Gasoline price asymmetries in the Euro Zone

This paper uses the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation to a panel data error correction model (ECM) in order to measure the asymmetries in the transmission of shocks to input prices and exchange rate onto the wholesale and retail gasoline price respectively. For this purpose, we use an updated data set of weekly observations covering the period from January 2000 to February 2011 for eleven euro zone countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain). The results favor the common perception that retail and wholesale gasoline prices respond asymmetrically to cost increases and decreases.Generalized method of moments; panel data; asymmetries; euro zone; error correction models

The gasoline Industry in European Union and the USA

This paper explores whether asymmetric pricing can be identified in the eleven euro zone countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) by utilizing Error Correction Model on the weekly price changes in order to assess current and future potential. The sample spans from July 1996 to August 2011. We also try to analyze the effect of competition on the dynamic adjustment of gasoline price to which has been paid scant attention in the past. The results favor the common perception that retail gasoline prices respond asymmetrically to cost increases and decreases both in the long and the short-run. At the wholesale segment, there is a symmetric response of the spot prices of gasoline towards the adjustment to the short-run responses of the exchange rate.asymmetric pricing; euro zone countries; dynamic ordinary least squares; error correction model; unit root; Cointegration techniques; gasoline prices; competition; oil industry

Theology and Rhetoric: Nicholas Kabasilas between Thomas Magistros and Makarios Makres

This article contributes to the ongoing discussion about the relationship between Nicholas Kabasilas and Palamite theology by examining Nicholas Kabasilas’ understanding of the life in Christ as expressed in his hagiography. In particular, it uncovers a new source for Kabasilas’ intellectualist approach to spirituality in his encomium on St. Demetrios Myroblytes (BHG 543), namely the Oration on Gregory of Nazianzus by Thomas Magistros. Kabasilas’ hagiographical encomia would later influence the writings of Makarios Makres, a fifteenth-century Palamite author with somewhat different theological commitments.       &nbsp

Panel data estimation techniques and mark up ratios

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the market power of the Greek manufacturing and services industry over the period 1970-2007. In particular, the empirical model, estimates the mark-up ratio following the Roeger (1995) methodology, separately for the two industries by using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Two Stage Ordinary Least Squares (TSLS) in two unbalanced panel data sets. The sample comprises a total of 23 and 26 two-digit NACE codes. The empirical results indicate the existence of significant market power in the Greek manufacturing and services industry. Moreover, mark-up ratios vary significantly between the two industries, with services having higher mark ups than manufacturing.peer-reviewe

Ship demolition activity: A monetary flow process approach

The demolition market assists in balancing the supply and demand in the shipping industry and is a major driver of market equilibrium and the level of freight rates. Even so, literature related to ship demolition, focuses mainly on the environmental and regulatory aspects of the topic. Literature related to the economic analysis of the industry and the factors affecting demolition activity is rather limited and sporadic. From this perspective the current paper is helpful to further build up insight of the shipbreaking industry. The decision to sell a ship for scrap is driven by a number of factors with the most important being the state of the market cycle. The offered scrap price for the ship will also affect the decision of the shipowner. In this paper we analyse the process of ship sale for scrap with particular focus on the monetary flows of the ships sale process

Measuring Post-Merger and Acquisition Performance of Corporations in the Maritime Transport Sector.

Mergers and Acquisitions are generally considered as tools of corporate growth that create value and propel corporate efficiency. Nevertheless, the empirical evidence are not consistent. This paper considers maritime corporations that participated as acquirers in completed M&As between 1998-2009. As far as the authors are aware, such an analysis has never been undertaken for the maritime industry although such an analysis will greatly assist maritime financial decision makers in formulating their decisions. The methodology of our analysis is based on utilizing profitability and enterprise value as measures to investigate the profitability performance of the acquirer following the acquisition. In addition we also examine enterprise value shifts in order to investigate how the decision to proceed with the acquisition was perceived by the investors. Our results indicate a decline in the profitability of the acquirer and there were no statistical significant evidence that the enterprise value of the acquirer increased between pre and post-merger period

