Central bank liquidity policy and the cross-section of bank equity returns

This paper examines abnormal bank equity returns around the announcement and implementations of the largest central bank liquidity operations to date. Those were conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB) at the height of the sovereign debt crisis in 2011 and 2012. I find that banks in countries perceived as being relatively riskier at the time experienced larger positive abnormal equity returns. Relating country-level abnormal returns to country-level liquidity uptake shows that banks with higher liquidity uptake profit disproportionately more from larger returns over this period. This provides evidence that the ECB alleviates stress in the euro area through the provisioning of relatively more liquidity to banks in riskier countries

Long-term Central Bank Repos and Bank Rollover Risk

Over a period of more than four years the ECB has repeatedly and in addition to its standard monetary refinancing operations offered repos with extraordinarily long durations. This paper argues that such operations serve the function of reducing rollover risks for Eurozone banks. The data shows that high rollover (and borrowing) costs of banks in struggling countries correlate with the ECB's offering periods of these additional longer-dated repos. Banks with high rollover costs take disproportionately more Eurosystem liquidity and profit, expost, exceptionally from market borrowing cost reductions. As discussed, sheltering banks from rollover risks prevents some banks' equity holders (possibly erroneously) from deciding to let the bank default on its obligations. Moreover, such measures neither solve bank debt overhang (Myers, 1977) nor do they bail out banks efficiently (Bhattacharya and Nyborg, 2013). The inefficiency feature may have implications for the observed increase in fragmentation in the Euro area, the bank-sovereign nexus, and the risk composition of the ECB's balance sheet

Investigating modifiers that can regulate selective vulnerability in mouse models of spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a childhood form of motor neuron disease. It is characterised by the loss of lower motor neurons and muscle weakening and atrophy of associated muscles. Motor neurons (MNs) are the primary pathological target of SMA, but it has long been shown that breakdown of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) is also an early pathological target of the disease. However, not all MNs are equally vulnerable, with some being lost very early in the course of the disease, whilst other subpopulations are consistently spared until late stages of the disease. This selective vulnerability of MNs is a well-known pathological hallmark of SMA, however the underlying molecular mechanisms of it are yet unknown. The work contained within this thesis aims to investigate the basis of selective vulnerability, which will give critical insight into the factors which drive motor neuron pathology and help identify novel neuroprotective strategies. Selective vulnerability of MNs and a wide range of muscles has been reported in SMA patients and in commonly utilised mouse models of SMA. Despite the many publications in each mouse model of SMA, there has not yet been a comparison of NMJ pathology across different mouse models of SMA. I therefore performed an extensive analysis of NMJ pathology in 20 muscles from the Smn²ᴮ/⁻ mouse model of SMA and subsequently compared pattern of selective vulnerability between other mouse models of SMA. This revealed a more profound motor neuron cell body loss in thoracic and upper lumbar spinal cord segments and higher levels of NMJ loss in muscles innervated by nerves from these spinal cord segments in the Smn²ᴮ/⁻ mouse model. Comparison of selective vulnerability patterns between the Smn²ᴮ/⁻ mouse model and other mouse models of SMA, showed that all models had a distinct pattern of selective vulnerability, with the Smn²ᴮ/⁻ showing most similarity to patients. Patterns of vulnerability could not be attributed to developmental subtype or muscle fibre type in any of the mouse models. To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms regulating selective vulnerability, I performed cross-model transcriptional analysis. Here, my goal was to analyse published RNA-seq data sets to look for novel modifiers. I obtained RNA-seq data sets from laser capture microdissection (LCM) motor neurons from both SMNΔ7 and Smn²ᴮ/⁻ mice, from a range of resistant and vulnerable populations. I reanalysed and compared these data sets and identified a number of exciting potential modifiers. In particular, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), seemed to be an exciting potential neuroprotective modifier. PACAP has been shown to be neuroprotective in an array of neurodegenerative diseases but has not yet been investigated in models of SMA. Here, I investigated whether increased PACAP levels could ameliorate neuronal pathology in a mouse model of SMA. Firstly, PACAP was administered IP to the Smn²ᴮ/⁻ mouse model, showing no significant effect on survival, motor performance and selective vulnerability. Therefore, subsequently PACAP was administered via AAV9 delivery in the Smn²ᴮ/⁻ mouse model, showing no significant effects on the neuropathology in the Smn²ᴮ/⁻ mouse model. Finally, since I have identified significant divergence in relative vulnerability in the neurons of the facial motor nucleus, I aimed to perform high spatial resolution transcriptional profiling of motor neurons in the SMNΔ7 mouse model with the ultimate goal of identifying transcriptional signatures of differential vulnerability. I therefore optimised and applied a novel method to perform RNA sequencing on single MNs isolated from the facial nucleus of the brainstem by LCM. A total of 1050 single MNs have been isolated from the facial nucleus from individual P2, P5 and P9 SMNΔ7 mice and respective controls. cDNA libraries were prepared and cDNA fragmented, uniquely barcoded and sent for initial quality control RNA-seq analysis. The analysis revealed promising quality control parameters of the sequenced samples and thereby confirmed a successful optimisation of this novel sequencing technique. Overall, these results provide an important insight into selective vulnerability patterns of different SMA mouse models and identified novel mechanisms and transcripts that have the potential to contribute to the protection of motor neurons in SMA mouse models

