Gender and Banking: Are Women Better Loan Officers?

We analyze gender differences associated with loan officer performance. Using a unique data set for a commercial bank in Albania over the period 1996 to 2006, we find that loans screened and monitored by female loan officers show statistically and economically significant lower default rates than loans handled by male loan officers. This effect comes in addition to a lower default rate of female borrowers and cannot be explained by sample selection, overconfidence of male loan officers or experience differences between female and male loan officers. Our results seem to be driven by differences in monitoring, as loan officers of different gender do not seem to screen borrowers differently based on observable borrower characteristics. This suggests that gender indeed matters in banking.Behavioral banking;loan officers;gender;loan default;monitoring;screening

The Impact of Public Guarantees on Bank Risk Taking: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

In 2001, government guarantees for savings banks in Germany were removed following a law suit. We use this natural experiment to examine the effect of government guarantees on bank risk taking, using a large data set of matched bank/borrower information. The results suggest that banks whose government guarantee was removed reduced credit risk by cutting off the riskiest borrowers from credit. At the same time, the banks also increased interest rates on their remaining borrowers. The effects are economically large: the Z-Score of average borrowers increased by 7% and the average loan size declined by 13%. Remaining borrowers paid 57 basis points higher interest rates, despite their higher quality. Using a difference-in-differences approach we show that the effect is larger for banks that ex ante benefitted more from the guarantee. We show that both the credit quality of new customers improved (screening) and that the loans of existing riskier borrowers were less likely to be renewed (monitoring), after the removal of public guarantees. Public guarantees seem to be associated with substantial moral hazard effects.banking;public guarantees;credit risk;moral hazard

Is the Brazilian stockmarket efficient?

Employing both cointegration analysis and a variety of Granger causality tests, we examine whether the Brazilian stockmarket is efficient in processing new information about public macroeconomic data (semi-strong efficiency). We find the stockmarket to be inefficient, which is in line with most results for other emerging markets.

Towards a feminist hermeneutic of Mark 7: 24-30

Bibliography: pages 133-139.Behind the overt sexism and racism exhibited in Mk7.24-30, lies a message of Liberation. This message of liberation is discerned through understanding the text as primarily reflecting its context of origin. This thesis argues that inherent in the bible is a message of liberation far all; and that this message has been lost through being written, redacted and interpreted, in a primarily androcentric environment. The task of this thesis is thus to discern whether this message of liberation is reflected in Mk7.24-30, and if so, to expose it and develop a feminist hermeneutic based on this understanding. Mark must be recognised as existing specifically as a text, and recognising its textual nature is crucial to understanding Mk7.24-30. This thesis holds that every text is shaped by the environment in which it in set and created, it is also shaped by the anticipated readers. In examining Mk7.24-3), the setting of the story is recognised as Palestine, and the audience for which it was written is seen to be the Roman Christians. Both Palestine and Rome are examined from a Historical Materialist perspective, in an attempt to discern ways in which the two environments contributed toward the shaping of the text. Once the text is recognised as primarily reflecting the dominant patriarchal ideology of the day, this thesis attempts to discern whether Mk7.24-30 contains a message of liberation. In reading the text from the perspective of the Syro-Phonoecian woman, and by examining the actions of both Jesus and the woman, we show how the text may indeed be liberatory to women, and all marginalised people, despite the harsh racist and sexist overtones

Informational inefficiency of the Brazilian stockmarket

Employing both cointegration analysis and a variety of Granger causality tests, we examine whether the Brazilian stockmarket is efficient in processing new information about public macroeconomic data (semi-strong efficiency). We find the stockmarket to be inefficient, which is in line with most results for other emerging markets.stockmarket semi-strong informational efficiency; cointegration; Granger causality; macroeconomic variables; Brazilian economy

Eficiência informacional no mercado de ações do Brasil: análise de cointegração e causalidade de Granger