Prediction of distress and identification of potential M&As targets in UK

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to identify financial characteristics that assess and predict corporate financial distress in publicly traded firms quoted in the London Stock Exchange.Design/methodology/approach– The model incorporates three existing literatures as an alternative to bankruptcy. The model has two stages: the first stage discriminates financially healthy or distressed firms utilizing binary logit regression. The second stage makes use of the univariate analysis. Firms can be further categorized into four possible outcomes: financially healthy, potentially healthy targets and financially distressed and potentially distressed acquisition targets.Findings– It was found that financial distress could be identified as early as three years prior to the event. Moreover, statistically significant differences were found between the four firm sample groups.Research limitations/implications– The vast changing environment and the financial crisis highlight the need for future research on the world trade implications, as well as the individual macroeconomic variables of each country.Originality/value– This is the first time a UK study makes use of this model in order to follow the hazard model's procedure based on recent financial data. Due to the scope of the analysis, a new version of the latter procedure is employed. A further innovation that makes the model unique is its ability to classify a firm into one of several a priori groupings according to the latter's individual characteristics. This overcomes the limitation of earlier studies that only considered two possible outcomes for firms

What determines demand for Telecommunications services? Evidence from the EU countries before and after liberalization

This paper aims to investigate the main determinants of Telecommunications demand for European countries (EU). For this reason, a panel data set is used consisting of 19 EU countries over the period 1991-2010 capturing the years before and after the liberalization process. The goal is to clarify whether any changes in the demand of Telecommunications, as expressed by volume traffic in local, mobile and international market segments, are attributed to regulatory process or to some other major drivers so that policy implications can be drawn, taking also into account the magnitude of the relevant price elasticities. It turns out that the regulatory process does not seem to have significant impact on demand for Telecommunications services for the first period of liberalization

Does regulation affect market power? Evidence from Greek SMEs

The aim of this study is to examine the level of market power of the Greek Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) acting in the manufacturing and services industries respectively. This has been performed at a two digit level over the period 1970-2007, with the aim of investigating possible heterogeneity across different subsectors of the above industries. The results of our analysis are linked with a number of interesting implications for the competition authorities. First, mark-ups can provide valuable information on competitive pressures in various sectors of the Greek economy, reflecting pressures stemming from rules of conduct imposed by regulators as well. Second, the estimation of mark-up ratios may benefit policy makers and government officials to pursue pro-competitive regulatory reforms in order to maximize consumer surplus. Third, the regulators may examine if market power changes over time and assess the effectiveness of deregulation on it. Lastly, the empirical findings indicate that there is a negative relationship between mark-ups and regulation taken one-period back. In other words, we claim that the level of regulatory reform affect the level of market power one-period ahead and cannot explain a big part of the variation of the mark-up ratios, over time. However, there is no evidence of non-linearity into this relationship

Potential Development Strategy for the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair in Baltics: A Case Study of Latvia

This research is focused on the shipbuilding and ship repair industries in Latvia. The main purpose of this manuscript is to investigate all possible options to further develop the shipbuilding and ship repair industries in Latvia Initially, a brief overview of Baltics and of Latvia, with its biggest shipbuilding companies and its possibilities, are depicted in detail. The analysis is developed with the help of SWOT analysis and a Risk assessment matrix to find Latvia’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, then to identify all possible risks in order to identify potential issues that could negatively impact key business initiatives or critical projects, and to develop a marketing strategy. It is concluded that Latvian shipbuilding can be benefited by i) its strategic location in Baltics, ii) the highly qualified workforce employed in Latvian shipyards, iii) the certified naval expertise of the shipbuilding facilities. At the same time, the external environment and the regional competition is harsh and some points are suggested for Latvian shipbuilding to survive and possibly flourish over the next years, such as: i) repair the technologically obsolete equipment and facilities to be able to satisfy the present market trends, ii) incorporate and utilize new materials and technologies, iii) give incentives to qualified natives that went abroad for employment to similar facilities to return to Latvia and utilize their accumulated experience, thus solving the issue of the declining workforce on the sector and iv) specialize in some aspects of shipbuilding, such as luxury ships and ice class, to secure a more specialised and dedicated market