The price of money: The reserves convertibility premium over the term structure

Central-bank money provides utility by serving as means of exchange for virtually all transactions in the economy. New reserves (money) are issued to banks in exchange for collateral such as government bonds. An asset's degree of direct convertibility into fresh reserves may affect its utility and, consequently, its market price. We show the existence of a government-bond reserves convertibility premium, which tapers off at longer maturities. Essentially, there is a pure monetary component to some asset prices. Our findings have implications for our understanding of liquidity premia, the term structure of interest rates, and the impact of central-bank collateral policy

Die Rhetorik des Rechtspopulismus

Drei wesentliche Anliegen von populistischen Bewegungen sind, die Forderung nach einem mehr oder weniger ausgeprägten Nationalismus, die Forderung die wirtschaftliche Lage zu verbessern und die Forderung nach Beteiligung der unterprivilegierten Schichten am, politischen Entscheidungsprozess. In erster Linie sind es die Inhalte und nicht die Techniken und Taktiken die einen linken von einem rechten Populismus unterscheiden. Ein demagogisches Weltbild beschreibt die Welt als zweigeteilt. Demagogen polarisieren und vereinfachen. Jörg Haiders Rhetorik war demagogisch und populistisch und sein Erfolg gründete zum einen in der ihm eigenen Technik von Demagogie und zum anderen in der spezifischen Natur der Ressentiments die er bediente

Influence of surface reflectivity on reflectorless electronic distance measurement and terrestrial laser scanning

The uncertainty of electronic distance measurement to surfaces rather than to dedicated precisionre flectors (reflectorless EDM) is afected by the entire system comprising instrument, atmosphere and surface. The impact of the latter is significant for applications like geodetic monitoring, high-precision surface modelling or laser scanner self-calibration. Nevertheless, it has not yet received sufficient attention and is not well understood. We have carried out an experimental investigation of the impact of surface reflectivity on the distance measurements of a terrestrial laser scanner. The investigation helps to clarify (i)whether variations of reflectivity cause systematic deviations of reflectorless EDM, and (ii) if so, whether it is possible and worth modelling these deviations. The results show that differences in reflectivity may actually cause systematic deviations of a few mm with diffusely re- flecting surfaces and even more with directionally reflecting ones. Using abivariate quadratic polynomial we were able to approximate these deviations as a function of measured distance and measured signal strength alone. Using this approximation to predict corrections, the deviations of the measurements could be reduced by about 70% in our experiment.We conclude that there is a systematic effect of surface reflectivity (or equivalently received signal strength) on the distance measurement and that it is possible to model and predict this effect. Integration into laser scanner calibration models may be beneficial for high precision applications. The results may apply to a broad range of instruments, not only to the specific laser scanner used herei

