Does the corporate capital structure theory apply to banks? evidence from the field

This paper investigates the value relevance of banks’ capital structure voluntary choices, their determinants, and preference in terms of funding mix policy models, using a unique survey-based dataset gathered through a faceto-face interview structured questionnaire, conducted to a sample of 51 Portuguese banks’ CEOs (89.5% survey response rate), over the 1989-1998 period. Survey participants, elicited ownership structure managerial control, growth opportunities, reputation in banking markets, financial flexibility, information signaling, bank size, share listing, business risk, dividend policy, and debt tax-shields, as the most relevant capital structure determinants at the bank level. The supervisory and regulatory discipline was indicated as the more influential external determinants for capital structure choice. A majority of 60 percent of state-owned bank CEOs declared a preference for following pre-determined guidelines on bank funding as capital structure policy model. Almost 53 percent of the privately-owned bank CEOs revealed a significant preference for the tradeoff capital structure policy model. The pecking order and the market-timing theories received moderate to weak preference. The paper extends the literature, providing field evidence that banking capital structure choice do matter and may be explained within the framework of the conventional corporate capital structure theory

Profitability, operating efficiency and capitalization of the portuguese banking system (1992-2009)

In this article, we conduct an empirical comparative analysis of the Portuguese Banking System (PBS) during the 1993-2009 period. Using a dataset drawn from the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Banking Statistics – the Financial Statements of banks database, we examine the performance, in terms of the profitability, operating efficiency, and the capitalization of the PBS, in comparison to a sample of euro area banking systems. We found concerning profitability that PBS outperformed in terms of ROA, but underperformed relative to ROE. It outperformed in terms of operating and interest income, cost to income, and net interest margin efficiency. It did not perform differently in terms of the efficiency of operating and interest expenses. It was less exposed to liquidity risk, but more exposed to credit risk, and was undertaxed relative to its control sample peers. Bookvalue capital ratios document that the PBS was overcapitalized, but undercapitalized in terms of the regulatory capital ratio

Bank capital structure: revisiting evidence from the field

This paper examines investigates bank (voluntary) capital structure decisions, revisiting a unique dataset gathered through face-to-face interviews with a sample of 51 CEOs of banks, representing 91.5 percent of the total net assets of the Portuguese banking industry, over the 1989-1998 period. Survey evidence documents that the allocation of ownership control rights, growth opportunities, reputation in banking markets, financial flexibility, information signaling, and debt tax shields are significant internal determinants of bank capital structure choice. We also found that capital regulatory discipline is the only significant external determinant. Most survey participants elicited trading off ownership control rights dilution and the benefits of debt / equity securities issuance, and the static tradeoff model, as their preferred capital structure policies. The pecking order and the market-timing theories received moderate to weak preference. The paper extends the literature, providing field evidence that capital structure choice does matter for bank value, and it can be explained within the framework of the corporate capital structure theory

Diversification relatedness and economic performance: does the resource plasticity channel matter?

In this paper, we examine the link between corporate diversification relatedness and economic performance through the resource plasticity channel. In order to do so, we estimate a dynamic panel on a data set of 2,396 diversified firms from the euro area over the 2010-2017 period. Our empirical research documents that a percentage point increase in the level of unrelated diversification is significantly associated with a 1.52 percent improvement in performance and vis-à-vis related diversification with a 1.09 percent increase in performance, considering the sensitivity of these relationships to resource plasticity. These findings contribute to the literature by documenting that diversification relatedness positively impacts performance. Furthermore, evidence is also consistent with the proposition that this relationship is sensitive to resource plasticity. Our results hold after controlling for endogeneity bias and are robust to alternative variable specifications

Macromolecular Crowding: Enhancing Cell Metabolism, Enhancing Regeneration

Deep and extensive skin injuries represent a major worldwide healthcare problem without an efficient treatment option, with autologous skin grafts constituting the treatment gold standard. Tissue engineered skin constructs emerge as alternatives to this method, however, "cost-to-heal" factor or the need for long culture times are important drawbacks. The iSkin2 project aims to overcome these limitations, namely by incorporating the macromolecular crowding (MMC) effect, which shows potential in significantly reducing the prolonged healing times. This effect consists in emulating in vitro the heavily macromolecular-crowded in vivo environment, allowing to increase the rate of several biological reactions, namely cellular proliferation and extracellular matrix production. This dissertation assessed if the MMC effect is beneficial for the increase of collagen type I and fibronectin deposition by dermal fibroblasts seeded on polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds, and, if it is, which studied crowding agent (Ficoll cocktail or polyvinylpyrrolidone 55 kDa) had the best results. For this, fibroblast viabilitywas assessed in the matrices produced in the presence of the crowders, and immunocytochemistry procedures were performed to visualize and quantify the deposition of collagen type I and fibronectin in the constructs studied. We showed that the use of Ficoll cocktail, although not reaching as good results as the ones in literature, outperformed the use of polyvinylpyrrolidone 55 kDa, offering an interesting alternative to the uncrowded cell medium. We also present evidences that show the potential of using the MMC effect in 3D environments, specifically in PCL matrices.Lesões extensas e profundas na pele representam um problema de saúde significativo a nível mundial sem uma opção de tratamento eficiente, sendo os enxertos de pele autólogos o tratamento gold standard. A engenharia de tecidos surge como alternativa a estes métodos através da criação de substitutos de pele. No entanto, a relação custo-benefício ou a necessidade de longos tempos de cultura constituem desvantagens importantes. O projeto iSkin2 pretende ultrapassar estas limitações, nomeadamente incorporando o efeito macromolecular crowding (MMC), que demonstra potencial em reduzir significativamente os tempos de tratamento. Este efeito consiste em simular in vitro o ambiente extremamente abundante em macromoléculas verificado in vivo, permitindo o aumento da taxa de várias reações biológicas, nomeadamente a proliferação celular e a produção de matriz extracelular. Esta dissertação explorou se o efeito MMC contribui para o aumento da deposição de colagénio tipo I e fibronectina por parte de fibroblastos semeados em matrizes de policaprolactona (PCL), e qual a macromolécula (cocktail Ficoll ou polivinilpirrolidona 55 kDa) com os melhores resultados. Para isto, foram realizados estudos de viabilidade em fibroblastos semeados nas matrizes de PCL na presença das macromoléculas, e procedimentos de imunocitoquímica para visualizar e quantificar a deposição de colagénio tipo I e fibronectina. Aqui demonstrou-se que o uso de cocktail Ficoll, apesar de não atingir resultados tão bons como os existentes na literatura, superou o uso de polivinilpirrolidona 55 kDa, oferecendo uma alternativa interessante à utilização de meio de cultura sem macromoléculas. Também ficaram demonstradas evidências que indicam o potencial do uso do efeito MMC em ambientes 3D, especificamente em matrizes de PCL

Exploring risk dynamics in corporate bonds : a study of effective and Macaulay durations

This dissertation examines the effect of firms’ credit risk on interest rate risk using two real-world corporate bond portfolios in December 2022, one with low credit risk and the other with high credit risk. This is done by comparing the Macaulay duration with the effective duration resulting from the application of Leland and Toft (1996) structural credit risk model. It was found on average a Macaulay duration of 4.24 years versus an effective duration of 2.92 years for the high-risk portfolio, while the low-risk portfolio displayed a Macaulay duration of 9.04 years in contrast to an effective duration of 7.47 years. The difference between the Macaulay and effective durations highlights the limitations of traditional risk management techniques, such as immunization, which often do not take into account the relation between interest rates and credit risk.Esta dissertação examina o efeito do risco de crédito das empresas sobre o risco da taxa de juro, utilizando dois portfólios de títulos corporativos reais em dezembro de 2022, um com baixo risco de crédito e outro com alto risco de crédito. Isto é conseguido comparando a duração de Macaulay com a duração efetiva resultante da aplicação do modelo de risco de crédito estrutural de Leland e Toft (1996). Os nossos resultados de pesquisa revelaram uma duração média de Macaulay de 4,24 anos contra uma duração efetiva de 2,92 anos para o portfólio de alto risco, enquanto o portfólio de baixo risco apresentou uma duração de Macaulay de 9,04 anos em contraste com uma duração efetiva de 7,47 anos. Esta diferença entre as durações de Macaulay e efetiva destaca as limitações das técnicas tradicionais de gestão de risco, como a imunização, que muitas vezes não levam em consideração a relação entre as taxas de juro e o risco de crédito

Formação de professores no Pibid: a indissociabilidade entre o ensino, pesquisa e extensão

Anais do II Seminário Seminário Estadual PIBID do Paraná: tecendo saberes / organizado por Dulcyene Maria Ribeiro e Catarina Costa Fernandes — Foz do Iguaçu: Unioeste; Unila, 2014Este trabalho é resultado da integração entre teoria, prática e pesquisas desenvolvida na escola Municipal Centro de Educação Integral Augusto César Sandino como objetivo de relatar as experiências e atividades desenvolvidas durante o exercício da docência das bolsistas do Programa Institucional de Bolsa de iniciação á docência – PIBID. Neste processo de experiências buscamos articular a teoria, prática e a pesquisa, pois criam condições para problematizar e questionar premissas estabelecidas, que levam a novos caminhos, á novas práticas pedagógicas, necessárias à formação dos docentes, promovendo assim a integração entre educação superior e educação básic

Firm Diversification and Performance: An Empirical Examination

This paper examines several dimensions of the relationship between diversification and performance. Specifically, we investigate the link between related and unrelated diversification and performance. We also study the effect of the potential redeployment of ‘plastic’ assets on unrelated diversification. To investigate this, we estimated a dynamic panel on a data set of 2,396 diversified firms from the euro area, over the 2010-2017 sampling period. Empirical results indicate that an increase in the level of unrelated diversification, is significantly associated with an 0.65 percent improvement in performance, and related diversification with an 0.98 percent increase in performance. Additionally, we found that the level of unrelated diversification is positively and significantly impacted, 1.32 percent, by changes in the level of asset plasticity. Overall, our findings contribute to the corporate diversification literature by documenting that both, related and unrelated diversification, impact positively performance. Moreover, providing evidence consistent with the intuition that asset plasticity may be a positive factor for unrelated diversification strategies