This book examines cost-of-capital models and their application in the context of managerial finance. This includes the use of hurdle rates in capital allocation decisions, as well as target returns in performance management. Besides a review of classical finance models such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), other contemporary models and techniques to determine the cost-of-capital of business units and private companies are discussed. Based on a mixed methods approach, current cost-of-capital practices and their determinants are empirically analyzed among German companies.

Taiwan, the Republic of China, has been striving to reform its financial system, and in the process, become a financial power, both regionally within the Pacific Rim of Asia, and, globally, given the rapidly increasing economic and financial significance of this area. In a unique book written from an interdisciplinary and well-balanced legal, financial and economics perspective that is both theoretical and practical, Semkow comprehensively analyzes and discusses the scope and direction financial and capital market reform has taken in Taiwan, and its implications for existing and newly emerging financial institutions in Taiwan and elsewhere.

Having introduced the problems underlying and the significance of Taiwanese financial reform, the author provides a thorough overview of the entire spectrum of existing and newly-emerging domestic and international financial institutions within Taiwan, and the various financial regulators, including the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of China, and the regulatory framework through which both financial institutions and regulators operate. The author examines in detail the various financial markets, including the financial, money, offshore banking, foreign exchange and securities (equity, debt and derivative) markets, and the major recent and imminent legislative and regulatory initiatives undertaken to reform these markets and elevate Taiwan's status as a regional, and by implication, a global financial center. This book will provide both foreign and Taiwanese financial, legal, business, and public policy and academic communities interested in Asian and Taiwanese business and finance an invaluable legal and financial guide to the rapidly emerging and increasing significance of Taiwanese banking and finance in this decade and into the next century.

The New Economic Diplomacy explains how states conduct their external economic relations in the 21st century: how they make decisions domestically, how they negotiate internationally and how these processes interact. Although the previous edition, published in 2011, was able to reflect the impact of the financial crisis and the immediate reaction to it, a lot has happened since then, and the atmosphere of economic diplomacy has darkened. To capture the emergence of new trends and the intensification of old ones, the salient features of this new edition are: The advance of China and other emerging powers at the expense of G7 governments, despite some setbacks; Much greater activity in negotiating regional and plurilateral trade agreements, while the multilateral system struggles; The persistence of problems exposed by the financial crisis, notably the long-running euro-zone crisis. The interaction between domestic and external forces: the balance has shifted towards the domestic axis, with international agreement more difficult to achieve. This edition goes further in comparing the practice of different players, to reflect the greater diversity of economic diplomacy. Based on the authors' work in the field of International Political Economy, it is suitable for students interested in the decision-making processes in foreign economic policy, including those studying international relations, government, politics and economics. It will also appeal to politicians, bureaucrats, business people, NGO activists, journalists and the informed public.

In a little over one decade, the spread of market-oriented policies has turned the once so-called lesser developed countries into emerging markets. Many forces have been responsible for the tremendous growth in emerging markets. Trends toward market-oriented policies that permit private ownership of economic activities, such as public utilities and telecommunications, are part of the explanation. Corporate restructuring, following the debt crisis of the early 1980's has permitted many emerging market companies to gain international competitiveness. And an essential condition, a basic sea-change in economic policy, has opened up many emerging markets to international investors. This growth in emerging markets has been accompanied by volatility in individual markets, and a sector-wide shock after the meltdown in the Mexican Bolsa and Mexican peso, resulting in heated debate over the nature of these markets. Emerging market capital flows continue to be the subject of intense discussion around the world among investors, academics, and policymakers. Emerging Market Capital Flows examines the issues of emerging market capital flows from several distinct perspectives, addressing a number of related questions about emerging markets.

This book explores contemporary issues and trends facing Islamic banks, businesses and economies as presented at the International Conference of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance. The authors leverage current empirical research and statistics to provide unique and fresh perspectives on the changing world of Islamic finance. They focus specifically on to the implementation of Islamic financial instruments and services in global capital markets and how their success can be evaluated. Chapters feature case studies from all over the world including examples from Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Kingdom, to name a few. The breadth and immediacy of the research presented by the authors will appeal to practitioners and scholars alike. The global outlook and rich data-based approach adopted in this book guarantee that it is a timely and valuable addition to the field of Islamic finance.

