Signals of foreign bank entry on real sector FDI and foreign trade and their impact on economic development in the New EU Member States

Does financial sector foreign direct investment (FSFDI) trigger general capital inflows and foreign trade? Do these inflows to New EU Member States (NMS) provide positive signals (Spence, 1973) towards economic development or crowd out investment and trade? While the direct impact of financial deepening has received much attention (Hasan, Wachtel, Zhou, 2006; Detragiache, Tressel, Gupta, 2006), indirect effects have received less consideration. To fill this gap, we review the literature on possible links and provide descriptive data for NMS. We apply regression analysis and find coherence between FSFDI and non-financial FDI and trade in Bulgaria and Croatia, but there are various directions in which developmental repercussions can go and the impact on trade is not as significant as the effect on nonfinancial FDI. We argue that the relative impact of FSFDI, real sector FDI and trade needs to be taken into consideration in shaping economic policies conducive to economic development. --foreign banks,economic development,foreign trade,FDI,signal theory

Einstein static universe as a brane in extra dimensions

We present a brane-world scenario in which two regions of $AdS_5$ space-time are glued together along a 3-brane with constant positive curvature such that {\em all} spatial dimensions form a compact manifold of topology $S^4$. It turns out that the induced geometry on the brane is given by Einstein's static universe. It is possible to achieve an anisotropy of the manifold which allows for a huge hierarchy between the size of the extra dimension $R$ and the size of the observable universe $R_U$ at present. This anisotropy is also at the origin of a very peculiar property of our model: the physical distance between {\em any two points} on the brane is of the order of the size of the extra dimension $R$ regardless of their distance measured with the use of the induced metric on the brane. In an intermediate distance regime $R \ll r \ll R_U$ gravity on the brane is shown to be effectively 4-dimensional, with corresponding large distance corrections, in complete analogy with the Randall-Sundrum II model. For very large distances $r \sim R_U$ we recover gravity in Einstein's static universe. However, in contrast to the Randall-Sundrum II model the difference in topology has the advantage of giving rise to a geodesically complete space.Comment: 45 pages, 3 figure

Topological defects and gravity in theories with extra dimensions

Various solutions to higher-dimensional Einstein equations coupled to a series of physically different sources are considered and their properties of localization of gravity discussed. A numerical example of a solution to the Einstein equations coupled to a set of scalar and gauge fields is given: a 3-brane realized as a 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole residing in a 7-dimensional space-time. Finally we describe a model which resembles the Randall-Sundrum II model with respect to its properties of gravity localization but with the advantage that the underlying space-time manifold is geodesically complete.Comment: PhD thesi

Trust between Boundary-Spanning Agents: The Role of Relational Competencies

Against the background of principal-agent and transaction-cost theoretical considerations, this study addresses the question whether relational competencies relate to trust within cooperative relationships, taking into account also situational and personal factors. In its conclusion, the study presents an experimentally confirmed model (n = 282) that shows the strong causal relationship between relational competencies and trust allowing boundary-spanning agents to exert influence on the development and maintenance of complex cooperative relationships characterized by long-term objectives

L’approche néo-institutionnelle et ses implications pour le management des relations avec les stakeholders en phase start-up

Les approches néo-institutionnelles et surtout la théorie de l’agence et la théorie des coûts de transaction ont fait leurs preuves dans divers domaines (en marketing, en GRH, etc.). Cependant, jusqu’à présent, peu de recherches en création d’entreprise se sont appuyées sur ces approches. Le but de la présente contribution est d’analyser la création d’entreprise sous l’angle de la Nouvelle Économie institutionnelle. Cet angle souligne le rôle crucial de la relation stakeholder-créateur. En effet, le succès d’une jeune entreprise dépend directement de l’acceptation et du soutien des parties prenantes. Les relations dans la phase de création sont caractérisées par des incertitudes particulièrement fortes dues à la nouveauté (liability of newness). Dans le processus d’évaluation et de jugement de la relation d’échange, le stakeholder est confronté à l’incertitude des promesses du créateur d’entreprise ; ces incertitudes influencent la décision du stakeholder d’entrer dans la relation d’échange avec la jeune entreprise. L’aptitude à gérer ces incertitudes augmente la probabilité de succès du projet de création. L’approche MUT (Management of Uncertainties and Trust) que nous présenterons ici est un outil pragmatique et normatif qui a pour but de structurer et de résoudre la problématique d’incertitude. De cette façon, il peut favoriser le succès de nouvelles entreprises en aidant l’entrepreneur à créer des relations stables avec les parties prenantes.Institutional Economics, especially the Principal-Agent Approach and Transaction Cost Economics, has proven of value in various disciplines (e.g. marketing, personnel management). However, so far they have hardly expanded into entrepreneurship research. In this paper, we strive to analyse the establishment of new ventures from the perspective of Institutional Economics. This highlights the decisive role of the relationship between the founder and the stakeholders. The success of a new venture strongly depends on the acceptance and the support of the stakeholders. At the same time, the relationships to the stakeholders are burdened with particularly high uncertainties, because of the “liability of newness.” When evaluating the offered transaction, the stakeholder is confronted by the founder’s insecure promises. These insecurities influence the potential stakeholders’ decision whether or not to establish a transaction relationship with the newly founded company. With the rising capability to handle such insecurities, the success of the new venture becomes more likely. As a pragmatic-normative tool to structure and handle the insecurities identified, the MUT-Approach presented in this paper can foster the success of new ventures by helping the founder to establish stable relationships with stakeholders.Los enfoques de la Economía Institucional, en particular la teoría del Agente-Principal y la de los costos de la transacción, han demostrado ser muy útiles en diversas disciplinas (por ejemplo marketing, gestión de personal). Sin embargo, hasta ahora no se han ampliado tanto en la investigación de la iniciativa empresarial. En este artículo nos esforzamos en analizar la creación de nuevas empresas desde la perspectiva de la Economía Institucional. Esto pone de relieve el papel decisivo de la relación entre el fundador y los interesados. El éxito de una nueva empresa depende en gran medida de la aceptación y el apoyo de las partes interesadas. Al mismo tiempo, estas relaciones son particularmente cargadas de grandes incertidumbres debido a la novedad (liability of newness). Al evaluar la transacción ofrecida, el interesado es confrontado con las promesas inseguras del fundador. Estas inseguridades influyen en la decisión de las potenciales partes interesadas de establecer o no una relación de intercambio con la recién creada empresa. El éxito de la nueva empresa se hace más probable con el aumento de la capacidad de manejar esas inseguridades. El MUT-Enfoque (Management of Uncertainties and Trust) presentado en este documento es un instrumento pragmático y normativo para estructurar y manejar el problema de las inseguridades identificadas. De esta forma puede favorecer el éxito de nuevas empresas, ayudando al fundador a establecer relaciones estables con las partes interesadas.Die Ansätze der Institutional Economics insbesondere Prinzipal-Agent-Theorie und Transaktionskostentheorie haben sich in unterschiedlichsten Fachbereichen (z.B. Marketing, Personalmanagement, etc.) bewährt. Haben. In der Entrepreneurship-Forschung haben diese Ansätze aber bislang wenig Eingang gefunden. Dieser Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel, die Unternehmensgründung aus der Perspektive der Institutional Economics zu analysieren. Dies eröffnet den Blick auf die erfolgskritische Rolle der Stakeholder-Gründer-Beziehung. Die Beziehungen in der Gründungsphase sind aufgrund der liability of newness mit besonders hohen Unsicherheiten behaftet. Mit der Kompetenz, die Unsicherheiten zu handhaben, steigt die Erfolgswahrscheinlichkeit der Gründung. Der hier präsentierte MUT-Ansatz (Management of Uncertaintites and Trust) ist ein pragmatisch-normativer Ansatz zur Strukturierung und Lösung der Unsicherheitsproblematik

Born-Infeld strings in brane worlds

We study Born-Infeld strings in a six dimensional brane world scenario recently suggested by Giovannini, Meyer and Shaposhnikov (GMS). In the limit of the Einstein-Abelian-Higgs model, we classify the solutions found by GMS. Especially, we point out that the warped solutions, which lead to localisation of gravity, are the - by the presence of the cosmological constant - deformed inverted string solutions. Further, we construct the Born-Infeld analogues of the anti-warped solutions and determine the domain of existence of these solutions, while a analytic argument leads us to a "no-go" hypothesis: solutions which localise gravity do NOT exist in a 6 dimensional Einstein-Born-Infeld-Abelian-Higgs (EBIAH) brane world scenario. This latter hypothesis is confirmed by our numerical results.Comment: 11 REVTEX4 pages, 5 EPS-figures; v1:references and new figure added; Conclusions extended; Accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys.

Living Inside a Hedgehog: Higher-dimensional Solutions that Localize Gravity

We consider spherically symmetric higher-dimensional solutions of Einstein's equations with a bulk cosmological constant and n transverse dimensions. In contrast to the case of one or two extra dimensions we find no solutions that localize gravity when $n\geq 3$, for strictly local topological defects. We discuss global topological defects that lead to the localization of gravity and estimate the corrections to Newton's law. We show that the introduction of a bulk ``hedgehog'' magnetic field leads to a regular geometry and localizes gravity on the 3-brane with either a positive, zero or negative bulk cosmological constant. The corrections to Newton's law on the 3-brane are parametrically the same as for the case of one transverse dimension.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX; v2: references added, to appear in Phys. Lett.

Pion-Kaon Scattering near the Threshold in Chiral SU(2) Perturbation Theory

In the context of chiral SU(2) perturbation theory, pion-kaon scattering is analysed near the threshold to fourth chiral order. The scattering amplitude is calculated both in the relativistic framework and by using an approach similar to heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. Both methods lead to equivalent results. We obtain relations between threshold parameters, valid to fourth chiral order, where all those combinations of low-energy constants which are not associated with chiral-symmetry breaking terms drop out. The remaining low-energy constants can be estimated using chiral SU(3) symmetry. Unfortunately, the experimental information is not precise enough to test our low-energy theorems.Comment: 38 pages, 5 figures, PhD Thesis, references adde