Internal models (IRB) in Basel II: an approach to determining the probability of default

The New Accord of Basel, known as Basel II, opens the way for and encourages the implementation of credit entities' own models for measuring their financial risks. In this paper, we focus on the internal models for the assessment of credit risk (IRB), and specifically on the approach to one of their components: the probability of default (PD). Our paper is structured in three sections. In the first section, we present the most significant aspects of the credit risk treatment in Basel II. In the second part, the available financial literature is reviewed. And finally, we undertake an empirical application with the object of determining what is or are the variables that are able to explain why a company defaults. Furthermore, this would serve as a preventive "warning system" for financial entities

Capital structure across Italian regions: the role of financial and economic differences

The objective of this article is to analyse how regional financial and economic differences influence the capital structure decisions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, this paper considers the regional financial and economic differences in four ways: the development of the financial sector in the region, bank market concentration, the financial cost of obtaining funds, and regional economic development. For this purpose, we used unbalanced panel data from 26,504 SMEs across the 20 Italian regions and over the period from 2004 to 2010. This work is completed with an analysis of a no-crisis (2004–2007) and a crisis period (2008–2010). The results show that the regional differences in the degree of financial sector development, banking concentration, and local economic situations have a significant impact on the leverage level of SMEs, while the cost of obtaining funds is only relevant during a period of economic stability. These results suggest that insights can be derived from data disaggregation at the regional level inside the same country. These regional divergences in the capital structure of SMEs could influence regional economic resilience

Blow-up analysis of conformal metrics of the disk with prescribed Gaussian and geodesic curvatures

This paper is concerned with the compactness of metrics of the disk with prescribed Gaussian and geodesic curvatures. We consider a blowing-up sequence of metrics and give a precise description of its asymptotic behavior. In particular, the metrics blow-up at a unique point on the boundary and we are able to give necessary conditions on its location. It turns out that such conditions depend locally on the Gaussian curvatures but they depend on the geodesic curvatures in a nonlocal way. This is a novelty with respect to the classical Nirenberg problem where the blow-up conditions are local, and this new aspect is driven by the boundary condition.Comment: 31 pages, 1 figur

Las “fiestas” en espacios públicos urbanos de valor cultural y turístico: su activación como patrimonio intangible

La ciudad de Alta Gracia posee un reconocido patrimonio inmueble, tanto a nivel nacional como internacional, relacionado con su historia y sus protagonistas. En la protección de bienes culturales, los intangibles están prácticamente invisibilizados. Este trabajo se dirige a reflexionar sobre los procesos e instrumentos de identificación de los “festivales” como bien cultural intangible específico de la región central argentina, la activación de estas prácticas culturales y su valoración contemporánea. El Encuentro Anual de Colectividades, bajo el slogan “Todo el mundo en Alta Gracia”, es uno de estos festivales que ocupa un sitio urbano protegido como bien cultural: el Tajamar Jesuítico, un espacio público que detenta un alto sentimiento de identidad en la vida del altagraciense. Como empresa “cultural” de fuerte sesgo turístico y oportunidad de trascender en el espacio mediático, el evento “amenaza” anualmente el espacio legitimado como bien patrimonial, generando conflictos. Bajo la categoría de Fiestas y celebraciones, la patrimonialización legitimaría la existencia de Colectividades, pero ¿reduciría estas controversias entre “espacio cultural histórico y legitimado vs. fiesta “cultural” reciente y turística”

Community-oriented Service-Learning: A university experience for preventing cannabis abuse in vulnerable adolescents and young people

Learning integrated into community action promotes a more active citizenry. More specifically, service-learning (S-L) embedded into higher education can represent a big challenge yet also an opportunity to involve the whole university community in social and community development. This paper addresses this teaching method by identifiying and reviewing the different components that define S-L, that is: civic engagement, social responsibility, civic education, partnership, and reflection. The ways in which S-L can be introduced into the curriculum are explained, through detailing experiences already carried out in the teaching of psychology. Current available data on its efficacy in university education are analyzed. The focus now turns to a university experience involving Community Psychology students across Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. During this experience, students on both programmes make their final-year projects to develop a prevention resource aimed at young people at high risk of problematic cannabis use. Ultimately, this program not only teaches students the principles of Community Psychology but also give them an opportunity to put them into practice

On the origin of two unidentified radio/X-ray sources discovered with XMM-Newton

We aim at clarifying the nature of the emission of two spatially related unidentified X-ray sources detected with XMM-Newton telescope at intermediate-low Galactic latitude. Observations reveal a point-like source aligned with elongated diffuse emission. The X-ray spectra are best-fitted by absorbed power laws with photon indices ~1.7 for the point-like and ~2.0 for the extended one. Both sources show nonthermal radio-continuum counterparts that might indicate a physical association. From the available data, we did not detect variability on the point-like source in several timescales. Two possible scenarios are analyzed: first, based on HI line absorption, assuming a Galactic origin, we infer a distance upper bound of <2 kpc, which poses a constraint on the height over the Galactic plane of <200 pc and on the linear size of the system of 10^32 erg/s and >7.5 x 10^32 erg/s, for the point-like and extended sources, respectively; second, an extra-Galactic nature is discussed, where the point-like source might be the core of a radio galaxy and the extended source its lobe. In this case, we compare derived fluxes, spectral indices, and spatial correlation with those typical from the radio galaxy population, showing the feasibility of this alternative astrophysical scenario. From the available observational evidence, we suggest that the most promising scenario to explain the nature of these sources is a system consisting of a one-sided radio galaxy, where the point-like source is an active galactic nucleus and the extended source corresponds to the emission from its lobe. Other possibilities include a PSR/PWN origin, where the radio/X-ray emission originates from the synchrotron cooling of relativistic particles in the PSR magnetic field or a casual alignment between two unrelated sources, such as an AGN core and a Galactic X-ray blob.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A