Religion, Alfar and Dvergar

En este artículo apuntamos a explorar la conexión entre dos tipos de entidades míticas colectivas, los álfar y los dvergar. Ponderamos críticamente la fiabilidad de las distintas fuentes y analizamos el modo en que esos seres son presentados en algunos documentos medievales. Finalmente, intentamos distinguirlos reconstruyendo (hipotéticamente) su respectivo lugar en la práctica religiosa, y su conexión con la más amplia moral de intercambio que impregnaba a las sociedades medievales escandinavas.In this article we aim to explore the connection between two types of collective mythical beings, the álfar and the dvergar. We assess critically the reliability of different sources and analyse the way in which those beings are depicted in some medieval documents. Finally, we attempt to distinguish them by reconstructing (hypothetically) their respective place in religious practice and their connection with the broader morality of exchange that pervaded medieval Scandinavian society.Fil: Barreiro, Santiago Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas; Argentin

One-loop effective lagrangians after matching

We discuss the limitations of the covariant derivative expansion prescription advocated to compute the one-loop Standard Model (SM) effective lagrangian when the heavy fields couple linearly to the SM. In particular, one-loop contributions resulting from the exchange of both heavy and light fields must be explicitly taken into account through matching because the proposed functional approach alone does not account for them. We review a simple case with a heavy scalar singlet of charge $-1$ to illustrate the argument. As two other examples where this matching is needed and this functional method gives a vanishing result, up to renormalization of the heavy sector parameters, we re-evaluate the one-loop corrections to the T--parameter due to a heavy scalar triplet with vanishing hypercharge coupling to the Brout-Englert-Higgs boson and to a heavy vector-like quark singlet of charged $2/3$ mixing with the top quark, respectively. In all cases we make use of a new code for matching fundamental and effective theories in models with arbitrary heavy field additions.Comment: 22 pages; v2: comments and references added; v3: published version, typos correcte

Tau Custodian searches at the LHC

The tau lepton can be more composite than naively expected in models of strong electroweak symmetry breaking with tri-bimaximal lepton mixing. New leptonic resonances required by custodial symmetry, the tau custodians, can then be the first signal of this lepton flavor realization. Tau custodians can be very light, decaying almost exclusively into taus. The LHC reach for these new leptons is up to masses of 240, 480 and 720 GeV for sqrt{s}=14 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 30, 300 and 3000 fb^{-1}, respectively. Our analysis can be extended to any pair produced particles decaying mostly into taus and Standard Model bosons.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

The determinants of bank margins revisited: A note on the effects of diversification

Most of the theoretical and empirical literature on bank margins has dealt solely with interest margins. Applying the seminal Ho-Saunders model (JFQA, 1981) to a multi-output framework, we show that the relationship between bank margins and market power (controlling for risk) varies significantly across bank specializations. Using a set of both accounting margins and New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) margins, we find that market power rises significantly with output diversification towards non-traditional activities. These results contribute to explain the paradoxical coexistence of decreasing interest margins and higher market power found in previous studies.bank margins, specialization, market structure.

The finance-growth nexus: a regional perspective

Recent cross-country studies suggest that finance and economic growth are significantly related. The characteristics and geographical scope of this relationship has become central to explain differences in economic development. Two concepts are highly relevant in this context. Firstly, financial deepening, that involves the development of traditional and non-traditional financial services in these territories. Secondly, bank dependence, which makes households and firms rely heavily on banks. Employing dynamic causality and panel data techniques on a sample of Spanish banks during 1993-1999 we find that -at a regional level- economic growth predicted financial deepening in this period which suggests that banks locate and distribute new financial products mostly in well developed territories. Regarding bank dependence, bank lending specialization appears to be a key issue in financing firms and households compared to other bank specializations. According to previous studies, lending dependence confer banks a special role in promoting regional economic growth in bank-based financial systems.Banks, financial deepening, bank dependence, regional growth.

New evidence of scope economies among lending,deposit-taking, loan commitments and mutual fund activities.

Financial innovation and technology affect bank cost, revenue and profits. Most of the previous empirical studies have not found significant cost, profit or revenue scope economies or output pair complementarities either between traditional and non-traditional banking products or between traditional activities themselves. We study scope economies and output pair complementarities in a ‘broad banking’ environment: the Spanish banking sector. The results indicate that after including off-balance sheet business in the output mix, cost and profit scope economies rise and are statistically significant. Besides, consumer valuation of financial services is only detected when the off-balance sheet business is added to the output definition.banking, scope economies, off-balance sheet.

Scope Economies and Competition Beyond the Balance Sheet: a ‘broad banking’ Experience

There is a recent trend in banking research aiming to assess how financial innovation and technology are affecting bank cost, revenue and profits. Most of the studies have not found significant cost, profit or revenue complementarities either between traditional and non-traditional banking products or between traditional activities themselves. We study complementarities in a ‘broad banking’ environment: the Spanish banking sector. The results indicate that after including off-balance sheet business in the output mix, cost and profit scope economies increase significantly. Besides, consumer valuation of financial services is only detected when the off-balance sheet business is added to the output definition.banking, cost, profit, scope economies, off-balance sheet.