RELATIONSHIP LENDING - EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FOR GERMANY

Relationship lending is a common practice in credit financing all over the world, notably also in the European Union, which has been assumed to be particularly beneficial for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). During recent years, there has been the impression that relationship lending loses ground due to a change of the banks' business models, which could ultimately yield to a worsening of the business environment for corporates and SMEs. In this study, we investigate the determinants of relationship lending for Germany, where relationship lending traditionally plays an important role. Compared to previous studies, we refer to much more comprehensive data with information on more than 16,000 firm-bank relationships. Our findings confirm the assumption that relationship lending seems to be an important pillar for economic growth and employment: We find that the firms that are most likely to contribute to (future) economic growth, namely small and R&D-intensive firms, tend to choose a relationship lender. The same is observed for firms of high credit quality, independent of their size or R&D intensity. Furthermore, we also observe that the importance of relationship lending did not decrease since the mid 1990s.Relationship banking; German banking system; SME

Relationship lending: empirical evidence for Germany

Relationship lending is a common practice in credit financing all over the world, particularly in Germany. On the basis of a comprehensive data set comprising information on firm-bank relationships for more than 16,000 observations, this study analyses the determinants of relationship lending in Germany. We find that small, young and R&D-intensive firms tend to choose relationship lending. Furthermore, we find that firms with a higher creditworthiness are more likely to choose a relationship lender. We find that the importance of relationship lending stayed roughly constant since the mid 90s. --Relationship banking,German banking system,SME

The FTAA and the Location of FDI

The role of regional integration agreements as a determinant of the location of FDI has become an increasingly relevant issue for emerging economies. In Latin America, the largest effects are likely to be associated with the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). In this regard, there are a number of highly relevant questions: For instance, what effect will the FTAA have on FDI from the US and Canada to Latin American countries? How will it affect FDI from the rest of the world? What are the implications for a country such as Mexico, whose referential access to the US may be diluted? Should we expect to see winners and losers, and if so, what determines whether a particular country wins or loses? To address these questions, in this paper we look at the impact of regional integration on FDI, and attempt to derive conclusions regarding the likely impact of the FTAA on countries in Latin America

The FTAA And The Location Of FDI

The role of regional integration agreements as a determinant of the location of FDI has become an increasingly relevant issue for emerging economies. In Latin America, the largest effects are likely to be associated with the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). In this regard, there are a number of highly relevant questions: For instance, what effect will the FTAA have on FDI from the US and Canada to Latin American countries? How will it affect FDI from the rest of the world? What are the implications for a country such as Mexico, whose preferential access to the US may be diluted? Should we expect to see winners and losers, and if so, what determines whether a particular country wins or loses? To address these questions, in this paper we look at the impact of regional integration on FDI, and attempt to derive conclusions regarding the likely impact of the FTAA on countries in Latin America

Regional Integration and the Location of FDI

This paper studies the impact of regional integration agreements (RIAs) on the location of foreign direct investment (FDI), using data on bilateral outward FDI stocks from the OECD International Direct Investment Statistics. The dataset covers FDI from 20 source countries, all of them from the OECD, to 60 host countries, from 1982 through 1999. Using panel data analysis with country-pair fixed effects, we find that common membership in an RIA with a source country increases FDI from that source by around 27 percent. Countries that are more open, and whose factor proportions differ more from those in the source country are likely to benefit more, as they tend to receive FDI of the vertical variety, which responds more favorably to integration. We also find that the increase in the size of the market associated with regional integration initiatives contributes to attract more FDI to the RIA as a whole. However, only the countries in the RIA that offer a more attractive overall environment for FDI are likely to be winners in this game. Finally, we also find evidence of a small FDI diversion effect. Our results suggest that regional integration, on average, contributes to attracting FDI, but the benefits are unlikely to be distributed evenly.

El ALCA y el destino de la inversión extranjera directa

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) El papel de los acuerdos de integración regional como factor determinante de la ubicación de la inversión extranjera directa (IED) se ha ido convirtiendo en un problema cada vez más importante para las economías en desarrollo. En América Latina, es probable que los mayores efectos guarden relación con el Acuerdo de Libre Comercio de las Américas (ALCA). Esto suscita una serie de preguntas altamente pertinentes: Por ejemplo, ¿qué efecto tendrá el ALCA en la IED proveniente de EE. UU. y Canadá destinada a países latinoamericanos? ¿Cómo afectará eso a la IED proveniente del resto del mundo? ¿Cuáles son las implicaciones para un país como México, cuyo acceso preferencial a EE. UU. puede verse menoscabado? ¿Hay que anticipar que habrá ganadores y perdedores, y, de ser así, qué es lo que determina si un país dado gana o pierde? Para responder a estas preguntas, en este trabajo analizamos las repercusiones de la integración regional de la IED e intentamos sacar conclusiones sobre los efectos probables del ALCA en los países de América Latina.

La integración regional y la ubicación de la inversión extranjera directa

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) En este trabajo se analizan los efectos de los acuerdos de integración regional en el destino de la inversión extranjera directa, empleándose para ello datos del volumen de inversión extranjera bilateral directa tomados de las Estadísticas sobre inversión internacional directa de la OCDE. El conjunto de datos cubre la inversión extranjera directa de 20 países de origen, todos ellos integrantes de la OCDE, a 60 países receptores, desde 1982 hasta 1999. Se empleó el análisis de datos de panel con efectos fijos por par de países y se halló que la afiliación corriente a un acuerdo de integración regional con un país de origen hace aumentar la inversión extranjera directa proveniente de esa fuente en 27%, aproximadamente. Es más probable que los países de mayor apertura y cuyas proporciones de factores difieren más de las del país de origen se beneficien más, ya que tienen a recibir inversión extranjera directa de tipo vertical, el cual responde más favorablemente a la integración. También hallamos que el aumento del tamaño del mercado vinculado con las iniciativas de integración regional contribuye a atraer más inversión extranjera directa al acuerdo de integración regional como un todo. Sin embargo, es probable que sólo los países del acuerdo de integración que ofrezcan un entorno en general más atrayente para la IED obtengan beneficios de esta dinámica. Por último, también hallamos pruebas que sugieren un pequeño efecto de desviación de la inversión extranjera directa. Nuestros resultados sugieren que la integración regional contribuye, en promedio, a la captación de inversión extranjera directa, pero que es poco probable que los beneficios se distribuyan parejamente.

Quenched invariance principle for random walks on dynamically averaging random conductances

We prove a quenched invariance principle for continuous-time random walks in a dynamically averaging environment on Z. In the beginning, the conductances may fluctuate substantially, but we assume that as time proceeds, the fluctuations decrease according to a typical diffusive scaling and eventually approach constant unit conductances. The proof relies on a coupling with the standard continuous time simple random walk.publishedVersio

Electronic structure of an iron porphyrin derivative on Au(1 1 1)

Surface-bound porphyrins are promising candidates for molecular switches, electronics and spintronics. Here, we studied the structural and the electronic properties of Fe-tetra-pyridil-porphyrin adsorbed on Au(1 1 1) in the monolayer regime. We combined scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoemission, and two-photon photoemission to determine the energy levels of the frontier molecular orbitals. We also resolved an excitonic state with a binding energy of 420 meV, which allowed us to compare the electronic transport gap with the optical gap