How does competition affect efficiency and soundness in banking? New empirical evidence

A growing body of literature indicates that competition increases bank soundness. Applying an industrial organization based approach to large data sets for European and U.S. banks, we offer new empirical evidence that efficiency plays a key role in the transmission from competition to soundness. We use a two-pronged approach. First, we employ Granger causality tests to establish the link between competition and measures of profit efficiency in banking, and find that competition indeed increases bank efficiency. Second, building on these results, we examine the relation between the Boone indicator [Boone, J. (2001) Intensity of competition and the incentive to innovate. IJIO, Vol. 19, pp. 705-726], an innovative measure of competition that focuses on the impact of competition on performance of efficient banks, and relate this measure to bank soundness. We find evidence that competition robustly increases bank soundness, via the efficiency channel. JEL Classification: G21, G28, L11Bank competition, Efficiency, market structure, regulation, soundness

Alzheimer's Disease Profile in the UDS Neuropsychological Battery

Background: Neuropsychological assessment plays a key role in cognitive impairment diagnosis. Moreover, determining the cognitive profile can help to uncover the aetiology of the impairment. Previous studies found that memory impairment is especially typical for Alzheimer's disease. In UDS 2, one of most common neuropsychological batteries, this is manifested by a low score in Logical Memory test. Aims: To describe a profile of early cognitive deficit in Alzheimer disease using the UDS 2 battery in comparison with deficits of other aetiologies and to assess the ability of UDS 2 to distinguish Alzheimer's disease from other causes of cognitive deficit. Methods: 190 patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment underwent an assessment of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers, UDS 2 battery and other neuropsychological tests. The probability of suffering from Alzheimer's disease was modelled with the use of binominal regression on the neuropsychological assessment results. Results: Using UDS 2 battery, Alzheimer's disease patients can be best discriminated from patients with otherwise caused cognitive deficit with the test of episodic memory (delayed recall score in Logical Memory test). Other tests significantly improved the accuracy of the estimate of probability of suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Therefore,...Východiska: Neuropsychologické vyšetření je nezastupitelné při diagnostice kognitivního deficitu, navíc může určením profilu deficitu pomoci k odhalení etiologie onemocnění. Předchozí studie ukázaly, že Alzheimerova nemoc je typická zejm. paměťovými poruchami, což se v UDS 2, jedné z nejpoužívanějších neuropsychologických baterií, projevuje zhoršeným výkonem v testu Logické paměti. Cíle: Popsat profil časného kognitivního deficitu v baterii UDS 2 u Alzheimerovy nemoci v porovnání s deficity jiných etiologií a posoudit schopnost UDS 2 Alzheimerovu nemoc od ostatních příčin deficitu odlišit. Metody: 190 pacientů s mírnou kognitivní poruchou bylo podrobeno vyšetření alzheimerovských biomarkerů, vyšetření baterií UDS 2 a dalšími neuropsychologickými testy. Binomickou regresí byla na základě neuropsychologických vyšetření modelována pravděpodobnost, že má pacient pozitivní alzheimerovské biomarkery. Výsledky: Mezi pacienty s Alzheimerovou nemocí a pacienty s kognitivním deficitem jiné etiologie v rámci UDS 2 nejlépe rozlišuje test epizodické paměti (oddálené vybavení Logické paměti). Další testy byly schopné významně zpřesnit odhad, zdali pacient trpí Alzheimerovou nemocí: samotná baterie UDS 2 tedy není pro vyšetření etiologie mírné kognitivní poruchy postačující. Klíčová slova Alzheimerova nemoc,...Department of PsychologyKatedra psychologieFilozofická fakultaFaculty of Art

What are the driving forces of bank competition across different income groups of countries?

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.This paper rigorously investigates the determinants of bank competition for 146 countries over the sample period 1999–2011. The results employing both the Lerner index and the Boone indicator, reveal the distinctive characteristics of the competition drivers across different income groups of countries. Amongst other things, a concentrated banking system jeopardises competitiveness in developing economies, however, such a causal nexus is absent for advanced and emerging economies. Contestability and institutional development seem to boost competition in less-developed banking systems, whereas inter-industry competition and financial freedom are beneficial to advanced banking systems. These findings survive robustness tests

Repensar la profundización financiera: estabilidad y crecimiento en los mercados emergentes

This paper uses a new measure of financial development to show that many benefits in terms of growth and stability can still be reaped from further financial development in most emerging markets. First, it defines financial development as a combination of depth, access and efficiency. Second, it highlights that the economic growth weakens at higher levels of financial development. Third, it indicates that the pace of financial development matters. Forth, it provides a new angle related to the tradeoffs of financial regulation. Finally, it finds that there is no “one-size-fits-all” in the sequencing of developing financial institutions versus markets, though as economies evolve the relative benefits from institutions decline and those from markets increase.En este escrito se usa una nueva medida del desarrollo financiero para mostrar que la mayoría de los mercados emergentes aún puede obtener beneficios de crecimiento y estabilidad con un mayor desarrollo financiero. Primero define el desarrollo financiero como una combinación de profundidad, acceso y eficiencia. Luego muestra que el crecimiento económico se debilita a mayores niveles de desarrollo financiero y que el ritmo del desarrollo financiero es importante; además propone una nueva manera de ver los “tradeoffs” de la regulación financiera. Concluye que no hay una secuencia única en el desarrollo de las instituciones y los mercados financieros, aunque se observa cuando las economías se desarrollan los beneficios relativos de las instituciones disminuyen y los de los mercados aumentan

The diffusion of financial supervisory governance ideas

Who is watching the financial services industry? Since 1980, there have been multiple waves of thought about whether the ministry of finance, the central bank, a specialized regulator or some combination of these should have supervisory authority. These waves have been associated with the convergence of actual practices. How much and through what channels did internationally promoted ideas about supervisory 'best practice' influence institutional design choices? I use a new dataset of 83 countries and jurisdictions between the 1980s and 2007 to examine the diffusion of supervisory ideas. With this data, I employ Cox Proportional Hazard and Competing Risks Event History Analyses to evaluate the possible causal roles best practice policy ideas might have played. I find that banking crises and certain peer groups can encourage policy convergence on heavily promoted ideas

Marketing strategy of the company Büroprofi

V této bakalářské práci se zabýváme analýzou marketingové strategie společnosti Büroprofi. Práce je složena ze dvou částí a to z části teoretické a části praktické. V úvodní části jsou definovány hlavní pojmy a termíny související s marketingem této společnosti. Praktická část je následně věnována představení společnosti Büroprofi a četným analýzám. Tyto analýzy jsou zaměřeny na konkurenci a také na celkovou marketingovou strategii této společnosti. V poslední části se nachází SWOT analýza a cenové srovnání v rámci konkurence. Výstupem této práce je kritické zhodnocení marketingové strategie této společnosti a následné navržení doporučení do budoucna.In this bachelor thesis we analyze the marketing strategy of the company Büroprofi. The work combines two parts. First part is theoretical and the second is the practical part. The theoretical part provides definitions of key terms and concepts associated with marketing of the company . The practical part of the thesis consist of the company introduction and numerous analyzes. These analyzes are focused on competition and also on the overall marketing strategy of the company. The last part includes SWOT analysis and price analysis within the competition. The outcome of this work is a critical evaluation of the marketing strategy of the company and also numerous recommendations for the future

Bone pins of the Early Bronze Age in Bohemia and Moravia

Bone pins of the Early Bronze Age are interesting, not too frequent, and still properly unprocessed kind of artifact. Probably based on an older tradition, but they were soon replaced by the metal pins. The main objective is to develop as most detailed catalog of findings as is possible, tracking the finding context and chronological position of bone pins in the Early Bronze Age in Bohemia. The subject of the work is also a question of technology used in the production bone and antler industry and its evidence from the Bronze Age, focusing on the technology and processes used in the production of bone pins. Another factor which is monitored is the social status of bearers of the bone pins in the Early Bronze Age

The Relation between Attention and Consciousness

Bakalářská práce seznamuje se zjištěními experimentů zkoumajících vzájemný vztah vědomí a různých druhů pozornosti (automatické a volní; objektové, prostorové a k rysům) a shrnuje empirické i teoretické argumenty pro a proti disociaci pozornosti a vědomí. Práce dochází k závěru, že z literatury vyplývá, že pozornost je nutnou, avšak nikoliv postačující podmínkou vědomí. Ve druhé části práce je navrhována replikační experimentální studie, jejímž cílem je ověřit, zda interakce mezi pozorností a vědomím zjištěné v rámci zrakové modality platí i v modalitě sluchové. Klíčová slova: vědomí, pozornost, vnímání, experimentální psychologieThe bachelor thesis presents findings of experiments which examined mutual relation between consciousness and various types of attention (top-down and bottom-up; feature, objective and spatial) and summarizes both empirical and theoretical arguments for and against dissociation of attention and consciousness. The conclusion of the thesis is that the literature implies attention being necessary but not sufficient condition for consciousness. In the second part of the thesis a replication study is proposed which aims to verify whether interactions of consciousness and attention, found previously within the visual modality, appear within the auditory modality as well. Keywords: consciousness, attention, perception, experimental psychologyDepartment of PsychologyKatedra psychologieFaculty of ArtsFilozofická fakult