The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) maintains that all relevant information is fully and immediately reflected in stock prices and that investors will obtain an equilibrium rate of return. The EMH has far reaching implications for capital allocation, stock price prediction, and the effectiveness of specific trading strategies. Equity market anomalies reflect that the market is inefficient and hence, contradicts the EMH. This book gathers both theoretical and practical perspectives, by including research issues, methodological approaches, practical case studies, uses of new policy and other points of view related to equity market efficiency to help address the future challenges facing the global equity markets and economies. Information Efficiency and Anomalies in Asian Equity Markets: Theories and evidence is an insightful resource that will be useful for students, academics and professionals alike.

This book examines the financing of China's health system, argues that present arrangements are not adequate and proposes an increased role for commercial health insurance as a way of overcoming the difficulties. Highlighting that China's present social medical insurance system can only cover basic medical services, with the results that many Chinese people with higher income are going abroad for high-quality medical services and that doctors are not bringing in the salaries and obtaining the social status they expect, the book suggests that commercial health insurance offers a possible solution, in that it can help meet the demand of higher-income groups for better healthcare services while at the same time increasing the income of more competent medical professionals. The book goes on to consider the current state of China's commercial insurance industry, outlining the various challenges that the industry needs to overcome if it is to fulfil an increased role, challenges such as greater specialization, increased capacity, structural reform, improved regulation and closer integration with China's medical reform programme.

The Crypto Market Ecosystem has emerged as the most profound application of blockchain technology in finance. This textbook adopts an integrated approach, linking traditional functions of the current financial system (payments, traded assets, fundraising, regulation) with the respective functions in the crypto market, in order to facilitate the reader in their understanding of how this new ecosystem works. The book walks the reader through the main features of the blockchain technology, the definitions, classifications, and distinct characteristics of cryptocurrencies and tokens, how these are evaluated, how funds are raised in the cryptocurrency ecosystem (ICOs), and what the main regulatory approaches are. The authors have compiled more than 100 sources from different sub-fields of economics, finance, and regulation to create a coherent textbook that provides the reader with a clear and easily understandable picture of the new world of encrypted finance and its applications. The book is primarily aimed at business and finance students, who already have an understanding of the basic principles of how the financial system works, but also targets a more general readership, by virtue of its broader scope and engaging and accessible tone.

This collection empirically and conceptually advances our understanding of the intricacies of emerging markets' financial and macroeconomic development in the post-2008 crisis context. Covering a vast geography and a broad range of economic viewpoints, this study serves as an informed guide in the unchartered waters of fundamental uncertainty as it has been redefined in the post-crisis period. Contributors to the collection go beyond risks-opportunities analyses, looking deeper into the nuanced interpretations of data and economic categories as interplay of developing world characteristics in the context of redefined fundamental uncertainty. Those concerns relate to the issues of small country finance, the industrialization of the developing world, the role of commodity cycles in the global economy, sovereign debt, speculative financial flows and currency pressures, and connections between financial markets and real markets. Compact and comprehensive, this collection offers unique perspectives into contemporary issues of financial deepening and real macroeconomic development in small developing economies that rarely surface in the larger policy and development debates.

The book provides students and academics in finance and banking with the most recent updates and changes in the Malaysian banking sector post-AFC period. The book explores the evolution of banking policies and practices after the "Tomyam Goong Crisis" and investigates the health of Malaysian banks via efficiency measurement. In addition, it also presents the evolution of bank risk management regulations and practices in Malaysia. The book also discusses the effectiveness of the Malaysian bank bailout strategy with comparison to the banks' bailout in developed countries such as the US. This book is important and timely since there are very limited books in the market that cover the recent developments on Malaysian banking sectors post-AFC period. Hence, this book serves as the valuable resource for all finance and banking students, academic researchers, and practitioners not limited to the Asian region that require in-depth insights on the latest policies and practices in the Malaysian banking sector.

This book analyses three key aspects of microfinancing, namely social purpose, commercialization and innovations and examines, through a global perspective, how these aspects helped and diverted microfinance institutions towards the attainment of their dual goals over the last twenty years. Since microfinance remains informal in nature for most economies, not all financial innovations are suitable for its needs. Hence, the arguments in the book put forth an important challenge to the advocates of innovations and subsequently highlight why MFIs should be cautious when integrating innovations to ensure its original promise. The book is based on empirical analysis by utilising the latest and global microfinance market data, rather than focusing on a specific region. Thus, the book bridges a gap in knowledge by unravelling detail of the social purpose, commercialization and innovations within the field of microfinance and will be a valuable resource for those exploring the dynamics of innovations in microfinance.

