Further evidence on the link between finance and growth: An international analysis of community banking and economic performance

We seek to contribute to both the finance-growth literature and the community banking literature by testing the effects of the relative health of community banks on economic growth and investigating potential transmission mechanisms for these effects using data from 1993–2000 on 49 nations. Data from both developed and developing nations suggest that larger market shares and higher efficiency rankings for small, private, domestically owned banks are associated with better economic performance, and that the marginal benefits of larger shares are greater when the banks are more efficient. Only mixed support is found for hypothesized transmission mechanisms through improved financing for SMEs or greater overall bank credit flows. The data from developing nations is also consistent with favourable economic effects from foreign-owned banks, but unfavourable effects from state-owned banks.banks; community banking; SMEs; financial development; economic growth; international

Further evidence on the link between finance and growth: An international analysis of community banking and economic performance

We seek to contribute to both the finance-growth literature and the community banking literature by testing the effects of the relative health of community banks on economic growth and investigating potential transmission mechanisms for these effects using data from 1993–2000 on 49 nations. Data from both developed and developing nations suggest that larger market shares and higher efficiency rankings for small, private, domestically owned banks are associated with better economic performance, and that the marginal benefits of larger shares are greater when the banks are more efficient. Only mixed support is found for hypothesized transmission mechanisms through improved financing for SMEs or greater overall bank credit flows. The data from developing nations is also consistent with favourable economic effects from foreign-owned banks, but unfavourable effects from state-owned banks.banks, community banking, SMEs, financial development, economic growth, international

Further evidence on the link between finance and growth: An international analysis of community banking and economic performance

We seek to contribute to both the finance-growth literature and the community banking literature by testing the effects of the relative health of community banks on economic growth and investigating potential transmission mechanisms for these effects using data from 1993–2000 on 49 nations. Data from both developed and developing nations suggest that larger market shares and higher efficiency rankings for small, private, domestically owned banks are associated with better economic performance, and that the marginal benefits of larger shares are greater when the banks are more efficient. Only mixed support is found for hypothesized transmission mechanisms through improved financing for SMEs or greater overall bank credit flows. The data from developing nations is also consistent with favourable economic effects from foreign-owned banks, but unfavourable effects from state-owned banks.banks, community banking, SMEs, financial development, economic growth, international

The ability of banks to lend to informationally opaque small businesses

Consolidation of the banking industry is shifting assets into larger institutions that often operate in many nations. Large international financial institutions are geared toward serving large wholesale customers. How does this affect the banking system's ability to lend to informationally opaque small businesses? The authors test hypotheses about the effects of bank size, foreign ownership, and distress on lending to informationally opaque small firms, using a rich new data set on Argentinean banks, firms, and loans. They also test hypotheses about borrowing from a single bank versus borrowing from several banks. Their results suggest that large and foreign-owned institutions may have difficulty extending relationship loans to opaque small firms, especially if small businesses are delinquent in repaying their loans. Bank distress resulting from lax prudential supervision and regulation appears to have no greater effect on small borrowers than on large borrowers, although even small firms may react to bank distress by borrowing from multiple banks, despite raising borrowing costs and destroying some of the benefits of exclusive lending relationships.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring,Banks&Banking Reform,Decentralization,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring,Economic Adjustment and Lending,Economic Theory&Research

Bank competition and financial stability

Under the traditional"competition-fragility"view, more bank competition erodes market power, decreases profit margins, and results in reduced franchise value that encourages bank risk taking. Under the alternative"competition-stability"view, more market power in the loan market may result in greater bank risk as the higher interest rates charged to loan customers make it more difficult to repay loans and exacerbate moral hazard and adverse selection problems. But even if market power in the loan market results in riskier loan portfolios, the overall risks of banks need not increase if banks protect their franchise values by increasing their equity capital or engaging in other risk-mitigating techniques. The authors test these theories by regressing measures of loan risk, bank risk, and bank equity capital on several measures of market power, as well as indicators of the business environment, using data for 8,235 banks in 23 developed nations. The results suggest that - consistent with the traditional"competition-fragility"view - banks with a greater degree of market power also have less overall risk exposure. The data also provide some support for one element of the"competition-stability"view - that market power increases loan portfolio risk. The authors show that this risk may be offset in part by higher equity capital ratios.Banks&Banking Reform,Debt Markets,Access to Finance,,Markets and Market Access

Bank ownership type and banking relationships

The authors formulate and test hypotheses about the role of bank ownership types-foreign, state-owned, and private domestic banks-in banking relationships, using data from India. The empirical results are consistent with all of their hypotheses with regard to foreign banks. These banks tend to serve as the main bank for transparent firms, and firms with foreign main banks are most likely to have multiple banking relationships, have the most relationships, and diversify relationships across bank ownership types. The data are also consistent with the hypothesis that firms with state-owned main banks are relatively unlikely to diversify across bank ownership types. However, state-owned banks often do not provide the main relationship for firms they are mandated to serve (for example, small, opaque firms), and the predictions of negative effects on multiple banking and number of relationships hold for only one type of state-owned bank.Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring,Banking Law,Economic Theory&Research

Fundamental investigation of losses of skeletal mineral in young adult human males and collaterally in young adult male pigtail monkeys /macacus nemestrima/ through immobilization for varying periods of time, coupled with a study of methods of preven

Skeletal mineral losses in young adult humans and monkeys resulting from immobilizatio

Motivating People with Chronic Pain to do Physical Activity: Opportunities for Technology Design

Physical activity is important for improving quality of life in people with chronic pain. However, actual or anticipated pain exacerbation, and lack of confidence when doing physical activity, make it difficult to maintain and build towards long-term activity goals. Research guiding the design of interactive technology to motivate and support physical activity in people with chronic pain is lacking. We conducted studies with: (1) people with chronic pain, to understand how they maintained and increased physical activity in daily life and what factors deterred them; and (2) pain-specialist physiotherapists, to understand how they supported people with chronic pain. Building on this understanding, we investigated the use of auditory feedback to address some of the psychological barriers and needs identified and to increase self-efficacy, motivation and confidence in physical activity. We conclude by discussing further design opportunities based on the overall findings

The Viscous Nonlinear Dynamics of Twist and Writhe

Exploiting the "natural" frame of space curves, we formulate an intrinsic dynamics of twisted elastic filaments in viscous fluids. A pair of coupled nonlinear equations describing the temporal evolution of the filament's complex curvature and twist density embodies the dynamic interplay of twist and writhe. These are used to illustrate a novel nonlinear phenomenon: ``geometric untwisting" of open filaments, whereby twisting strains relax through a transient writhing instability without performing axial rotation. This may explain certain experimentally observed motions of fibers of the bacterium B. subtilis [N.H. Mendelson, et al., J. Bacteriol. 177, 7060 (1995)].Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure