Accounting for the determinants of banks’ credit ratings

The contribution of the banking industry to the recent financial crisis 2007/8 has raised public concerns about the excessive involvement of banks in risky activities. In addition there have been public concerns about the ability of credit rating agencies to evaluate these risks in advance. In this context, this study uses an ordered logit analysis to examine the determinants of banks’ credit ratings using a sample of US and UK banks’ accounting data from 1994 to 2009. Our intention is to examine to what extent banks’ ratings reflect banks’ risks. Our analysis shows that a small number of accounting variables, namely: bank size, liquidity, efficiency and profitability are able to correctly assign credit rating for approximately 74% to 78% the sample banks. Surprisingly, the association between banks’ credit ratings and each of leverage asset quality and capital is not robust, suggesting that the rating agency’s models did not pick them up despite their importance in the crisis. In addition, the relationship between banks’ credit ratings and liquidity is the reverse of that which an adequate early warning system would require. As banks benefit from higher credit ratings they will have addressed their determinants rather than taking care of systemic factors that affect underlying risk. Policy makers therefore need to intervene to address this market failure.This study was financially supported by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)

Australian Sweet Persimmon Industry Development Project- Phase 4

The Australian persimmon industry grows mostly non-astringent varieties and is totally reliant upon overseas breeding programs for new varieties to satisfy consumer preferences into the future. Several new non-astringent varieties have been identified, mostly from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) persimmon breeding program in Japan, as potentially relevant to the Australian industry. Australian growers now have the ability to store persimmons for up to eight weeks by treating fruit with 1MCP then cold storing at 0oC. Embracing the new storage regimen will enable the industry to minimize the peaks and troughs of supply in the domestic market and extend fruit supply beyond the Australian harvest season. An export trade to distant markets is now feasible with the improved postharvest storage technique, as exporters and buyers will be confident of fruit quality on arrival. Persimmon orchard productivity could be improved by moving from the use of seedling rootstocks to vegetatively propagated rootstocks. Firstly, a vegetative propagation technique with the capacity to reliably produce large numbers of rootstock plants is required. Establishing the most productive rootstock selections will require long term field trials in the different persimmon production environments across Australia. Australian persimmon growers have new options for the control of mealybug following research quantifying the effectiveness of systemic insecticides clothianidin and sulfoxaflor. The systemic insecticides are more compatible with IPM programs where growers are using predators to assist in the control of mealybug

Fruitfulness of tablegrapes. A scoping study.

A research, development and extension plan for the low fruitfulness problem in the tablegrape variety Menindee Seedless has recently been developed for the Australian tablegrape industry. Symptoms of low fruitfulness include a lack of bunches and undersized bunches that are too small for premium quality fruit. The plan outlines the key areas for research, development and extension work and future industry investment

Improved management of charcoal rot of strawberry

A three-year research project undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and the Victorian Strawberry Industry Certification Authority (VSICA), and co-funded through Hort Innovation, has led to new practices enabling strawberry growers to improve the control of charcoal rot. Charcoal rot is a major disease of strawberry capable of causing devastating plant deaths and has a substantial financial impact through lost income. Charcoal rot is a soil borne disease caused by the fungus Macrophomina phaseolina and has been found in strawberries in all states of Australia, although not all strawberry production districts

Australian Sweet Persimmon Industry Development Project- Phase 4

The Australian persimmon industry grows mostly non-astringent varieties and is totally reliant upon overseas breeding programs for new varieties to satisfy consumer preferences into the future. Several new non-astringent varieties have been identified, mostly from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) persimmon breeding program in Japan, as potentially relevant to the Australian industry. Australian growers now have the ability to store persimmons for up to eight weeks by treating fruit with 1MCP then cold storing at 0oC. Embracing the new storage regimen will enable the industry to minimize the peaks and troughs of supply in the domestic market and extend fruit supply beyond the Australian harvest season. An export trade to distant markets is now feasible with the improved postharvest storage technique, as exporters and buyers will be confident of fruit quality on arrival. Persimmon orchard productivity could be improved by moving from the use of seedling rootstocks to vegetatively propagated rootstocks. Firstly, a vegetative propagation technique with the capacity to reliably produce large numbers of rootstock plants is required. Establishing the most productive rootstock selections will require long term field trials in the different persimmon production environments across Australia. Australian persimmon growers have new options for the control of mealybug following research quantifying the effectiveness of systemic insecticides clothianidin and sulfoxaflor. The systemic insecticides are more compatible with IPM programs where growers are using predators to assist in the control of mealybug

Interferometric wavefront sensing for extreme adaptive optics

Adaptive optics is concerned with the correction of phase distortions in wavefronts which degrade the quality of images produced by optical systems. It was originally developed for both astronomy and the military, where the Earth's atmosphere causes distortions, although other uses are now being developed. As ground based telescopes become increasingly large the size and complexity of adaptive optics systems also increase, creating "extreme adaptive optics”. This thesis deals with such an adaptive optics system. A novel self referenced phase shifting interferometer based on a liquid crystal (LC) waveplate is presented which can measure high spatial frequency phase distortions. This is then coupled to a LC spatial light modulator wavefront corrector. The geometry is matched such that there is no need for a wavefront reconstructor. The performance is measured in two stages. Firstly, spatially where static phase distortions are measured by the interferometer and corrected. Secondly, temporally where a simple analogue feedback is implemented to show correction over a single corrector pixel for fast time varying phase distortions. This work builds on other published research on using point diffraction interferometry in adaptive optics. The novelty lies in the development of a new implementation of a point diffraction interferometer, and in the demonstration of a high-speed closed loop single channel system. This work therefore contributes to the groundwork required to build an extreme adaptive optics system whose complexity scales linearly with the size (area) of the telescope aperture

Economic evaluation of screening for open angle glaucoma

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of screening for open-angle glaucoma (OAG) in the United Kingdom, given that OAG is an important cause of blindness worldwide. Methods: A Markov model was developed to estimate lifetime costs and benefits of a cohort of patients facing, alternatively, screening or current opportunistic case finding strategies. Strategies, varying in how screening would be organized (e.g., invitation for assessment by a glaucoma-trained optometrist [GO] or for simple test assessment by a technician) were developed, and allowed for the progression of OAG and treatment effects. Data inputs were obtained from systematic reviews. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Results: Screening was more likely to be cost-effective as prevalence increased, for 40 year olds compared with 60 or 75 year olds, when the re-screening interval was greater (10 years), and for the technician strategy compared with the GO strategy. For each age cohort and at prevalence levels of ≤1 percent, the likelihood that either screening strategy would be more cost-effective than current practice was small. For those 40 years of age, “technician screening” compared with current practice has an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) that society might be willing to pay when prevalence is 6 percent to 10 percent and at over 10 percent for 60 year olds. In the United Kingdom, the age specific prevalence of OAG is much lower. Screening by GO, at any age or prevalence level, was not associated with an ICER < £30,000. Conclusions: Population screening for OAG is unlikely to be cost-effective but could be for specific subgroups at higher risk.This study was developed from a health technology assessment on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of screening for open-angle glaucoma (OAG), funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme (project no. 04/08/02).Peer reviewedAuthor versio