Entrepreneurs play a central role in economic growth and development, but how they do so is the subject of considerable debate. This book explains that process through an historical case study of an automobile insurance entrepreneur, Samuel P. Black, Jr., and Erie Insurance, the company he helped build. It also recounts the largely untold history of American automobile insurance. One of this study's central themes is the role of innovation in the entrepreneurial process. The rise of Erie Insurance from a four-person enterprise in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1925 to the fourteenth largest property-casualty insurer today was the result, in part, of Black's relentless push to innovate. His continual efforts to cut costs, develop new products, satisfy customers, increase sales, and improve operations, all contributed greatly to the company's growth. A second theme is the automobile's dramatic impact on modern America. Its takeover of mass transportation provided the basis for the development of the automobile insurance industry and created many of the opportunities that Black and Erie Insurance capitalized on. These themes combine in the history of Black and Erie Insurance to illuminate the dynamic process by which the cultural, social, economic, and technological environment creates opportunities that entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial firms exploit, and how entrepreneurial actions stimulate economic growth.

The market for retirement financial advice has never been more important and yet more in flux. The long-term shift away from traditional defined benefit pensions toward defined contribution personal accounts requires all of us to be more sophisticated today than ever before. However, the landscape for financial advice is changing all over the world, with new rules and regulations transforming the financial advice profession. This volume explores the market for retirement financial advice, to explain what financial advisors do and how to measure performance and impact. Who are these professionals and what standards must they abide by? How do they make money and what are their incentives? How can one protect clients from bad advice, and what is good advice? Does advice alone effect changes in personal habits? Answering these questions, along with new technology that will decrease the delivery costs of advice, will play a transformative role in helping more households receive the quality financial advice that they need. Accordingly, this volume illuminates the market and regulatory challenges so as to enhance consumer, plan sponsor, and regulator decisions.

The Crypto Market Ecosystem has emerged as the most profound application of blockchain technology in finance. This textbook adopts an integrated approach, linking traditional functions of the current financial system (payments, traded assets, fundraising, regulation) with the respective functions in the crypto market, in order to facilitate the reader in their understanding of how this new ecosystem works. The book walks the reader through the main features of the blockchain technology, the definitions, classifications, and distinct characteristics of cryptocurrencies and tokens, how these are evaluated, how funds are raised in the cryptocurrency ecosystem (ICOs), and what the main regulatory approaches are. The authors have compiled more than 100 sources from different sub-fields of economics, finance, and regulation to create a coherent textbook that provides the reader with a clear and easily understandable picture of the new world of encrypted finance and its applications. The book is primarily aimed at business and finance students, who already have an understanding of the basic principles of how the financial system works, but also targets a more general readership, by virtue of its broader scope and engaging and accessible tone.

In 2017, Arif Naqvi and The Abraaj Group were on the brink of changing the world of private equity. Abraaj was a pioneer of a new model of impact investing built on the idea that making money and doing good are not mutually exclusive. It had helped transform communities and companies across the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America by investing in healthcare, education and clean energy, and in 2017 it was on the threshold of closing a new fund that would provide $6 billion worth of investment to these emerging markets. But then it all came crashing down. On 10 April 2019, after landing at London Heathrow, Naqvi was arrested on fraud charges. He is facing extradition to the United States and a potential prison sentence of up to 291 years if he is found guilty. The dominant media narrative has painted Naqvi as a thief and fraudster, the so-called key man in an organised criminal conspiracy. But in this explosive new book, which is based on extensive research and interviews with key players, Brian Brivati discovers that things are not quite what they seem and finds that in this case of alleged fraud there is actually no money missing. Icarus explores how Abraaj found itself caught in the middle of a geopolitical war between the United States and China and when it would not bow to the whims of these global behemoths, economic hitmen tried to wipe it out.

