Exchange Rate Regimes and Volatility: Comparison of the Snake and Visegrad

Exchange rate stability was defined as one of the prerequisites for monetary integration in Europe. In this paper, we analyze recent developments in the volatility of exchange rates of the Central European countries (the Visegrad Group) and a selected group of European Union countries (the Snake) participating in the former European Monetary System. We compare volatilities in the currencies of both groups under specific exchange rate regimes using two different approaches to modeling exchange rate volatility: squared returns parametric model and GARCH. Both methods provide identical results for the currencies of the Visegrad group: an increase in volatility after a floating exchange rate regime was introduced. The case of the Snake countries exhibits mixed results for two currencies and a concurring result for the others: a decrease in volatility. In one case we are left with an insignificant coefficient. We consider the results as robust and suitable for policy making decisions.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40008/2/wp622.pd

Exchange Rate Regimes and Volatility: Comparison of the Snake and Visegrad

Exchange rate stability was defined as one of the prerequisites for monetary integration in Europe. In this paper, we analyze recent developments in the volatility of exchange rates of the Central European countries (the Visegrad Group) and a selected group of European Union countries (the Snake) participating in the former European Monetary System. We compare volatilities in the currencies of both groups under specific exchange rate regimes using two different approaches to modeling exchange rate volatility: squared returns parametric model and GARCH. Both methods provide identical results for the currencies of the Visegrad group: an increase in volatility after a floating exchange rate regime was introduced. The case of the Snake countries exhibits mixed results for two currencies and a concurring result for the others: a decrease in volatility. In one case we are left with an insignificant coefficient. We consider the results as robust and suitable for policy making decisions.exchange rate regime, volatility, transition, integration, Central Europe, European Union, nonlinearity, interest rate parity

Ownership, Control and Corporate Performance After Large-Scale Privatization

We analyze the effects of ownership type and concentration on performance of a population of firms in a model large-scale privatization economy (Czech Republic). Using specifications based on first-differences and unique instrumental variables, we find that few types of private ownership improve dynamic post-privatization performance. Concentrated foreign (but not domestic) ownership improves some measures of performance relative to state ownership. Foreign investors engage in strategic restructuring by increasing the rate of change of sales, while domestic private owners reduce the rate of change of sales and labor cost without increasing profitability. The effects of concentrated foreign ownership support the agency theory and go against theories stressing the positive effects of managerial autonomy and initiative. Our results are also consistent with the thesis that large domestic stockholders are not improving performance because they loot the firms. We find some support for the hypothesis that firms restructure by first lowering and later increasing the rate of change of employment. The state as a holder of the golden share has a positive effect on employment, while stimulating profitable restructuring. The state hence appears as a more economically and socially helping agent than in some recent studies.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40038/3/wp652.pd

Ownership, Control and Corporate Performance After Large-Scale Privatization

We analyze the effects of ownership type and concentration on performance of a population of firms in a model large-scale privatization economy (Czech Republic). Using specifications based on first-differences and unique instrumental variables, we find that few types of private ownership improve dynamic post-privatization performance. Concentrated foreign (but not domestic) ownership improves some measures of performance relative to state ownership. Foreign investors engage in strategic restructuring by increasing the rate of change of sales, while domestic private owners reduce the rate of change of sales and labor cost without increasing profitability. The effects of concentrated foreign ownership support the agency theory and go against theories stressing the positive effects of managerial autonomy and initiative. Our results are also consistent with the thesis that large domestic stockholders are not improving performance because they loot the firms. We find some support for the hypothesis that firms restructure by first lowering and later increasing the rate of change of employment. The state as a holder of the golden share has a positive effect on employment, while stimulating profitable restructuring. The state hence appears as a more economically and socially helping agent than in some recent studies.ownership, performance, privatization, corporate governance, panel data, endogeneity, industrial organization

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms