The quiet life hypothesis in banking : evidence from German savings banks

The "quiet life hypothesis (QLH)" posits that banks enjoy the advantages of market power in terms of foregone revenues or cost savings. We suggest a unified approach to measure competition and efficiency simultaneously to test this hypothesis. We estimate bank-specific Lerner indices as measures of competition and test if cost and profit efficiency are negatively related to market power in the case of German savings banks.We find that both market power and average revenues declined among these banks between 1996 and 2006. While we find clear evidence supporting the QLH, estimated effects of the QLH are small from an economical perspective

The effects of size on local banks´ funding costs

Motivated by the recent discussion of the declining importance of deposits as banks´ major source of funding we investigate which factors determine funding costs at local banks. Using a panel data set of more than 800 German local savings and cooperative banks for the period from 1998 to 2004 we show that funding costs are not only driven by the relative share of comparatively cheap deposits of bank´s liabilities but among other factors especially by the size of the bank. In our empirical analysis we find strong and robust evidence that, ceteris paribus, smaller banks exhibit lower funding costs than larger banks suggesting that small banks are able to attract deposits more cheaply than their larger counterparts. We argue that this is the case because smaller banks interact more personally with customers, operate in customers´ geographic proximity and have longer and stronger relationships than larger banks and, hence, are able to charge higher prices for their services. Our finding of a strong influence of bank size on funding costs is also in an in- ternational context of great interest as mergers among small local banks - the key driver of bank growth - are a recent phenomenon not only in European banking that is expected to continue in the future. At the same time, net interest income remains by far the most important source of revenue for most local banks, accounting for approximately 70% of total operating revenues in the case of German local banks. The influence of size on funding costs is of strong economic relevance: our results suggest that an increase in size by 50%, for example, from EUR 500 million in total assets to EUR 750 million (exemplary for M&A transactions among local banks) increases funding costs, ceteris paribus, by approximately 18 basis points which relates to approx. 7% of banks´ average net interest margin

How politics influence state-owned banks : the case of German savings banks

This paper is one of the first to analyse political influence on state-owned savings banks in a developed country with an established financial market: Germany. Combining a large dataset with financial and operating figures of all 457 German savings banks from 1994 to 2006 and information on over 1,250 local elections during this period we investigate the change in business behavior around elections. We find strong indications for political inflence: the probability that savings banks close branches, lay-off employees or engage in merger activities is significantly reduced around elections. At the same time they tend to increase their extraordinary spendings, which include support for social and cultural events in the area, on average by over 15%. Finally, we find that savings banks extend significantly more loans to their corporate and private customers in the run-up to an election. In further analyses, we show that the magnitude of political influence depends on bank specific, economical and political circumstances in the city or county: political influence seems to be facilitated by weak political majorities and profitable banks. Banks in economically weak areas seem to be less prone to political influence

The Impact of the Mandatory PHAB Accreditation Process on Environmental Health Programs at Local Health Districts in Ohio

Ohio has 112 local health districts and in 2013 these health districts were mandated by state law to achieve national accreditation by July of 2020 from the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) that was established in 2011. To understand the impact on local health districts of the state policy approach, thirteen question paper surveys were mailed to the Environmental Health Directors at all Ohio health districts in May of 2022 and the results were analyzed. A survey response rate of 54.5% was achieved and the Directors reported that on average they experienced 76-100 annual hours due to accreditation, as did their staff. The highest costs associated with accreditation, other than personnel included PHAB fees and office supplies. Smaller health districts were impacted by fees to a greater extent than the larger health districts. Program performance was reported by 57% to have not changed, with 20% indicating improvement and 9% indicating a decline. Positive impacts relating to the outcomes of state program audits were reported as ‘no impact’ and ‘policies and procedures’, where negative impacts were dominated by ‘time away from other programs’ (46%) followed by ‘none’ (29%). The impact of mandatory accreditation in Ohio on environmental health programs can be summarized by increased cost associated with PHAB fees and staff time, as well as supplies, with most programs experiencing no change in performance. Positive impacts can be associated with policies/procedures, quality improvement and documentation, and the most dominant negative impact reported was time away from other programs