Most financial and investment decisions are based on considerations of possible future changes and require forecasts on the evolution of the financial world. Time series and processes are the natural tools for describing the dynamic behavior of financial data, leading to the required forecasts. This book presents a survey of the empirical properties of financial time series, their descriptions by means of mathematical processes, and some implications for important financial applications used in many areas like risk evaluation, option pricing or portfolio construction. The statistical tools used to extract information from raw data are introduced. Extensive multiscale empirical statistics provide a solid benchmark of stylized facts (heteroskedasticity, long memory, fat-tails, leverage ), in order to assess various mathematical structures that can capture the observed regularities. The author introduces a broad range of processes and evaluates them systematically against the benchmark, summarizing the successes and limitations of these models from an empirical point of view. The outcome is that only multiscale ARCH processes with long memory, discrete multiplicative structures and non-normal innovations are able to capture correctly the empirical properties. In particular, only a discrete time series framework allows to capture all the stylized facts in a process, whereas the stochastic calculus used in the continuum limit is too constraining. The present volume offers various applications and extensions for this class of processes including high-frequency volatility estimators, market risk evaluation, covariance estimation and multivariate extensions of the processes. The book discusses many practical implications and is addressed to practitioners and quants in the financial industry, as well as to academics, including graduate (Master or PhD level) students. The prerequisites are basic statistics and some elementary financial mathematics."

Since its first appearance in 1979, Research in Finance has been publishing papers that cover important and interesting issues in finance and economics. The topics found in the series span a wide range; previous volumes have included papers on corporate financial management policy, asset pricing and investment management, corporate control and governance, bank regulations and management, and the analysis of financial derivatives and their applications in risk management and in venture capital investment. These papers, among others, have made significant contributions to the literature.
In this volume, Bajaj, Vijh and Westerfield present evidence showing that ownership structure affects a firm's agency costs of cash flow, which, in turn, influences the market's reaction to changes in the firm's dividend policy. McNabb and Martin examine the relationship between managerial entrenchment and the effectiveness of internal governance mechanisms and the firm performances. In their paper, Kang, Karim and Rutledge apply a relative excess value ratio approach to empirically examine the association between the CEO compensations and the firms' performances. And Almisher, Buell and Kish, using accounting beta as a proxy for ex ante systematic risk of a firm, find a strong positive relationship between the firm's systematic risk and the subsequent degree of underpricing of its IPO.
Also in this volume, Kwan and Wilcox show the disparity between accounting and actual cost reductions in bank mergers, and point out the importance of avoiding the accounting bias in reporting the cost reduction in bank mergers. Gunther and Siems empirically find that a desire to hedge balance sheet positions andhaving a strong capital position are the key motivations for banks' involvement in derivatives activities. Shyu and Reichert examine the key financial and regulatory factors that determine the derivatives activities of both U.S. and foreign banks. In their paper, Yin, Wu and Chen explore the joint effects of the changes in capital regulation and deposit insurance system on banks' returns and risks in Taiwan.
Based upon the one-factor equilibrium term structure model of Cox-Ingersoll-Ross, Chen and Chaudhury examine the market values and dynamic interest rate risks of existing swap positions. Chang and Ho derive formula of duration for different bonds under the Heath-Jarrow-Morton model of term structure and compare the relative performances of dynamic and static immunization strategies. In their paper, Boyle, Byoun and Park use intraday transactions data to show that the S&P 500 index option market leads the cash index, and that the lead-lag relation has resulted in a significant bias of the implied volatility that confirms their theoretical conjecture. Finally, Bubna uses a moral hazard model to address issues in the formation of syndicates in venture capital industry and to present some useful policy implications.
May the contributions within this volume be of significant interest and usefulness to its readers. And may Research in Finance continue to publish papers of the highest caliber, to the benefit of academics and practitioners alike.

As the financial services industry becomes increasingly international, the more narrowly defined and historically protected national financial markets become less significant. Consequently, financial institutions must achieve a critical size in order to compete. Bank Mergers & Acquisitions analyses the major issues associated with the large wave of bank mergers and acquisitions in the 1990's. While the effects of these changes have been most pronounced in the commercial banking industry, they also have a profound impact on other financial institutions: insurance firms, investment banks, and institutional investors. Bank Mergers & Acquisitions is divided into three major sections: A general and theoretical background to the topic of bank mergers and acquisitions; the effect of bank mergers on efficiency and shareholders' wealth; and regulatory and legal issues associated with mergers of financial institutions. It brings together contributions from leading scholars and high-level practitioners in economics, finance and law.

How can business leaders make better production and capital investment decisions? How can Wall Street analysts improve their predictions of future stock market values? How can government improve macroeconomic forecasts and policies? In The Power of Profit, Anari and Kolari demonstrate how profit measures can be applied as the basis for these and many other applications of economic, policy, financial, and business analysis. The underlying theme of the book is that profitability is the driving force in free market economies. Firms invest in capital, produce goods and services, and generate sales in an effort to reap profits. Firms that are unprofitable exit the marketplace and are replaced by profitable firms. Despite the crucial importance of profits, however, there is no formal model that directly relates profits to capital formation and output. Previous studies over the past 100 years on profit and the economy are mainly descriptive in nature, without any well-specified model grounded in microeconomic theory. Filling this gap, the authors present a profit system model of the firm grounded in basic accounting relationships in addition to the well-known Cobb-Douglas production function, which can be applied to individual firms, industries, and the business sector as a whole.

Through rigorous data analysis, the authors show how the profit system modelcan be applied to:

• modeling the U.S. business sector and national economy
• forecasting output, capital stock, total profit, profit rates, and profit margins
• examining the relationships among profitability, economic growth, and the business cycle
• simulating the effects of potential monetary policy changes on the business sector and national economy
• valuing the Standard & Poor's stock market index as well as individual firms.

The result is a model that integrates microeconomic and macroeconomic factors and that can be widely applied in business and economic decisions, policymaking, research, and teaching.

The goal of the volume is to provide some background on the various financial market segments of the Asian Pacific region. An understanding of institutional detail (size and scope) of the relevant markets affords a view that lends or detracts from the credibility of intermarket comparisons. An exposure and understanding of institutional detail supplies information that may bear on the statistical results of the empirical analysis. The vital roles played bycapital markets of pricing capital, issuing new shares, providing a liquidity-creating secondary feature, serving as a vehicle for asset transfer, and providing a linkage to international capital markets are as important to emerging markets as to developed countries.

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, Cooper locates the WTO-focused struggle between the United States and the very small island state of Antigua on Internet gambling in the wider International Political Economy. He draws connections between gambling and offshore and/or enclave cultures and points out the stigmatization of "Casino Capitalism."

In the late 1990s, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia experienced a series of major financial crises evinced by widespread bank insolvencies and currency depreciations, as well as sharp declines in gross domestic production. This sudden disruption of the Asian economic miracle' astounded many observers around the world, raised questions about the stability of the international financial system and caused widespread fear that this financial crisis would spread to other countries. What has been called the Asian crisis followed a prolonged slump in Japan dating from the early 1980s and came after the Mexican currency crisis in the mid-1990s. Thus, the Asian crisis became a major policy concern at the International Monetary Fund as well as among developed countries whose cooperation in dealing with such financial crises is necessary to maintain the stability and efficiency of global financial markets. This book collects the papers and discussions delivered at an October 1998 Conference co-sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the International Monetary Fund to examine the causes, implications and possible solutions to the crises. The conference participants included a broad range of academic, industry, and regulatory experts representing more than thirty countries. Topics discussed included the origin of the individual crises; early warning indicators; the role played by the global financial sector in this crisis; how, given an international safety net, potential risks of moral hazard might contribute to further crises; the lessons for the international financial system to be drawn from the Asian crisis; and what the role of the International Monetary Fund might be in future rescue operations. Because the discussions of these topics include a wide diversity of critical views and opinions, the book offers a particularly rich presentation of current and evolving thinking on the causes and preventions of international banking and monetary crises. The book promises to be one of the timeliest as well as one of the most complete treatments of the Asian financial crisis and its implications for future policymaking.

A starter to the concepts of modularization and mass customization.

Condensed and application-oriented approach for a broad audience in engineering, production, sales and marketing.

Provides an extensive configurator evaluation checklist for future users and a supplement of business cases.

The classical ARMA models have limitations when applied to the field of financial and monetary economics. Financial time series present nonlinear dynamic characteristics and the ARCH models offer a more adaptive framework for this type of problem. This book surveys the recent work in this area from the perspective of statistical theory, financial models, and applications and will be of interest to theorists and practitioners. From the view point of statistical theory, ARCH models may be considered as specific nonlinear time series models which allow for an exhaustive study of the underlying dynamics. It is possible to reexamine a number of classical questions such as the random walk hypothesis, prediction interval building, presence of latent variables etc., and to test the validity of the previously studied results. There are two main categories of potential applications. One is testing several economic or financial theories concerning the stocks, bonds, and currencies markets, or studying the links between the short and long run. The second is related to the interventions of the banks on the markets, such as choice of optimal portfolios, hedging portfolios, values at risk, and the size and times of block trading.

This is the 13th volume in a series on research in finance. This volume covers such topics as liquidity and market microstructure, predictability and time-varying risk in world equity markets and the structure of price discounts on private equity placements.

The articles and commentaries included in this volume were presented at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' fifteenth annual economic policy conference. The conference focused on the effects of a variety of recent changes in the market for financial services in the United States. This market has been changing rapidly in recent years: business loans have become more liquid, as the market for loan sales grows. Banks have been permitted to participate in a limited form of interstate banking. Commercial banks have been given permission to offer additional underwriting services. The market for residential mortgage credit has been transformed, through securitization and the declining role of savings and loan associations. Foreign financial firms have taken a rising share of the market financial services. The papers in this volume describe these changes and examine implications for financial institutions and their customers.

