A Survival Analysis of Islamic and Conventional Banks

Are Islamic banks inherently more stable than conventional banks? We address this question by applying a survival analysis based on the Cox proportional hazard model to a comprehensive sample of 421 banks in 20 Middle and Far Eastern countries from 1995 to 2010. By comparing the failure risk for both bank types, we find that Islamic banks have a significantly lower risk of failure than that of their conventional peers. This lower risk is based both unconditionally and conditionally on bank-specific (microeconomic) variables as well as macroeconomic and market structure variables. Our findings indicate that the design and implementation of early warning systems for bank failure should recognize the distinct risk profiles of the two bank types

Empirical Research on Sovereign Debt and Default

The long history of sovereign debt and the associated enforcement problem have attracted researchers in many fields. In this paper, we survey empirical work by economists, historians, and political scientists. As we review the empirical literature, we emphasize parallel developments in the theory of sovereign debt. One major theme emerges. Although recent research has sought to balance theoretical and empirical considerations, there remains a gap between theories of sovereign debt and the data used to test them. We recommend a number of steps that researchers can take to improve the correspondence between theory and data

Stressed out symbiotes:hypotheses for the influence of abiotic stress on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Abiotic stress is a widespread threat to both plant and soil communities. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can alleviate effects of abiotic stress by improving host plant stress tolerance, but the direct effects of abiotic stress on AM fungi are less well understood. We propose two hypotheses predicting how AM fungi will respond to abiotic stress. The stress exclusion hypothesis predicts that AM fungal abundance and diversity will decrease with persistent abiotic stress. The mycorrhizal stress adaptation hypothesis predicts that AM fungi will evolve in response to abiotic stress to maintain their fitness. We conclude that abiotic stress can have effects on AM fungi independent of the effects on the host plant. AM fungal communities will change in composition in response to abiotic stress, which may mean the loss of important individual species. This could alter feedbacks to the plant community and beyond. AM fungi will adapt to abiotic stress independent of their host plant. The adaptation of AM fungi to abiotic stress should allow the maintenance of the plant-AM fungal mutualism in the face of changing climates. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3673-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

The Intersection of disciplines: NRC's Cost-effective Open-Plan Environments (COPE) project

The current trends in office design - putting everyone in smaller, open-plan spaces, with low partitions - might lead to adverse physical conditions and dissatisfaction for employees. NRC's Cost-effective Open-Plan Environments project combined the expertise of psychologists, acousticians, engineers, and architects in conducting experimental and field research, literature reviews and computer simulations over four years to address three goals:\ub7 To develop predictive relationships between office design characteristics and physical conditions\ub7 To develop predictive relationships between physical conditions and both environmental and job satisfaction\ub7 To combine these results into a software tool for designers to evaluate the effects of various office design choicesEnvironmental and industrial/organizational psychology intersect in the study of work and workplaces. Thus, the project crossed boundaries between psychological disciplines, as well as reaching outside psychology. This unique cross-disciplinary effort enabled the team to bring strong measurement and analysis techniques to bear on understanding both the physical conditions in open-plan offices and the effects of those conditions on occupants.Les tendances actuelles en conception de bureaux ? mettre tout le monde dans des locaux en espace ouvert plus petits et ferm\ue9s par des \ue9crans de faible hauteur ? pourraient mener \ue0 des conditions physiques d\ue9favorables et au m\ue9contentement des employ\ue9s. Le projet Aires ouvertes rentables du CNRC combinait l'expertise de psychologues, d'acousticiens, d'ing\ue9nieurs et d'architectes dans la conduite de recherches exp\ue9rimentales et sur le terrain, d'analyses documentaires et de simulation par ordinateurs pendant quatre ans, dans trois buts : \ue9laborer des relations pr\ue9dictives entre les caract\ue9ristiques de la conception de bureaux et les conditions physiques;\uc9laborer des relations pr\ue9dictives entre les conditions physiques et la satisfaction face aussi bien \ue0 l'environnement qu'au travail;Combiner les r\ue9sultats obtenus et en faire un outil logiciel permettant aux concepteurs d'\ue9valuer les effets de divers choix en mati\ue8re de conception de bureaux.La psychologie environnementale et la psychologie industrielle ou organisationnelle se recoupe dans l'\ue9tude du travail et des milieux de travail. Le projet a donc franchi les limites entre les disciplines psychologiques, en plus de s'\ue9tendre \ue0 l'ext\ue9rieur de la psychologie. Cet effort interdisciplinaire exceptionnel a permis \ue0 l'\ue9quipe d'appliquer de solides techniques de mesure et d'analyse \ue0 la compr\ue9hension \ue0 la fois des conditions physiques dans les bureaux en espace fonctionnel et des effets de ces conditions sur les occupants.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye