt con Marx permiten iluminar el propio proyecto teórico de la pensadora

Quantum phase transitions in odd-A nuclei: The effect of the odd particle from spherical to oblate shapes

Quantum shape-phase transitions in odd-nuclei are investigated within the framework of the interacting boson-fermion model (IBFM). We consider the case of a single-j fermion coupled to an even-even boson core that performs a transition from spherical to oblate shapes varying a control parameter in the boson Hamiltonian. The aim of this work is to see the effect of the coupling of the unpaired fermion on the transition, to understand how the coupled single particle modifies the geometric shape of the system and how each of the odd states behaves when the boson core shifts along the transitional path.Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey BIDEB-2224AMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad FIS2011-28738- c02-01, CSD2007-00042Junta de Andalucía FQM160, P11-FQM-763

Cash holdings and business conditions

We investigate the relation between business conditions and corporate liquidity decisions by US firms. We find strong evidence that financially constrained firms hold more cash during recessions and that business conditions are significant to constrained firms’ cash decisions. In contrast, we find weak evidence that financially unconstrained firms adjust cash holdings according to the business cycle. This asymmetric behavior is more pronounced for changes in the short-term interest rate. Moreover, we find that firms increase the level of liquidity during periods of tighter credit conditions. Our findings support both the precautionary motive for holding cash and the pecking order theoryinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Human biogeography in Diamante River basin: Archaeological information and perspectives.

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados iniciales de un proyecto de investigación arqueológica para la cuenca delrío Diamante, provincia de Mendoza y se realiza una síntesis de la información disponible. Como objetivo general y delargo plazo, buscamos analizar si hubo una disminución en la movilidad residencial y una ampliación en la variedadde recursos consumidos durante el Holoceno tardío como plantea el modelo de poblamiento del área propuesto anivel regional. O por el contrario, analizar si existió un continuum de sociedades con alta movilidad residencial sinuna saturación del espacio que implicara cambios en el uso de los recursos. Las evidencias arqueológicas disponiblespara evaluar estos modelos alternativos no son suficientes como para inclinar la balanza hacia uno u otro modelo.Sin embargo, la tendencia general observada apunta hacia una amplia movilidad residencial y el aprovechamientode recursos de todos los pisos ecológicosIn this paper, first results of an archaeological research project at Diamante river basin, Mendoza province are presented. The main objective is to analyze whether there were a diminution in residential mobility and an intensification in the use of resources during the late Holocene as posed by a regional model. The alternative hypothesis is that existed a continuum of economic and social lifeways that implied a high residential mobility system that would not involve changes in the use of resources. Even though there are not enough archaeological evidences yet to incline the balance to one model or the other, the general trend points to a high residential mobility and the use of resources from all the ecological floors.Fil: Giardina, Miguel Angel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Museo de Historia Natural de San Rafael - Ianigla | Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Museo de Historia Natural de San Rafael - Ianigla | Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Museo de Historia Natural de San Rafael - Ianigla; ArgentinaFil: Otaola, Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas; ArgentinaFil: Franchetti, Fernando Ricardo. University of Pittsburgh; Estados Unido

Growth, photosynthetic pigments, phenolic content and biological activities of Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Anethum graveolens L. and Pimpinella anisum L. (Apiaceae) in response to zinc

The effect of zinc (Zn) on phenols, antioxidant activities (free radicals' scavenging activities, inhibition of lipid peroxidation, chelating activity and reducing power), and enzyme inhibition activities of acetylcholinesterase, lipoxygenase and tyrosinase of anise, dill and two cultivars of fennel [Latina" (F-L) and "Doux de Florence" (F-DF)] aqueous extracts was evaluated for the first time. At the same time, growth and photosynthetic pigment contents were also estimated. A significant decrease in all growth parameters, such as plant height, fresh and dry weights of aerial parts and roots was statistically proved in the presence of 2 mM Zn. An enhancement of Zn accumulation was observed, particularly in aerial part. Exposure to 2 mM Zn induced quantitative changes in the phenols of all tested extracts. In fennel extracts, a decrease of phenol content was observed when treated with Zn, whereas an increase was found in dill and anise extracts submitted to Zn treatment. All samples, either in the presence or absence of Zn, showed antioxidant activity, independent on the tested assay, with the exception of the cultivar F-DF (treated and non-treated), which was unable to scavenge NO radicals. Zn-treated dill and anise presented usually higher antioxidant activity. Concerning inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase, lipoxygenase and tyrosinase enzymes, both treated and non-treated F-DF did not inhibit acetylcholinesterase activity. Zinc-treated F-DF was also unable to inhibit lipoxygenase activity. The remaining species presented capacity for inhibiting those enzymes and tyrosinase as well, but their abilities varied in response to Zn excess.Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia - FCTPortugal) [UID/BIA/04325/2013-MEDTBIO, UID/Multi/04326/2013]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio