Bank deposits, liquidity management and macroeconomy

In this thesis, we investigate the role of deposits in bank liquidity management and macroeconomy empirically. The thesis is comprised of three main chapters as follows. This first chapter investigates how banks managed their liquidity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluate three potential channels banks manage their liquidity: the supply-side through the exercise of market discipline, the demand-side through internal capital markets, and the balance-sheet channel through unused credit commitments and wholesale funding. We provide novel empirical evidence on the absence of market discipline theory and internal capital market theory during the pandemic. Furthermore, it is shown that banks exposed to higher liquidity risk tend to experience larger deposit outflows and increased their exposure in Fed's liquidity facilities during the pandemic. The second chapter examines the US tri-party repo market operation by investigating the role of dealer's riskiness on the repo volume and rate during the post-crisis period (2010:Q2-2019:Q4) and the starting quarter of the pandemic (2020:Q1). We find the market perception of dealer's risk has negative impact on the reverse repo amount the dealer undertake. In addition, the second chapter investigates the relationship between bank Liquidity Mismatch Index (LMI) and the repo volume and rate banks undertake. We provide empirical evidence on LMI has good explanatory power on both banks' repo volume and rate. Finally, this chapter investigates the role of heterogeneity in deposit rates on predicting the severity of crisis and output. We show an increase in the heterogeneity has strong predicting power on the future economic downturns. More importantly, it is found an increase in the heterogeneity in deposit rates coupled with a fragile financial condition, leads to a more severe crisis. In addition, we show the changes in effective federal funds rate and deposit rates have significant negative impact on household's consumption and income, and this effect is heterogeneous among households according to balance sheet positions. This thesis contributes to the ongoing debates on bank liquidity management and the deposits channel of monetary policy transmission. The findings have important policy implications by showing the unique role of bank deposits in bank liquidity management and macroeconomy. Our main findings suggest that policy makers should be aware of the importance of liquidity facilities provided by the Federal Reserve and the repo market, especially during the liquidity stressed periods, as they are playing an essential role in funding bank's liquidity. Moreover, our findings relating to households suggest policy makers should aware that the effects on households' consumption from interest rate changes are heterogeneous among households based on their balance sheet positions

Impact of ownership type and firm size on organizational culture and on the organizational culture-effectiveness linkage

This paper aims to extend the extant (primarily Western) organizational culture literature to emerging economies by explicitly incorporating two key contextual variables-ownership type and firm size into organizational culture model. Based on the theoretical model developed by Denison and his colleagues, we examined the impact of ownership type and firm size on organizational culture, as well as the moderating effect of the two contextual variables on the linkage between organizational culture and firm effectiveness. Using survey data from foreign-invested and state-owned firms in China, we find that ownership type and firm size have significant influence on organizational culture. We also find that different ownership type and firm size result in different organizational cultural effect on performance

Percutaneous transthoracic catheter drainage prior to surgery in treating neonates with congenital macrocystic lung malformation presenting with respiratory distress

BackgoundIt is rarely seen that neonates with congenital macrocystic lung malformation (CMLM) presenting with respiratory distress require emergency intervention. No consensus has been achieved concerning the best policy facing such condition. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of our strategies in treating neonates with CMLM presenting with respiratory distress.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the data of six neonates with CMLM presenting with respiratory distress from April 2020 to October 2022 for whom drainage-prior-to-surgery strategy were adopted and favorable outcomes were obtained. The relevant data was reviewed and analyzed.ResultsAll the patients were prenatally diagnosed with congenital lung malformation and postnatally as congenital macrocystic lung malformation via CT scan. Each neonate accepted percutaneous thoracic catheter drainage prior to surgery. The first and fifth neonates with macrocystic lung mass experienced prompt open lobectomy and delayed thoracoscopic surgery due to failure of air drainage, respectively. The other four patients obtained good drainage of the large air-filled cyst, thus gaining the opportunity for elective thoracoscopic surgery within median 45 days.ConclusionsFor neonates with macrocystic lung malformation presenting with respiratory distress due to mediastinal compression, percutaneous thoracic catheter drainage is worth a shot for elective thoracoscopic surgery due to its feasibility and safety

Transfer of Virtual Water of Woody Forest Products from China

Global freshwater resources are under increasing pressure. It is reported that international trade of water-intensive products (the so-called virtual water trade) can be used to ease global water pressure. In spite of the significant amount of international trade of woody forest products, virtual water of woody forest products (VWWFP) and the corresponding international trade are largely ignored. However, virtual water research has progressed steadily. This study maps VWWFP and statistically analyzes China’s official data for the period 1993–2014. The results show a rapid increase in the trend of VWWFP flow from China, reaching 7.61 × 1012 m3 or 3.48 times annual virtual water trade for agricultural products. The export and import volumes of China are respectively 1.27 × 1012 m3 and 6.34 × 1012 m3 for 1993–2014. China imported a total of 5.07 × 1012 m3 of VWWFP in 1993–2014 to lessen domestic water pressure, which is five times the annual water transfer via China’s South–North Water Transfer project. Asia and Europe account for the highest contribution (50.52%) to China’s import. Other contributors include the Russian Federation (16.63%), Indonesia (13.45%), Canada (13.41%), the United States of America (9.60%), Brazil (7.23%) and Malaysia (6.33%). China mainly exports VWWFP to Asia (47.68%), North America (23.24%), and Europe (20.01%). The countries which export the highest amount of VWWFP include the United States of America, Japan, Republic of Korea and Canada. Then the countries which import the highest amount of VWWFP include the Russian Federation, Canada, United States of America, and Brazil. The VWWFP flow study shows an obvious geographical distribution that is driven by proximity and traffic since transportation cost of woody forest products could be significant

Spatial Pattern of Forest Carbon Storage in the Vertical and Horizontal Directions Based on HJ-CCD Remote Sensing Imagery

To provide a comprehensive understanding of the spatial distribution of forest carbon reserves, this study explores carbon storage and its spatial pattern in the horizontal and vertical directions on a provincial scale using HJ-CCD remote sensing imagery. Results show that carbon storage in the forests of Hubei Province was 784.46 Tg. In the horizontal direction, Enshi Prefecture contributed the most, with a contribution rate of 22.01%, followed by Yichang (18.74%), Shiyan (15.21%), and Xiangfan (10.61%). Coniferous forests contributed the most to the total carbon reserves of the forests, with a contribution rate of 71.34%, followed by broadleaf forests (25.36%), and mixed forests (3.30%). In the vertical direction, the environmental difference in the vertical direction of the forest ecosystem led to the obvious stratification of carbon storage in the vertical direction, that is: soil layer > tree canopy layer > shrub layer > litter layer. The soil layer had the largest carbon storage, contributing 76.63%, followed by the tree canopy layer (19.05%), shrub layer (2.39%), and litter layer (1.93%). The different contributing layers of coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests to carbon storage followed the same order: soil layer > tree canopy layer > shrub layer > litter layer

Monitoring Land-Use/Land-Cover Changes at a Provincial Large Scale Using an Object-Oriented Technique and Medium-Resolution Remote-Sensing Images

An object-based image analysis (OBIA) technique is replacing traditional pixel-based methods and setting a new standard for monitoring land-use/land-cover changes (LUCC). To date, however, studies have focused mainly on small-scale exploratory experiments and high-resolution remote-sensing images. Therefore, this study used OBIA techniques and medium-resolution Chinese HJ-CCD images to monitor LUCC at the provincial scale. The results showed that while woodland was mainly distributed in the west, south, and east mountain areas of Hunan Province, the west had the largest area and most continuous distribution. Wetland was distributed mainly in the northern plain area, and cultivated land was distributed mainly in the central and northern plains and mountain valleys. The largest impervious surface was the Changzhutan urban agglomerate in the northeast plain area. The spatial distribution of land cover in Hunan Province was closely related to topography, government policy, and economic development. For the period 2000⁻2010, the areas of cultivated land transformed into woodland, grassland, and wetland were 183.87 km2, 5.57 km2, and 70.02 km2, respectively, indicating that the government-promoted ecologically engineered construction was yielding some results. The rapid economic growth and urbanization, high resource development intensity, and other natural factors offset the gains made in ecologically engineered construction and in increasing forest and wetland areas, respectively, by 229.82 km2 and 132.12 km2 from 2000 to 2010 in Hunan Province. The results also showed large spatial differences in change amplitude (LUCCA), change speed (LUCCS), and transformation processes in Hunan Province. The Changzhutan urban agglomerate and the surrounding prefectures had the largest LUCCA and LUCCS, where the dominant land cover accounted for the conversion of some 189.76 km2 of cultivated land, 129.30 km2 of woodland, and 6.12 km2 of wetland into impervious surfaces in 2000⁻2010. This conversion was attributed to accelerated urbanization and rapid economic growth in this region

Transfer of Virtual Water of Woody Forest Products from China

Global freshwater resources are under increasing pressure. It is reported that international trade of water-intensive products (the so-called virtual water trade) can be used to ease global water pressure. In spite of the significant amount of international trade of woody forest products, virtual water of woody forest products (VWWFP) and the corresponding international trade are largely ignored. However, virtual water research has progressed steadily. This study maps VWWFP and statistically analyzes China’s official data for the period 1993–2014. The results show a rapid increase in the trend of VWWFP flow from China, reaching 7.61 × 1012 m3 or 3.48 times annual virtual water trade for agricultural products. The export and import volumes of China are respectively 1.27 × 1012 m3 and 6.34 × 1012 m3 for 1993–2014. China imported a total of 5.07 × 1012 m3 of VWWFP in 1993–2014 to lessen domestic water pressure, which is five times the annual water transfer via China’s South–North Water Transfer project. Asia and Europe account for the highest contribution (50.52%) to China’s import. Other contributors include the Russian Federation (16.63%), Indonesia (13.45%), Canada (13.41%), the United States of America (9.60%), Brazil (7.23%) and Malaysia (6.33%). China mainly exports VWWFP to Asia (47.68%), North America (23.24%), and Europe (20.01%). The countries which export the highest amount of VWWFP include the United States of America, Japan, Republic of Korea and Canada. Then the countries which import the highest amount of VWWFP include the Russian Federation, Canada, United States of America, and Brazil. The VWWFP flow study shows an obvious geographical distribution that is driven by proximity and traffic since transportation cost of woody forest products could be significant

Banks' Liquidity Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic

How banks managed the COVID-19 pandemic shock? The eruption of the financial crisis in 2007 evolved to a crisis of banks as liquidity providers (Acharya and Mora, 2015). The COVID-19 pandemic shock was associated with a surge in households’ deposits and a subsequent liquidity injection by the Federal Reserve. We show how the pandemic affected banks’ liquidity management and therefore by extension, the creation of new loans. We empirically evaluate the creation and management of banks’ liquidity through three well established mechanisms: market discipline (supply-side), internal capital markets (demand-side), and the balance-sheet mechanism which captures banks’ exposure to liquidity demand risk. We provide novel empirical evidence showing that households increased savings as a precaution against future declines in their income. Also, depositors did not discipline riskier banks, and the internal capital market mechanism was not in work during the pandemic. Hence, weakly-capitalized banks were not forced to offer higher deposit rates to stem deposit outflows. Furthermore, weakly-capitalized banks increased lending in the first phase of the pandemic, while in the midst of the pandemic, they cut back new lending origination and increased their exposure to Fed’s liquidity facilities. Well-capitalized banks on the other hand, increased lending in line with the increase in their deposits. Banks with higher exposure to liquidity risk were vulnerable to deposit outflows and increased their exposure in Fed’s liquidity facilities significantly more than low-commitments exposed banks

Does Quality of Life Act as a Protective Factor against Believing Health Rumors? Evidence from a National Cross-Sectional Survey in China

A high quality of life (QoL), an individual’s subjective assessment of overall life condition, has been shown to have a protective effect against negative behaviors. However, whether QoL protects people from the harmful impact of health rumors is still unknown. In this study, a national survey in China (n = 3633) was conducted to explore the relationship between health rumor belief (HRB) and QoL, which includes physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains. The results show that people with a poor perception of their physical health are more likely to believe health rumors. Additionally, those who had better self-reported satisfaction in social relationships were more susceptible to health rumors. Furthermore, women and older adults showed a greater belief in health rumors. This study expands upon our understanding of how people with different QoL levels interact with false health-related information. Based on health-rumor-susceptible groups, several essential online and offline strategies to govern health rumors are also proposed