scholarly journals Optimal labor and capital utilization by financial firms: evidence from the German property and casualty insurance industry

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Eling ◽  
Martin Lehmann ◽  
Philipp Schaper
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Insurance Industry ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
The Impact

AbstractMotivated by discussions whether financial firms use too much equity capital and labor, we analyze the input utilization in the German property and casualty (p/c) insurance industry in a newly constructed sample of firm-level data in the period 1956–2019. An earlier study for the U.S. (Cummins and Nini, J Financial Serv Res 21(1–2):15–53, 2002) finds that p/c insurers over-utilize capital. Compared to this study, our large historical dataset exhibits less heterogeneity and thus allows a cleaner identification of the impact of firm characteristics on input factor utilization. We show that German p/c insurers have substantial cost savings potential and that labor input is the main driver of inefficiency. We also document severe differences in firm characteristics driving the utilization of labor. Our results contribute to both the academic discussion on productivity and efficiency in financial services as well as to the political discussion on the future of work and capital regulation in this sector.

Multinational Banks and IMF Conditionality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trung A Dang ◽  
Randall W Stone
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Location Decisions ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
Imf Programs ◽  
Investment Location

Abstract We find firm-level evidence that US banks receive preferential treatment in countries under IMF conditionality. We rely on investment location decisions to infer firms’ expectations about future profits and find that US firms are approximately 53 percent more likely to acquire financial firms in countries under financial conditionality. IMF programs without financial conditionality and FDI in other sectors serve as placebo tests. Financial conditionality has weak effects on investment decisions by non-US firms, which implies a political-economy interpretation. Firm-level data indicate that the distinctive behavior of US firms is not due to advantages of scale or to a US-firm fixed effect, but to US influence in the IMF. Firms from other major IMF shareholders benefit as well, but the effects are much weaker. The effects are concentrated in the politically relevant firms that have local affiliates, which is consistent with the interpretation that firms lobby for preferential treatment.

scholarly journals Empirical Investigation of Symmetric and Asymmetric Target Adjustment Models: Capital Structure of Non-Financial Firms in Jordan

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bashar K. Abu Khalaf
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Interaction Model ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Leverage Ratio ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Amman Stock Exchange ◽  
Target Leverage ◽  
The Impact

The different capital structure theories propose the possible asymmetric behavior of capital structure. Thus, this paper empirically investigates whether non-financial Jordanian firms follow symmetrical or asymmetrical adjustment model. Then, an interaction model with the size and profitability (firm characteristics) investigated the impact of low/high profit and small/large size on the adjustment of leverage towards the target leverage ratio. This paper covered the period of 14 years (2002-2015) for a total of 110 companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange (75 industrial and 35 services). Results indicate that although Jordanian firms seek a target leverage ratio, their adjustment towards that target is Asymmetrical and high profitable and large companies tend to adjust faster than low profitable and small size companies.

scholarly journals The Effect of Chief Executive Officer Dominance and Shareholder Rights on Cost of Equity Capital in Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol V (III) ◽  
pp. 84-93
Author(s):  
Yawar Miraj Khilji ◽  
Shehzad Khan ◽  
Muhammad Faizan Malik
Keyword(s):  
Chief Executive Officers ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Fixed Effect Model ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Shareholder Rights ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
The Impact

This Research explores the effect of Chief executive Dominance and Shareholder rights on Cost of equity of listed companies in an emerging equity market, Pakistan. The research is for the period of 2012 to 2018 for which firm level data of top 100 non-financial listed firms from Pakistan Stock Exchange has been examined by using descriptive statistics, a correlation -matrix, Pooled OLS and Fixed Effect Model approach. The impact of controlled variables which includes firm size, Financial Leverage, and Book to market ratio influence on the firms cost of equity has also been investigated. Research results indicate that when Chief executive officers align their interest with that of shareholders, the risk of agency problem is mitigated thus leading to lower cost of equity.

scholarly journals A Taxonomy of Eco-Innovation Types in SMEs: Exploring Different Firm Profiles in the Canadian Wine Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5776 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Doloreux ◽  
Luisa Kraft
Keyword(s):  
Wine Industry ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
Innovation Strategies ◽  
Process Oriented

The paper examines eco-innovation strategies in the Canadian wine industry. It uses firm-level data of 151 wine firms that developed eco-innovations between 2015 and 2017 to build a taxonomy of four eco-innovation strategies: (i) eco-innovation laggers, (ii) product-oriented eco-innovators, (iii) process-oriented eco-innovators, and (iv) fully integrated eco-innovators. We then characterize these eco-innovation strategies with respect to firm-level innovation capabilities, firms’ knowledge openness, and firms’ specific characteristics. The results reveal heterogeneity in eco-innovation strategies and show that these strategies exhibit different configurations of innovation-related conditions and firm characteristics.

