Estonian Banking Sector Performance Analysis Using Malmquist Indexes And DuPont Financial Ratio Analysis

Banks and other financial institutions are a unique set of business firms whose assets and liabilities, regulatory restrictions, economic functions, and operating make them an important subject of research. Banks performance monitoring, analysis and control needs special analysis in respect to their operation, productivity and performance results from the viewpoint of different audiences, like investors/owners, regulators, customers/clients, and management themselves. In this paper, productivity change in Estonian banking is estimated using the Malmquist productivity index. The data used in this study covers the period from 1999 to 2002. One purpose of this research is to introduce the Malmquist productivity index, which is first used for productivity analysis of Estonian banks. The present study shows that Estonian banks experienced average a 25.6 percent annual productivity growth rate during 1999-2002, what was the result of technological progress. Generally, all Estonian banks have increased productivity as a result of technological progress on this period. Some historical notes on the development of the Estonian banking system and the capital structure of banks are presented in this article. The usage of a modified version of DuPont financial ratio analysis is discussed also in the article. Empirical results of the Estonian commercial banking system performance analysis are presented in the article (1994-2002)

Development of the Financial Sector Infrastructure in an EU CandidateCountry (The Case of Estonia)

In the 1990s, most of the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) went through radical liberalization and adopted large-scale economic and political reform programs. These programs included almost complete price, trade and capital movement liberalization, macroeconomic stabilization, currency reform, and small-scale and large-scale privatization. What is the role of the development of a legal and institutional infrastructure along with these radical changes in society and the economy? The first part of this paper is based on the results of an interview study of entrepreneurs and managers in Estonia undertaken in 1998 and in Estonia, Russia, Finland and Sweden in 2000 in order to obtain their view of the behavior of government agencies, lawmaking procedures and the operation of law enforcement mechanisms. The second part of this paper presents summary results from interview surveys of Estonian manufacturing firms undertaken from 1994-2000. The surveys were designed to quantitatively measure the state of and changes in the Estonian business environment, focusing on the key aspects of financial contractual relationships of Estonian manufacturing firms as well as regulation and dispute resolution mechanisms. Among the observations it is noted that government regulations do not seriously affect business decisions regarding the operation, expansion or closing down of Estonian manufacturing firms. A second observation is that the Estonian court system is perceived as inadequate for resolving a substantial number of disputes and conflicts among economic agents although legislation exists. Most firms rely on mechanisms of self-enforcement when possible. Journal of Economic Literature Classification numbers: K42, K49, G18, G30 Keywords: business environment, corporate financial relationships, enterprise restructuring, corruption, law making procedures, law enforcement

Analysis of expressed sequence tags from a single wheat cultivar facilitates interpretation of tandem mass spectrometry data and discrimination of gamma gliadin proteins that may play different functional roles in flour

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The gamma gliadins are a complex group of proteins that together with other gluten proteins determine the functional properties of wheat flour. The proteins have unusually high levels of glutamine and proline and contain large regions of repetitive sequences. While most gamma gliadins are monomeric proteins containing eight conserved cysteine residues, some contain an additional cysteine residue that enables them to be linked with other gluten proteins into large polymers that are critical for flour quality. The ability to differentiate among the gamma gliadins is important for studies of wheat flour quality because proteins with similar sequences can have different effects on functional properties.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The complement of gamma gliadin genes expressed in the wheat cultivar Butte 86 was evaluated by analyzing publicly available expressed sequence tag (EST) data. Eleven contigs were assembled from 153 Butte 86 ESTs. Nine of the contigs encoded full-length proteins and four of the proteins contained nine cysteine residues. Only one of the encoded proteins was a perfect match with a sequence reported in NCBI. Contigs from four different publicly available EST assemblies encoded proteins that were perfect matches with some, but not all, of the Butte 86 gamma gliadins and the complement of identical proteins was different for each assembly. A specialized database that included the sequences of Butte 86 gamma gliadins was constructed for identification of flour proteins by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). In a pilot experiment, proteins corresponding to six Butte 86 gamma gliadin contigs were distinguished by MS/MS, including one containing the extra cysteine residue. Two other proteins were identified as one of two closely related Butte 86 proteins but could not be distinguished unequivocally. Unique peptide tags specific for Butte 86 gamma gliadins are reported.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Inclusion of cultivar-specific gamma gliadin sequences in databases maximizes the number and quality of peptide identifications and increases sequence coverage of these gamma gliadins by MS/MS. This approach makes it possible to distinguish closely related proteins, to associate individual proteins with sequences of specific genes, and to evaluate proteomic data in a biological context to better address questions about wheat flour quality.</p

Deciphering the complexities of the wheat flour proteome using quantitative two-dimensional electrophoresis, three proteases and tandem mass spectrometry

BACKGROUND: Wheat flour is one of the world's major food ingredients, in part because of the unique end-use qualities conferred by the abundant glutamine- and proline-rich gluten proteins. Many wheat flour proteins also present dietary problems for consumers with celiac disease or wheat allergies. Despite the importance of these proteins it has been particularly challenging to use MS/MS to distinguish the many proteins in a flour sample and relate them to gene sequences. RESULTS: Grain from the extensively characterized spring wheat cultivar Triticum aestivum 'Butte 86' was milled to white flour from which proteins were extracted, then separated and quantified by 2-DE. Protein spots were identified by separate digestions with three proteases, followed by tandem mass spectrometry analysis of the peptides. The spectra were used to interrogate an improved protein sequence database and results were integrated using the Scaffold program. Inclusion of cultivar specific sequences in the database greatly improved the results, and 233 spots were identified, accounting for 93.1% of normalized spot volume. Identified proteins were assigned to 157 wheat sequences, many for proteins unique to wheat and nearly 40% from Butte 86. Alpha-gliadins accounted for 20.4% of flour protein, low molecular weight glutenin subunits 18.0%, high molecular weight glutenin subunits 17.1%, gamma-gliadins 12.2%, omega-gliadins 10.5%, amylase/protease inhibitors 4.1%, triticins 1.6%, serpins 1.6%, purinins 0.9%, farinins 0.8%, beta-amylase 0.5%, globulins 0.4%, other enzymes and factors 1.9%, and all other 3%. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first successful effort to identify the majority of abundant flour proteins for a single wheat cultivar, relate them to individual gene sequences and estimate their relative levels. Many genes for wheat flour proteins are not expressed, so this study represents further progress in describing the expressed wheat genome. Use of cultivar-specific contigs helped to overcome the difficulties of matching peptides to gene sequences for members of highly similar, rapidly evolving storage protein families. Prospects for simplifying this process for routine analyses are discussed. The ability to measure expression levels for individual flour protein genes complements information gained from efforts to sequence the wheat genome and is essential for studies of effects of environment on gene expression

Unraveling thioredoxin-linked metabolic processes of cereal starchy endosperm using proteomics

AbstractApplication of a thiol-specific probe, monobromobimane, with proteomics and enzyme assays led to the identification of 23 thioredoxin targets in the starchy endosperm of mature wheat seeds (Triticum aestivum cv. Butte), almost all containing at least two conserved cysteines. The identified targets, 12 not known to be thioredoxin-linked, function in a spectrum of processes: metabolism (12 targets), protein storage (three), oxidative stress (three), protein degradation (two), protein assembly/folding (one) and unknown reactions (two). In addition to formulating metabolic pathways functional in the endosperm, the results suggest that thioredoxin acts in redox regulation throughout the life cycle of the seed