Exploring the liquidity risk factors in the Balkan Region banking system

Liquidity as a field of study has received considerable attention from various researchers over the last few years. We have conducted this research in order to identify the factors affecting the liquidity of the banking system of nine Balkan countries, specifically Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia for a period of sixteen years. We collected data on factors such as capital adequacy, non-performing loans, deposit growth and bank profitability and analysed them using the following statistical techniques: a linear regression model using Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), a Fixed Effects Model, a Random Effects Model and a Hausman-Taylor regression to account for potential endogeneity, on a set of data collected from banks in nine Balkan states, during the period 2000-2015. We also analysed the macroeconomic factors influencing the bank's liquidity, such as GDP, inflation, unemployment and marginal interest rates. Based on panel data analysis, it is noted that specific factors and macroeconomic factors, specifically, capital adequacy, non-performing loans, deposit growth, GDP, unemployment rate and marginal interest rate, significantly affect bank liquidity. However, inflation and profitability do not.peer-reviewe

Determinants of the level of non-performing loans in commercial banks of transition countries

Problem loans have generated considerable academic and policy attention in recent years, fueled in part by the aftermath of the 2008-2009 economic crisis and subsequent credit crunch. Problem loans, referred to as non-performing loans (NPL), are loans which are not paid in the structured time period as set in the contract between the borrower and the bank. The goal of this study is to show the influence, in transition countries, of macroeconomic factors on the level of these loans. Specifically, factors such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP growth), inflation, unemployment and export growth shall be considered, using a variety of econometric models and specifications to ensure robustness, including Fixed and Random Effects Models and Arellano-Bond Dynamic Panel estimation. We use data from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund for a sample of transition countries over the period 2006 and 2016. Findings show that GDP growth and inflation are both negatively and significantly correlated with the level of NPLs, while unemployment is positively-related to NPLs. These results have important implications for banking stability within transition countries, and the role of macroeconomic policies in this regard.peer-reviewe

Pilot study in human healthy volunteers on the use of magnetohydrodynamics in needle-free continuous glucose monitoring

The benefits of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in diabetes management are extensively documented. Yet, the broader adoption of CGM systems is limited by their cost and invasiveness. Current CGM devices, requiring implantation or the use of hypodermic needles, fail to offer a convenient solution. We have demonstrated that magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is effective at extracting dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) containing glucose, without the use of needles. Here we present the first study of ISF sampling with MHD for glucose monitoring in humans. We conducted 10 glucose tolerance tests on 5 healthy volunteers and obtained a significant correlation between the concentration of glucose in ISF samples extracted with MHD and capillary blood glucose samples. Upon calibration and time lag removal, the data indicate a Mean Absolute Relative Difference (MARD) of 12.9% and Precision Absolute Relative Difference of 13.1%. In view of these results, we discuss the potential value and limitations of MHD in needle-free glucose monitoring.Peer reviewe

Departing from the essential features of a high quality systematic review of psychotherapy: A response to Öst (2014) and recommendations for improvement

Ost's (2014) systematic review and meta-analysis of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has received wide attention. On the basis of his review, Ost argued that ACT research was not increasing in its quality and that, in contradiction to the views of Division 12 of the American Psychological Association(APA), ACT is “not yet well-established for any disorder”(2014, p. 105). We conducted a careful examination of the methods, approach, and data used in the meta-analysis. Based in part on examinations by the authors of the studies involved, which were then independently checked, 91 factual or interpretive errors were documented, touching upon 80% of the studies reviewed. Comparisons of Ost's quality ratings with independent teams rating the same studies with the same scale suggest that Ost's ratings were unreliable. In all of these areas (factual errors; interpretive errors; quality ratings) mistakes and differences were not random: Ost's data were dominantly more negative toward ACT. The seriousness, range, and distribution of errors, and a wider pattern of misinterpreting the purpose of studies and ignoring positive results, suggest that Ost's review should be set aside in future considerations of the evidence base for ACT. We argue that future published reviews and meta-analyses should rely upon diverse groups of scholars rather than a single individual; that resulting raw data should be made available for inspection and independent analysis; that well-crafted committees rather than individuals should design, apply and interpret quality criteria; that the intent of transdiagnostic studies need to be more seriously considered as the field shifts away from a purely syndromal approach; and that data that demonstrate theoretically consistent mediating processes should be given greater weight in evaluating specific interventions. Finally, in order to examine substantive progress since Ost's review, recent outcome and process evidence was briefly examined