find out what works - and what doesn't - in one of the most important and hotly debated aspects of the future of the financial system A new and unique insider view of what actually works, what ought to work, what prevents it from working, and what needs to be done about it - industry experts who have to implement and work within regulatory systems give the real best practice picture The recent financial crisis has unleashed a flood of views on what happened, why it happened, and what new regulatory measures and structures might prevent or mitigate such crises in the future. Effective Bank Regulation and Supervision: Lessons from the Financial Crisis takes a different approach. Based on in-depth interviews with more than 30 senior, experienced bankers, regulators, consultants and others deeply involved in the regulatory process, it seeks to answer two key questions: Which bank regulators around the world have demonstrated relatively superior results in terms of regulatory outcomes? and What lessons for the future can be drawn from their experience? The result is a ground-breaking insight into the likely future success of bank regulation and the key factors which will determine such outcomes. Praise for Effective Bank Regulation and Supervision: Lessons from the Financial Crisis ..". Required reading for anyone with a stake in strengthening the financial system - which is pretty much all of us." Robert P. Kelly, Chairman and CEO, BNY Mellon "Steve Davis has always been innovative in looking at the banking industry, and in writing about its challenges and opportunities. Highlighting the various regulators' roles, both in their benefits and shortcomings, will usefully inform the debate on the future shape of the industry." Sir Win Bischoff, Chairman, Lloyds Banking Group plc "This is a tour de force of bank regulation. Steve Davis provides an excellent insight into bank regulatory systems, investigating the mechanics of who got it right and who failed in providing appropriate oversight of their banking systems over the crisis. A series of lucid and insightful bank regulator case studies reports the experiences of key players and highlights major areas for reform. A must-read for anyone interested in bank regulation pre- and post-crisis." Professor Philip Molyneux, Bangor University

The challenges in development often seem insurmountable. They overwhelm - tions and the builders of their most basic institutions. I am often asked how dev- opment finance agencies can work together to meet this challenge. In reply I invite you to read a story about cooperation in re-building one of the most basic insti- tions of any society -- the banking system. KfW Bankengruppe places great emphasis on financial sector development. Our experience in our own country, and beyond our borders, shows that one of the first steps is building a banking system that fuels growth through investment in enterprises. Micro, small and medium enterprises are the backbone of many economies; they are also the wealth of the people and generate their hope in the future. We believe that the depth of the financial sector is related to economic growth; the growth and safety of deposits, the facility of payments, and the in- vation to develop new products and services that strengthen markets and promote investment. A strong banking system supports economic growth by attracting unproductive capital and injecting it into the economy, increasing the productivity of the country's capital base and leveraging it by attracting outside capital.

This book looks at financial advisory from a behavioural perspective, and focuses on how the nature of the relationship between advisors and clients may affect the ability of the advisor to perform its functions. Broken into three key parts, the book looks at the client, the advisor, and the relationship between the two. Chapters review relevant theories of decision-making under risk to understand the nature of clients' decisions. The literature on advisors' functions and the normative landscape regulating financial advisory are also addressed. Finally, this book reviews how behavioural finance has traditionally addressed portfolio selection and explains how trust can be seen as a viable avenue to maximize advisors' effectiveness and pursue clients' needs. This book will be of interest to both behavioural finance scholars and practitioners interested in understanding what the future of financial advisory may have in stock.

This book is a practical and unique investment resource designed to guide investors towards successful investing in the financial markets. It provides a selection of time-tested investment strategies to help investors enhance returns. Factor investing is positioned between active management and passive investing to combine their advantages. The book provides comprehensive coverage of common style factors such as quality and momentum in response to the rising investor interest in factor strategies. It presents a detailed description of the multifactor approach regarding its principle, investment merits and construction methods. The book also covers sustainable investing as it continues to rise in prominence across the investment sector. It employs an abundance of financial data, real cases and practical examples to help the audience understand different investment strategies in an interesting and informative way. The book is primarily written for private investors and investment practitioners such as equity analysts and investment advisors. It is also suitable for university students who are interested in learning practical investment strategies and traditional asset classes.

At the end of the twentieth century, international business functioned in an environment dominated by the triad of economic power formed by the USA, Japan and the European Community. Multinational corporate strategies had to be formulated within the context of intense global competition between these three economic blocs. This book, first published in 1990, analyses the interplay between the trade policies adopted by the major powers and the competitive strategies of international corporations. With particular reference to trade relations between Canada and the USA, the effects of Japanese multinational dominance and the implications of European economic integration, this volume throws new light on the interaction between international business and government trade policies.