scholarly journals Import Liberalization of Intermediates and Environment: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling-Yun He ◽  
Liang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Intermediate Inputs ◽  
Interaction Terms ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Plant Level ◽  
Pollution Emissions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Scale Composition ◽  
Level Lowering

This paper investigates how the import liberalization of intermediates affects firm-level pollution emissions. We divide the impact of freer import of intermediates on pollution emissions into induced scale, composition and technique effects and then develop interaction terms to examine these effects. Relying on a panel of plant-level data from China manufacturing sector for the period 2001 to 2007, we find freer import of intermediate inputs is conducive to pollution reductions at the plant level, lowering pollution via induced technique and composition effects and, in turn, increasing emission through induced scale effect. In summary, import liberalization of intermediate inputs can contribute to the better environmental performance of China manufacturing sector.

scholarly journals Family Commitments and Career Success: Earnings of Male and Female Managers

2005 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy Cannings
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Household Division Of Labor ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Behavioral Variables ◽  
Dual Commitment ◽  
The Impact

The dual-career family, with its attendant pressures for dual commitment to the home and to the career, has become an increasingly important phenomenon in recent decades. This paper uses a firm-level data set to examine the impact of family commitments as well as cognitive, behavioral, and organizational factors on the earnings of 519 married middle managers in a large Canadian corporation. Alongside a number of behavioral variables as well as the functional division of managerial labor in the company, division of labor in the employee's household has a significant impact on managerial earnings. The inclusion of a variable reflecting the household division of labor in the managerial earnings function helps to explain a substantial proportion of the earnings disadvantage of women in this company that might otherwise simply be attributed to gender.

Impacts of Chinese imports and coping strategies of local producers: the case of small-scale footwear enterprises in Ethiopia

2007 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 647-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tegegne Gebre-Egziabher
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Domestic Market ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Profit Margins ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Size Of Firms ◽  
And Coping ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTThe footwear sector in Ethiopia is dominated by cheap imports from Asia, particularly from China. This has inflicted heavy impacts on the sector, and threatened its competitiveness in the domestic market. This study examines the impact of imports and coping strategies of firms to withstand the competition. Firm level data were gathered from micro, small and medium footwear enterprises. The findings revealed that Chinese shoes are superior in design, price and quality, with the result that they have taken over the domestic market. The impact of Chinese imports on local producers varied from downsizing, bankruptcy, loss of assets and property, to downgrading activities and informalising operations. Firms have pursued coping strategies that focused on improving design and quality, as well as lowering prices and profit margins. Coping strategies appear to be differentiated by size of firms, and have some association with the performance of firms. The ways forward for local producers should focus on collaborative engagements of stakeholders and government to overcome the competitive disadvantages of firms. Training, technology, quality control, benchmarking and reorganization of production should be designed as a package of intervention. In addition, strengthening local producers to engage in collective actions and promoting exports should also be given proper attention.

Gender discrimination and firms’ profit: evidence from Brazil

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 801-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjun Liu ◽  
Tomokazu Nomura ◽  
Shoji Nishijima
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Productivity Shocks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discrimination Model ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Female Employees ◽  
Positive Effect

Purpose This paper investigates discrimination against women within the Brazilian labour market using firm-level data from the World Bank Investment Climate Survey. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the female employees in the Brazilian labour market are paid less than their productivity warrants due to the existence of discrimination. Design/methodology/approach Based on employer discrimination model proposed by Becker (1971) that considered the proportion of female employees as a proxy for the extent of discrimination, the authors estimate the profit function using OLS analysis, and regress it on the proportion of female employees and other firm characteristics. To address the endogeneity problem caused by unobservable productivity shocks, the authors employed the methods proposed by Olley and Pakes (1996) and Levinsohn and Petrin (2003), respectively. Findings The results indicate that the proportion of female employees has positive effect on firms’ profit in 2002, but has no effect in 2007. This finding gives evidence of the existence of discrimination against female employees within the Brazilian labour market in the early 2000s, while the gender discrimination was reduced overtime. Originality/value This paper’s main contribution is to provide an approach that differs from that of previous research to determine whether discrimination exists within the Brazilian labour market. This paper also provides policy insights for Brazilian labour market.

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