The effect of monetary policy on asset prices: evidence from Germany and UK

The main objective of this paper is to focus on the effect of monetary policy on asset prices for Germany and UK. Studying this relationship is complicated because asset prices and interest rates are endogenously determined, behave simultaneously and can be affected by other variables. In order to test this relation and solve these problems we use the heteroskedasticity based approach developed by Rigobon and Sack (2004) which focuses the analysis on the shift in the variance of policy shocks that occurs on the days of the monetary authority's meetings. The assumption of a shift in the variance, which we believe to be weaker than the restrictions imposed in the traditional literature, allows to identify the effect of monetary policy on asset prices solving the endogeneity and simultaneity problem. The result we find indicate that German and UK monetary policy do not affect the stock market behaviour. Monetary policy seems to be neutral on the economy. While for Germany we have no significant effect on the exchange rate, an increase of British interest rate appreciates the sterling.

The effect of the war risk: a comparison of the consequences of the two Iraq wars on some financial variables

This paper measures the effect of war on some financial variables using the heteroskedasticity based estimation technique proposed by Rigobon and Sack (2005). The importance of applying this technique is due to the possibility of capturing the effect of a variable, which is here the risk of war, that is not measurable. This work compares the effect of the Iraq war of 1991 with the Iraq war of 2003 on different variables in Italy and US. According to the results, we find that the two wars caused different effects on the analysed variables.

A knowledge hub to enhance the learning processes of an industrial cluster

Industrial clusters have been defined as ?networks of production of strongly interdependent firms (including specialised suppliers), knowledge producing agents (universities, research institutes, engineering companies), institutions (brokers, consultants), linked to each other in a value adding production chain? (OECD Focus Group, 1999). The industrial clusters distinctive mode of production is specialisation, based on a sophisticated division of labour, that leads to interlinked activities and need for cooperation, with the consequent emergence of communities of practice (CoPs). CoPs are here conceived as groups of people and/or organisations bound together by shared expertise and propensity towards a joint work (Wenger and Suyden, 1999). Cooperation needs closeness for just-in-time delivery, for communication, for the exchange of knowledge, especially in its tacit form. Indeed the knowledge exchanges between the CoPs specialised actors, in geographical proximity, lead to spillovers and synergies. In the digital economy landscape, the use of collaborative technologies, such as shared repositories, chat rooms and videoconferences can, when appropriately used, have a positive impact on the development of the CoP exchanges process of codified knowledge. On the other end, systems for the individuals profile management, e-learning platforms and intelligent agents can trigger also some socialisation mechanisms of tacit knowledge. In this perspective, we have set-up a model of a Knowledge Hub (KH), driven by the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT-driven), that enables the knowledge exchanges of a CoP. In order to present the model, the paper is organised in the following logical steps: - an overview of the most seminal and consolidated approaches to CoPs; - a description of the KH model, ICT-driven, conceived as a booster of the knowledge exchanges of a CoP, that adds to the economic benefits coming from geographical proximity, the advantages coming from organizational proximity, based on the ICTs; - a discussion of some preliminary results that we are obtaining during the implementation of the model.

Realization and Characterization of CNT Composite Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

In questo lavoro di Tesi vengono descritti i metodi innovativi per la creazione e caratterizzazione meccanica di "Scaffolds" compositi a base di CNT (nanotubi di carbonio) utilizzati per l'ingnegnerizzazione del tessuto osseo e la loro possibile applicazione nell'ambito della medicina rigenerativa attraverso prove di crescita e proliferazione cellulare in vitro

The Emerging Role of New Media in Global Crisis Communications

Social media channels operate in real-time and on a global scale. Yet many organizations remain unskilled and/or unprepared in digital communication usage, which exposes the organization and its brand to grave and long-term consequences. Through an in-depth literature review, this thesis explores theoretical research on both organizational crisis management and the practice of international public relations. It also reviews several organizational crisis cases where social media played a critical role in either inciting or escalating a crisis issue, positioning the crisis prominently on a national or global level. Next by engaging in case study research of two internationally recognized brands, this thesis examined how these organizations applied prescribed crisis response strategies, utilized social media as a crisis communication tool, and managed the crisis issue on a global scale. Findings indicate a variance in overall crisis management, and incongruence between public relations theory and practice. The thesis concludes with best practices for implementing a global crisis communication strategy using social media, and discusses global implications for the public relations field