In the days following the fall of Lehman Brothers in autumn 2008, confidence in the global economy was in freefall. This book, first published as an eBook only a few weeks after the event, outlines the fears of some of the world's leading economists that the unfolding financial market meltdown had the potential to trigger a massive and prolonged recession that would destroy hundreds of millions of jobs worldwide and wipe out the savings of countless households - with the most vulnerable being hit hardest. They were not wrong. The authors call for policymakers to embark on forceful and coordinated action to avoid the next Great Depression. While their essays differ on many points, a clear consensus emerges on the need to act swiftly and together. The authors are: Alberto Alesina, Michael Burda, Charles Calomiris, Roger Craine, Stijn Claessens, J Bradford DeLong, Douglas Diamond, Barry Eichengreen, Daniel Gros, Luigi Guiso, Anil K Kashyap, Marco Pagano, Avinash Persaud, Richard Portes, Raghuram G Rajan, Guido Tabellini, Angel Ubide, Charles Wyplosz and Klaus Zimmermann.

This third volume in the series covers such topics as advances in working capital management.

This book examines sustainable wealth formation and dynamic decision-making. The global economy experienced a veritable meltdown of asset markets in the years 2007-9, where many funds were overexposed to risky returns and suffered considerable losses. On the other hand, the long-term upswing in the stock market since 2010 has led to asset price booms and some new, but also uneven, wealth formation. In this book a broader set of constraints and guidelines for asset management and wealth accumulation is developed. The authors investigate how wealth formation and the proper management of financial funds can help to adequately buffer income risk and obtain sufficient risk-free income at a later stage of life, while also being socially and environmentally sustainable. The book explores behavioral and institutional rules for decision-making that reflect such constraints and guidelines, without necessarily being optimal in the narrow sense. The authors explain the need for such a dynamic decision-making and dynamic re-balancing of portfolios, by putting forward dynamic programming as an approach to dynamic decision-making that can allow sustainable wealth accumulation and dynamic asset allocation to be successfully integrated. This book provides a clear and comprehensive treatment of asset accumulation and dynamic portfolio models with an emphasis on long term and sustainable wealth formation. An important concern in public debate is the sustainability of our economy and this book employs cutting edge quantitative techniques and models to highlight important facts that cannot be disputed under any reasonable assumptions. It has the potential to become a standard reference for both academic researchers and quantitatively trained practitioners. Eckhard Platen, Professor of Quantitative Finance, University of Technology Sydney, Australia This book should be read by both academics and practitioners alike. The former will find intellectually rigorous discussions and innovative solutions. The latter may find a few of the concepts a bit challenging. Yet, theory and technology are there to help simplify the work of those who worry about what time it is rather than how to make a watch--- but they do need a watch. Jean Brunel, Founder of Brunel Associates and Editor of The Journal of Wealth Management

In 1993, Congress created a student loan repayment plan intended to enable high-debt graduates to accept low-income, public service jobs by reducing their loan payments and eventually forgiving part of their debts. But this Congressional initiative only helps those with catastrophically low incomes. It has failed to attract many users because, as implemented through regulations of the U.S. Department of Education, it requires payment over too long a period (25 years before forgiveness). Many students go to graduate and professional schools in pursuit of careers in public service. But they often must borrow $100,000 or more to finance their education. Their loan repayment obligations become so high that they can no longer afford to follow their ideals, and they abandon their plans to have public service careers and seek employment with corporations or firms offering high salaries. The income-contingent repayment plan should have appealed to would-be public interest lawyers, who are among the graduates with the highest debt-to-income ratios; but the plan has failed them, and Schrag explores why and how the plan should be reformed, either by Congress or by the federal administration.

This book describes the inferential and modeling advantages that this distribution, together with its generalizations and modifications, offers. The exposition systematically unfolds with many examples, tables, illustrations, and exercises. A comprehensive index and extensive bibliography also make this book an ideal text for a senior undergraduate and graduate seminar on statistical distributions, or for a short half-term academic course in statistics, applied probability, and finance.

In many areas of finance and stochastics, significant advances have been made since this field of research was opened by Black, Scholes and Merton in 1973. Advances in Finance and Stochastics contains a collection of original articles by a number of highly distinguished authors on research topics that are currently in the focus of interest of both academics and practitioners. The topics span risk management, portfolio theory and multi-asset derivatives, market imperfections, interest-rate modelling and exotic options.