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Sócio-Econômico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em EconomiaEste trabalho se propõe a testar a hipótese de eficiência no mercado de ações brasileiro com base nas informações divulgadas sobre variáveis macroeconômicas do país, mediante a análise de cointegração e teste de causalidade de Granger. Em geral, na literatura, os países desenvolvidos são classificados como eficientes, enquanto os em desenvolvimentos, como ineficientes. Além dos testes de cointegração, que apresentam controvérsias quanto a sua eficácia em testar a eficiência de mercado, e de causalidade de Granger padrão, foram realizados os testes de causalidade de Granger com mecanismo de correção de erro (MCE) e pela metodologia de Toda e Yamamoto (1995). Para contornar o problema de defasagem na divulgação das informações todos estes testes foram estimados também a partir das expectativas das séries, obtidas por meio de modelos de previsão. Para verificar a relação com o Ibovespa foram utilizadas nos testes as seguintes variáveis macroeconômicas: o Produto Interno Bruto (PIB), a produção industrial, a taxa de inflação (medida pelo IPCA), o risco país, a taxa Selic, a taxa de câmbio e o agregado monetário (no conceito M4), considerando o período de janeiro de 1995 a dezembro de 2005. Todos os testes propostos neste trabalho indicaram ineficiência do mercado de mercado de ações brasileiro; os resultados, portanto, são consistentes com a maioria dos estudos realizados para outros países em desenvolvimento. We test whether the Brazilian stock market is efficient regarding the processing of information coming from macroeconomic variables (semi-strong efficiency). We employ both cointegration analysis (which is controversial) and Granger causality tests. In particular we consider Granger causality with error correction as well as with Toda and Yamamoto' (1995) methodology. By considering the series' expectations from forecasting models, we also take into account the problem of information delay. To verify the relation with the Ibovespa, we used the follow macroeconomic variables: Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Industrial Production, inflation rate (measured by IPCA), country risk, Selic interest rate, exchange rate and monetary aggregate M4 concept, covering the period from January of 1995 to December of 2005. We find the stock market to be inefficient, thereby conforming previous results from other emerging market

Stigmatization of psychiatric patients by nurses

Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati stavove i stupanj socijalne distance prema pacijentima s psihijatrijskom dijagnozom od strane medicinskih sestara/tehničara kako bi se mogle planirati aktivnosti usmjerene na smanjenje stigme i socijalne distance. To je važno jer stavovi i ponašanje medicinskih sestara/tehničara uvelike utječu na samostigmatizaciju pacijenata, a time i na njihovo stanje i oporavak, ali imaju utjecaj i na stavove i socijalnu distancu od strane društva u cjelini. Na uzorku od 171 ispitanika, putem MICA-4 skale stavova i skale socijalne distance, ispitani su stavovi i stupanj socijalne distance prema psihičkim bolesnicima od strane medicinskih sestara/tehničara sa iskustvom rada na psihijatrijskim odjelima i na različitim somatskim odjelima. Rezultati ukazuju da nije prisutna visoka razina stigmatizirajućih stavova (MICA=40.02), a stupanj socijalne distance prema oboljelima od psihijatrijskih bolesti nije se pokazao visok, nego umjeren. Sadržajnom analizom stavova, vidljivo je da su neki stigmatizirajući stavovi ipak prisutni: više od 60 % ispitanika se slaže da su psihijatrijski pacijenti opasni, 70 % navodi da nikada ne bi rekli prijateljima da boluju od psihičkog poremećaja, a 70 % navodi da, ako se osoba oboljela od psihičkog poremećaja požali na somatske smetnje to bi pripisali psihičkoj bolesti. Najviši stupanj socijalne distance zabilježen je prema liječenim narkomanima i oboljelima od shizofrenije, a najmanji prema oboljelim od depresije i anksioznosti. Utjecaj mjesta rada (psihijatrija/somatski odjel) i sociodemografskih karakteristika (dob, mjesto stanovanja, broj godina radnog iskustva, spol i roditeljstvo) na stavove i stupanj socijalne nije utvrđen kao statistički značajan. Možemo zaključiti da unatoč tome što medicinske sestre/tehničari ne ispoljavaju negativne stavove i socijalnu distancu u visokom stupnju, stigmatizacija je ipak prisutna, posebice prema narkomanima i oboljelima od shizofrenije te postoji potreba za planiranjem posebnih aktivnosti usmjerenih na borbu protiv stigme.Nurse's attitudes and behaviour have an impact on both self-stigmatization and recovery of patients, and social distance toward psychiatric patients in society. This study aimed to establish the attitudes and social distance of nurses towards psychiatric patients, in order to plan future activities to reduce stigmatization. The study involved 171 participants, including psychiatric nurses and nurses on other departments. The assessment was made with self-administered Clinicians' Attitudes (MICA) v4 scale and the scale of social distance. The total score of MICA was 40.02, suggesting low level of stigmatization. Level of social distance toward patients with mental illness was moderate. Factor analysis revealed stigmatization is some areas, in terms of belief that psychiatric patients are dangerous (60 %), in case of its own psychiatric condition, not willing to admit it (70 %), and tendency to contribute somatic complaints complaints in psychiatric patients to their psychiatric illness (70 %). The highest level of social distance was expressed against drug addicts and patients with schizophrenia, whilst the lowest distance was reported towards patients with depression and anxiety disorders. Working facilities (mental health nurses vs other nurses) and demographic data (age, gender, city of residence, years of professional experience, parenthood) did not influence attitudes and social distance views. The present study supports that, despite lack of high stigmatization towards psychiatric patients, there is a certain amount of social distance, particularly towards drug addicts and schizophrenic patients. There is a need for additiona

Stigmatization of psychiatric patients by nurses

Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati stavove i stupanj socijalne distance prema pacijentima s psihijatrijskom dijagnozom od strane medicinskih sestara/tehničara kako bi se mogle planirati aktivnosti usmjerene na smanjenje stigme i socijalne distance. To je važno jer stavovi i ponašanje medicinskih sestara/tehničara uvelike utječu na samostigmatizaciju pacijenata, a time i na njihovo stanje i oporavak, ali imaju utjecaj i na stavove i socijalnu distancu od strane društva u cjelini. Na uzorku od 171 ispitanika, putem MICA-4 skale stavova i skale socijalne distance, ispitani su stavovi i stupanj socijalne distance prema psihičkim bolesnicima od strane medicinskih sestara/tehničara sa iskustvom rada na psihijatrijskim odjelima i na različitim somatskim odjelima. Rezultati ukazuju da nije prisutna visoka razina stigmatizirajućih stavova (MICA=40.02), a stupanj socijalne distance prema oboljelima od psihijatrijskih bolesti nije se pokazao visok, nego umjeren. Sadržajnom analizom stavova, vidljivo je da su neki stigmatizirajući stavovi ipak prisutni: više od 60 % ispitanika se slaže da su psihijatrijski pacijenti opasni, 70 % navodi da nikada ne bi rekli prijateljima da boluju od psihičkog poremećaja, a 70 % navodi da, ako se osoba oboljela od psihičkog poremećaja požali na somatske smetnje to bi pripisali psihičkoj bolesti. Najviši stupanj socijalne distance zabilježen je prema liječenim narkomanima i oboljelima od shizofrenije, a najmanji prema oboljelim od depresije i anksioznosti. Utjecaj mjesta rada (psihijatrija/somatski odjel) i sociodemografskih karakteristika (dob, mjesto stanovanja, broj godina radnog iskustva, spol i roditeljstvo) na stavove i stupanj socijalne nije utvrđen kao statistički značajan. Možemo zaključiti da unatoč tome što medicinske sestre/tehničari ne ispoljavaju negativne stavove i socijalnu distancu u visokom stupnju, stigmatizacija je ipak prisutna, posebice prema narkomanima i oboljelima od shizofrenije te postoji potreba za planiranjem posebnih aktivnosti usmjerenih na borbu protiv stigme.Nurse's attitudes and behaviour have an impact on both self-stigmatization and recovery of patients, and social distance toward psychiatric patients in society. This study aimed to establish the attitudes and social distance of nurses towards psychiatric patients, in order to plan future activities to reduce stigmatization. The study involved 171 participants, including psychiatric nurses and nurses on other departments. The assessment was made with self-administered Clinicians' Attitudes (MICA) v4 scale and the scale of social distance. The total score of MICA was 40.02, suggesting low level of stigmatization. Level of social distance toward patients with mental illness was moderate. Factor analysis revealed stigmatization is some areas, in terms of belief that psychiatric patients are dangerous (60 %), in case of its own psychiatric condition, not willing to admit it (70 %), and tendency to contribute somatic complaints complaints in psychiatric patients to their psychiatric illness (70 %). The highest level of social distance was expressed against drug addicts and patients with schizophrenia, whilst the lowest distance was reported towards patients with depression and anxiety disorders. Working facilities (mental health nurses vs other nurses) and demographic data (age, gender, city of residence, years of professional experience, parenthood) did not influence attitudes and social distance views. The present study supports that, despite lack of high stigmatization towards psychiatric patients, there is a certain amount of social distance, particularly towards drug addicts and schizophrenic patients. There is a need for additiona

Towards the use of sequential patterns for detection and characterization of natural and agricultural areas

Nowadays, a huge amount of high resolution satellite images are freely available. Such images allow researchers in environmental sciences to study the different natural habitats and farming practices in a remote way. However, satellite images content strongly depends on the season of the acquisition. Due to the periodicity of natural and agricultural dynamics throughout seasons, sequential patterns arise as a new opportunity to model the behaviour of these environments. In this paper, we describe some preliminary results obtained with a new framework for studying spatiotemporal evolutions over natural and agricultural areas using k-partite graphs and sequential patterns extracted from segmented Landsat images.Postprint (author’s final draft