This book is a critical examination of recently introduced individual accountability regimes that apply to the financial services industry in the UK (SMCR) and Australia (BEAR and the forthcoming FAR), together with a forthcoming new individual accountability regime ( in particular, SEAR) in Ireland. It provides a framework for analysing whether these regimes will achieve behavioural change in the financial services industry. This book argues that, whilst sanctioning individuals to deter future misconduct is an important part of any successful regulatory strategy, the focus should be on ensuring that individuals in the financial services industry internalise the norms of behaviour expected under the new regimes. In this regard, the analysis in this book is informed by criminological theory, regulatory theory and behavioural science. The work also argues for a "trajectory towards professionalisation" of financial services, and banking in particular, as an important means of positively influencing industry-wide norms of behaviour, which have a key influence on firms' and individuals' behaviours.

The main contention of this book, first published in 1978, is that international trade policy must fit the economic structure of the trading countries. The first two chapters, which compare the nineteenth and twentieth century movements towards freer trade, and show the nature of the export structure and pricing, provide the two main themes of the book: policy and the sort of industries on which the policies work.

There can be few industries which have generated as much political controversy as the world steel industry. Since 1968 the trade policies of both the US and the EEC have created a vicious circle of protectionism and delayed adjustment in their steel industries. In particular, protectionist policies by one government have tended to lead directly to rebound protectionist policies by the other. This book, first published in 1986, begins by tracing the historical roots of steel protectionism and describes the changing competitive structure of the world steel market which has led to increased government involvement in the traditional steel-making countries as they became vulnerable to imports from the newly industrialised countries. The most distinctive feature of the book is its economic analysis of a policy crisis; a crisis whose inner dynamics work against a viable solution.

In an international political economy characterised both by constancy and change, this study, first published in 1996, links together one seemingly incongruous continuity in international trade relations with an increasingly dramatic development in the economies of industrial countries. On the one hand, industrialised countries have become progressively dependent upon one another. On the other hand, the liberal international trade regime has yet to falter. These two points are tied together by seeking to explain the maintenance of liberal trade relations in terms of the mutual economic dependence of industrial countries. In particular, the study examines what may be a fundamental constraint on trade protectionism today: the reliance of industrialised countries on external trade relations, and especially on markets within the industrial world.

The financial crisis of 1931 marked a turning point in British economic foreign policy, as decades of laissez-faire principles were abandoned and an active interventionist policy was introduced. This book, first published in 1936, provides an in-depth analysis of the change in Britain's policies, and the effects these changes had on the various aspects of foreign trade.

The purpose of this book, first published in 1990, is to explain the varying levels of protection from foreign competition across US industries by focusing on factors that affect both the supply of and demand for the regulation of trade. What circumstances lead industries to request protection, and what factors affect the government's decision of whether or not to supply that protection? What factors best explain the actions of interest groups and the decisions of regulators? This detailed study answers these key questions and more.

Andrew Stewart (1791-1872) advocated protectionist policies for nearly two decades in the House of Representatives, gaining national renown as Chairman of the House Committees on the Tariff and Internal Improvements in the 1820s. Many of Stewart's congressional speeches on economic doctrine were reproduced in full by newspapers, and he himself collected into one volume, reproduced here, all his speeches relating to tariffs. They demonstrate his belief in protectionism, in the necessity in his eyes of protective tariffs so as to enable American capitalists catch up with their British counterparts.

This book, first published in 1992, provides an in-depth analysis of the EC policy-making processes elating to trade protection. It argues that the decision-making process is biased towards national policy-makers, leading to the political determination of the EC's administered protection, with the outcome being that protection is geared towards domestic producer interests seeking relief from import competition. This study offers a unique perspective because it locates the analysis of EC trade protection within the wider framework of EC decision-making processes.

Since 1975 the leaders of the major western economies have gathered in annual summit meetings to try to agree a unified response to the main political and economic problems facing them. This book, first published in 1984, traces the development of the summit meetings and tries to assess their impact on western decision-making and international relations in general. The summits arose as the product of a serious crisis that shook the world economy in the early 1970s. They have been sustained because of the waning of the American hegemony that had supported the postwar international economic regime. From this it became vital for the leaders of the major economies to reassert collective leadership in order to try to re-establish a new world economic equilibrium.

Developing countries have for many decades waged a campaign for the global regulation of trade in primary products through international commodity agreements. Heavily dependent upon exports of primary products, developing countries hope to regulate the markets for their commodities to achieve higher prices. While there is a myriad of obstacles to agreements, the blame for slow progress is often laid at the feet of the industrial, commodity-consuming countries, particularly the US. This book, first published in 1987, is a comparative case study that closely analyses how American businesses behaved in relation to US government responses to developing countries' demands for commodity agreements for coffee and cocoa.