Thema Finanzmärkte

Institutional Determinants of Financial Development in MENA Countries

Developed and well regulated financial markets are usually seen as a precondition for an efficient allocation of resources and can foster long term economic growth. This paper explores the institutional determinants for financial development in the countries of the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. Institutional conditions are from the International Country Risk Guide. Paneleconometric techniques ...

Financial Sector: Upward Trend in Share of Women on Corporate Boards Progressing Only in Small Steps

Last year, more women were appointed to the executive boards of major financial institutions. The share of women on the executive boards of banks and savings banks at the end of 2013 was a good six percent, which represents an increase of almost two percentage points over the previous year. This increase is primarily attributable to changes at private financial institutions and cooperative banks. At ...

On the Relationship between Public and Private Investment in the Euro Area

This paper explores the long run relationship between public and private investment in the euro area in terms of capital stocks and gross investment flows. Panel techniques accounting for international spillovers are employed. While private and public capital stocks are cointegrated, the evidence is quite fragile for public and private investment flows. They enter a long run relationship only after ...

Die Tücken des Zinseszinseffekts: Privatanleger unterschätzen Verlustrisiken bei Finanzprodukten

Legen Menschen ihre Ersparnisse in Finanzprodukte an, etwa um für ihr Alter vorzusorgen, machen sie davon in nicht unerheblichem Ausmaß ihre künftige finanzielle Lebenslage abhängig. Die Finanzbranche bewirbt zahlreiche und hinsichtlich ihres Verlustrisikos stark variierende Anlagemöglichkeiten - von der klassischen privaten Rentenversicherung bis hin zum hochriskanten Aktienfonds. Um die Anleger bei ...

Asymmetric Information and Roll-over Risk

How do banks choose their debt maturity structure when credit markets are subject to information frictions? This paper proposes a model of equilibrium maturity choice with asymmetric information and endogenous roll-over risk. We show that in the presence of public signals about firms' creditworthiness (credit ratings), firms choose to expose themselves to positive roll-over risk in order to minimize ...

The Perfect Finance Minister: Whom to Appoint as Finance Minister to Balance the Budget

The role and influence of the finance minister within the cabinet are discussed with increasing prominence in the theoretical literature on the political economy of budget deficits. It is generally assumed that the spending ministers can enhance their reputation purely with new or more extensive expenditure programs, whereas it is the sole interest of the finance minister to balance the budget. Using ...

Bitcoin: ein Zahlungsmittel mit Risiken und Nebenwirkungen: Kommentar

Niedriger Leitzins: eine Chance in der Euro-Schuldenkrise

Seit vier Jahren kämpfen die Staaten des Euroraums gegen die Hinterlassenschaften der schweren Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise an. Aber noch immer steigen die Schuldenquoten. Für die Krisenstaaten des Euroraums wurde zwar mit Rettungspaketen und Niedrigzinsen "Zeit erkauft". Aber solange sich die anderen Einflussgrößen nicht positiver entwickeln, bleibt es ungewiss, ob die momentane Beruhigung der Euro-Verschuldungskrise ...

Die Niedrigzinspolitik der EZB ist im Moment unverzichtbar: Fünf Fragen an Dorothea Schäfer

International Capital Markets Structure, Preferences and Puzzles: The US-China Case

A canonical two country-two good model with standard preferences does not address three classic international macroeconomic puzzles as well as two well-known asset pricing puzzles. Specifically, under financial autarky, it does not account for the high real exchange rate (RER) volatility relative to consumption volatility (RER volatility puzzle), the negative RER-consumption differentials correlation ...