Does the Expectation Hypothesis Hold at the Shortest End of the Term Structure?

This paper examines the predictability smile at the shortest end of the term structure. The existence of a predictability smile has been well documented: spreads between long rates and short rates are able to forecast subsequent movements in interest rates well, provided the horizon is three months or less or two years or more. The predictive power of the spread at the shortest maturities, however, has not been adequately investigated. This is a potential shortcoming of the existing literature as a projection of the predictability smile to the shorter maturities is not a guarantee that the expectations hypothesis holds. In Japan, a positive spread between the forward and the spot rates has insufficient predictive power for the future spot rate innovations, while a negative spread has near-perfect predictive ability. Further, we provide evidence that this result is not unique to Japan, as we find this "asymmetric predictability" to be a feature of the very short-term money markets of the U.S., U.K. and Italy.Term Structure, Predictability, Money Market

The Effectiveness of Public Credit Guarantees in the Japanese Loan Market

This paper examines the effectiveness of public credit guarantee programs in not only increasing the availability of loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but in also improving the ex-post performance of borrowing firms. Using a unique panel data set, we identify the effects of a massive credit guarantee program implemented by the Japanese government from 1998-2001. While we do find that the availability of loans increased for program participants, when loans were provided by undercapitalized banks the increased liquidity persisted for only a few years. Further, the ex-post performance of program participants, with the exception of firms with sizable net worth, deteriorated relative to their non-participating counterparts.Credit crunch, Small and Medium Enterprises, Loan guarantees, Matching estimation

Theory of Spin polarized Tunneling in Superconducting Sr2RuO4

A theory of tunneling conductance in ferromagnetic metal/insulator/triplet - supercondcutor junctions is presented for unitary and non-unitary spin triplet pairing states which are promising candidates for the superconducting paring symmetry of Sr2RuO4. As the magnitude of the exchange interaction in the ferromagnetic metal is increased, the conductance for the unitary pairing state below the energy gap is reduced in contrast to the case for the non-unitary pairing state

Electronic Properties of Topological Materials: Optical Excitations in Moebius Conjugated Polymers

Electronic structures and optical excitations in Moebius conjugated polymers are studied theoretically. Periodic and Moebius boundary conditions are applied to the tight binding model of poly(para-phenylene), taking exciton effects into account. We discuss that oligomers with a few structural units are more effective than polymers for observations of effects of discrete wave numbers that are shifted by the change in boundary condition. Next, calculations of optical absorption spectra are reported. Certain components of optical absorption for an electric field perpendicular to the polymer axis mix with absorption spectra for an electric field parallel to the polymer axis. Therefore, the polarization dependences of an electric field of light enable us to detect whether conjugated polymers have the Moebius boundary.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., Vol. 74 No. 2 (February, 2005), Letter sectio

Room-temperature ballistic transport in narrow graphene strips

We investigate electron-phonon couplings, scattering rates, and mean free paths in zigzag-edge graphene strips with widths of the order of 10 nm. Our calculations for these graphene nanostrips show both the expected similarity with single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and the suppression of the electron-phonon scattering due to a Dirichlet boundary condition that prohibits one major backscattering channel present in SWNTs. Low-energy acoustic phonon scattering is exponentially small at room temperature due to the large phonon wave vector required for backscattering. We find within our model that the electron-phonon mean free path is proportional to the width of the nanostrip and is approximately 70 $\mu$m for an 11-nm-wide nanostrip.Comment: 5 pages and 5 figure

On the Relationship Between the Very Short Forward and the Spot Interest Rate

In this paper we revisit the relationship between the forward interest rate and the spot interest rate at the shortest maturities. We introduce a new set of very short forward and spot interest rates that have not been fully utilized in the literature: the "tomorrow next" rate and the "spot next" rate, both of which have the same maturity as the overnight rate. Using these interest rates we demonstrate an asymmetric predictability of the forward interest rate. This asymmetry, which we find to be robust across different money markets, depends on whether the forward rate is greater or less than the current spot rate. Money market institutions, such as a penalty for end of day overdrafts, and the inability of securities firms to procure funds in certain markets may explain the asymmetry.

How Trade Credit Differs from Loans: Evidence from Japanese Trading Companies

In this paper we examine the determinants of the relationship between trade credit and bank loans. Previous studies of this relationship fall into two categories: (1) those emphasizing the difference between financial and non-financial institutions, and (2) those emphasizing the difference between credit instruments. By using data on trading companies that supply both loans and trade credit we are able to determine the relative importance of both institutional differences and instrumental differences for the trade credit-loan relationship. We find that trade credit and loans differ significantly even when offered by the same institutions, while loans extended by financial institutions and those extended by non-financial enterprises respond similarly.

Mouse MIM, a tissue-specific regulator of cytoskeletal dynamics, interacts with ATP-actin monomers through its C-terminal WH2 domain

The WH2 (WASP homology domain-2) is a small actin monomer-binding motif and is found in many proteins that regulate the actin cytoskeleton, including the beta-thymosins, ciboulot, WASP, and verprolin/WIP (WASP-interacting protein). In sequence database searches we identified a novel mouse protein containing a WH2 domain in its C-terminal region. This mouse gene also shows strong sequence homology to human MIM (Missing in Metastasis), a cDNA fragment that is present in non-metastatic but absent in metastatic bladder cancer cell lines. Northern blot and in situ hybridizations show that MIM is strongly expressed in the developing neurons and skeletal and cardiac muscles in mouse embryos. In adult mice, the strongest expression of MIM mRNA is in liver, outer layers of the kidney, and in the Purkinje cells of the brain. Recombinant MIM protein interacts with actin monomers and inhibits actin filament nucleation in vitro. However, the MIM/ATP-G-actin complex can participate in actin filament assembly at the barbed end. MIM binds ATP-G-actin with a higher affinity (K-D = 0.06 muM) than ADP-G-actin (K-D = 0.3 muM) and inhibits the nucleotide exchange on actin monomers. Site-directed mutagenesis demonstrates that the actin monomer-binding site resides in the C-terminal WH2 domain of MIM. Overexpression of mouse MIM in NIH 3T3 cells results in the disappearance of actin stress fibers and appearance of abnormal actin filament structures. These data show that MIM is an ATP-G-actin binding protein that regulates cytoskeletal dynamics in specialized mammalian cell-types