Structural pricing of XVA metrics for energy commodities OTC trades

The aim of the present Chapter is to improve of the structural rst-passage framework built in Chapter 1 along several directions as well as test its robustness. Since typically commodity trades are not clearable under Central Clearing Counterparts (CCPs), it is worthy to assess the eect of bilateral Collateral Support Annex (CSA) agreements on CVA/DVA metrics. Moreover I introduce within my CCR modelling, the impact of state-dependent stochastic recovery rates. Furthermore, in order to stress-test my framework, I investigate the eects on CCR measures of multiplicative shocks to the two major drivers in the game: credit and volatility. Finally I propose an alternative balance-sheet calibration based on hybrid market/accounting data which is well suited in the commodity context in the light of small and medium size of corporations usually operating in the EU commodity derivatives market for risk-management purposes.The global nancial crisis revealed that no economic entity can be considered default-free any more. Because of that, both banks and corporations have to deal with bilateral Counterparty Credit Risk (CCR) in their OTC derivatives trades. Such evidence implies the fair pricing of these risks, namely the Credit Valuation Adjustment (CVA) and its counterpart, the Debt Valuation Adjustment (DVA). Despite the more commonly used reduced-form approach, in this work the random default time is addressed via a structural approach a la Black and Cox (1976), so that the bankruptcy of a given rm is modelled as the rst-passage time of its equity value from a predetermined lower barrier. As in Ballotta et al. (2015), I make use of a time-changed Levy process as underlying source of both market and credit risk. The main advantage of this setup relies on its superior capability to replicate non null short-term default probabilities, unlike pure diusion models. Moreover, a numerical computation of the valuation adjustments for bilateral CCR in the context of energy commodities OTC derivatives contracts has been performed.The global nancial crisis revealed that no economic entity can be considered default-free any more, so that both banks and corporate rms have to cope with bilateral Counterparty Credit Risk (CCR) when negotiating OTC derivatives. Since the mainstream approach typically used in practical settings is to evaluate derivatives in terms of the cost of their respective hedging strategies, the pricing of CCR metrics implicitly relates to the way these strategies are nanced. Within the numerical section of the present work, the valuation adjustments for CCR have been computed. Moreover, the role played by funding costs and their impact in widening bid-ask spreads have been assessed. A similar reasoning has been applied for the investigation of the cost of funding Initial Margins (IM), typically eective on top of Variation Margins (VM) when trading under Central Clearing Counterparties (CCPs). As the Initial Margin Valuation Adjustment (MVA) is concerned, it is here showed that, dierently from what can happen for FVAs, no osetting eect can materialize. As a consequence, in aggregate terms IMs can cause systemic liquidity eects. The computed XVA metrics are relative to energy commodities OTC derivative trades

The "news" effect on some financial variables

The aim of this work is to verify whether the price of a bank quoted in the stock market is affected by two types of news: news coming from the market and announces defined "price sensitive" publicly released by the bank. Making use of a methodology based on heteroskedasticity, proposed in the literature by Rigobon and Sack (2003), we verify whether the price of Unicredit, which is one of the biggest Italian bank and which is characterised by a high exchange of stocks, are influenced in a significant way by announces of interest rate changes, released by the Monetary Authority and by news which affect the value of the bank, released by the bank itself.

The Relationship between Yoga and Stress

Research has shown that too much stress can be harmful to your health (Sinha, 2007). Stress can contribute to depression, weaken the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, and also speed up the process of aging (Aldwin, 2007). Aside from improving one’s flexibility and endurance, there is evidence that regular yoga practice (i.e., an hour session, at least twice a week) can decrease one’s risk of such health-related problems by lowering stress (Smith, Hancock, Blake-Mortimer & Eckert, 2006). The aim of the present study was to further investigate the relationship between yoga and stress. We compared two groups—a group of individuals who practice yoga (N=61) and a group of individuals who do not (N=58)—to see if they would differ on a self-report stress survey (Perceived Stress Scale, [PSS]). A one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to see if the means of the groups on the PSS were statistically different. We found that those who practiced yoga had significantly lower scores on the PSS than those who did not practice yoga. Among those who practiced yoga, the amount of practice was not related to stress