Language in and out of society: converging critiques of the Labovian paradigm

In this thesis, I discuss, from a metatheoretical perspective, how variationist sociolinguistics seems to be undergoing a paradigm shift in the Kuhnian sense. Roughly around the turn of the millennium, sociolinguists interested in the study of phonological change have shifted their focus from sociological macro-categories like social class or gender to social performativity and indexical meaningfulness in language variation. While some have theorised this development as a methodological extension of already existent work (Eckert, 2012), I locate here a radical theory change – an ontological breach with important consequences. What seems to be at stake is not the reliance on monolithic social categories but the ‘narrow interface between language and society’ (Labov, 2001, p. 28) from the early days. In other words, the orthodox conception of language change as language-internal factors ‘unfolding’ themselves in a speech community is being overthrown. The main body of this thesis comprises three papers, two of which have already been published (Woschitz, 2019; Woschitz & Yağlı, 2019), one of which is currently under review (Woschitz, under review). In Woschitz and Yağlı (2019), my colleague and I provide a case study of lexical meaning change in the course of the run-up to the Turkish constitutional referendum 2017. We argue that language change, be it lexical or phonological, cannot be separated from the sociocultural surroundings in which it takes place. Woschitz (2019) surveys how Labov himself has quarrelled with this fact in his own work, and how, in an oeuvre that spans 50 years, he has adjusted his theoretical framework to rise to the challenge. Part of the described reorientations have been initiated by so-called third-wave variationism, with Eckert (2012) leading the way, but epistemological tensions in Labov’s treatment of language and society have been present from the start. Third-wave variationism, in turn, is still sorting out the consequences of the radical reorientations it proposes. Woschitz (under review) zooms out for the big picture. In this paper, I draw a parallel between the history of Labovian sociolinguistics and Chomskyan syntax. Even though these two linguistic subdisciplines are rather different in nature, I argue that their theoretical reorientations over the past 60 years share certain philosophical similarities. Here, I turn to the philosophy of science, particularly to the scientific realism debate, to assess whether one can identify in their developments a common denominator that warrants talking about scientific progress in the broad sense. I argue that linguists turning away from Universal Grammar and internal factors in their explanations of language-related phenomena is indicative of a broader trend within linguistics – a reverse trend that problematises linguistic autonomy that was envisaged by linguists in the past 200 years (Joseph, 2002, chapter 3)

ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF PRESSBOARD AND THE INFLUENCE OF MOISTURE CONTENT

The electrical conductivity σ is an important parameter for material condition evaluation at AC applications and is responsible for electrical field distribution in DC equipment. With a focus on HVDC equipment design, the influence of moisture content in oil-impregnated pressboard is determined in this preliminary investigation. The electrical conductivity of pressboard samples, which have been wetted artificially in the laboratory, is investigated within this work. Moisture contents between <0,3% and 5,5% could be achieved artificially through increasing pressboard moisture content levels in a climate chamber. The electrical conductivity was determined by voltage-current measurements at 20°C in the style of IEC 60093 with measurement times up to and longer than 24 hours. For these investigations, the pressboard samples with a thickness of 1 mm have been placed in an (mineral) oil-filled test vessel and stressed by a DC field with E = 3 kV/mm. It could be demonstrated that the moisture content of pressboard has a strong influence onto the electrical conductivity: An increase of electrical conductivity by a factor of around 10 for each percentage point of moisture increase up to moisture levels of around 3,5% was observed. At higher moisture contents (>5%), other mechanisms seem to govern the electrical current and the conductivity respectively, which is also discussed within the work