LORIS: a web-based data management system for multi-center studies

Longitudinal Online Research and Imaging System (LORIS) is a modular and extensible web-based data management system that integrates all aspects of a multi-center study: from heterogeneous data acquisition (imaging, clinical, behavior, and genetics) to storage, processing, and ultimately dissemination. It provides a secure, user-friendly, and streamlined platform to automate the flow of clinical trials and complex multi-center studies. A subject-centric internal organization allows researchers to capture and subsequently extract all information, longitudinal or cross-sectional, from any subset of the study cohort. Extensive error-checking and quality control procedures, security, data management, data querying, and administrative functions provide LORIS with a triple capability (1) continuous project coordination and monitoring of data acquisition (2) data storage/cleaning/querying, (3) interface with arbitrary external data processing “pipelines.” LORIS is a complete solution that has been thoroughly tested through a full 10 year life cycle of a multi-center longitudinal project1 and is now supporting numerous international neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration research projects

A cryogenic axial-centrifugal compressor for superfluid helium refrigeration

CERN's new project, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), will use superfluid helium as coolant for its high-field superconducting magnets and therefore require large capacity refrigeration at 1.8 K. This may only be achieved by subatmospheric compression of gaseous helium at cryogenic temperature. To stimulate development of this technology, CERN has procured from industry prototype Cold Compressor Units (CCU). This unit is based on a cryogenic axial-centrifugal compressor, running on ceramic ball bearings and driven by a variable-frequency electrical motor operating under low-pressure helium at ambient temperature. The machine has been commissioned and is now in operation. After describing basic constructional features of the compressor, we report on measured performance

NV−^{-} Diamond Laser

For the first time, lasing at NV$^{-}$ centers in an optically pumped diamond sample is achieved. A nanosecond train of 150-ps 532-nm laser pulses was used to pump the sample. The lasing pulses have central wavelength at 720 nm with a spectrum width of 20 nm, 1-ns duration and total energy around 10 nJ. In a pump-probe scheme, we investigate lasing conditions and gain saturation due to NV$^{-}$ ionization and NV$^{0}$ concentration growth under high-power laser pulse pumping of diamond crystal

Change of cathodoluminescence spectra of dimonds irradiated by electron beam

Here we investigate the changes in the cathodoluminescence spectra of HPHT diamonds irradiated by electron beam at the room temperature (298 K) and liquid nitrogen temperature (77K). The temperature of diamond samples was varied from 80 to 300 K. The RADAN-220-IMA3-150E accelerator was used as a source of electrons (120 keV). For temperature control we used platinum thermo-resistor. All experiments were conducted in the vacuum chamber (10-2 Pa). Optical spectra of diamonds cathodoluminescence were recorded ever ~ 30 K and then compared with each other

Study of suitability of Fricke-gel-layer dosimeters for in-air measurements to characterize epithermal/thermal neutron beams for NCT

The reliability of Fricke gel dosimeters in form of layers for measurements aimed at the characterization of epithermal neutron beams has been studied. By means of dosimeters of different isotopic composition (standard, containing 10B or prepared with heavy water) placed against the collimator exit, the spatial distribution of gamma and fast neutron doses and of thermal neutron fluence are attained. In order to investigate the accuracy of the results obtained with in-air measurements, suitable MC simulations have been developed and experimental measurements have been performed utilizing Fricke gel dosimeters, thermoluminescence detectors and activation foils. The studies were related to the epithermal beam designed for BNCT irradiations at the research reactor LVR-15 (Řež). The results of calculation and measurements have revealed good consistency of gamma dose and fast neutron 2D distributions obtained with gel dosimeters in form of layers. In contrast, noticeable modification of thermal neutron fluence is caused by the neutron moderation produced by the dosimeter material. Fricke gel dosimeters in thin cylinders, with diameter not greater than 3 mm, have proved to give good results for thermal neutron profiling. For greater accuracy of all results, a better knowledge of the dependence of gel dosimeter sensitivity on radiation LET is needed