Teaching introductory macroeconomics during the Greek financial crisis

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1032-1045
Author(s):  
John Marangos

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine how including the Greek financial crisis in teaching introductory macroeconomics benefits students. Design/methodology/approach The methodology is based on the responses of a recent survey administered to students at a university in Greece. Findings An eclectic approach that distinguishes various economic theories and methodologies, mainly neoclassical and Keynesian, can provide a pedagogical way of teaching introductory macroeconomics, allowing students to use their everyday personal experiences in determining the most “suitable” theory in explaining the crisis. Originality/value To the author’s knowledge, such an exercise of discovering students’ perceptions of teaching an introductory macroeconomics Substitute with course during the global financial crisis has not yet been attempted.

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Take any financial or environmental scandal perpetrated by a major company – and unfortunately, there are quite a few to choose from – and people will tend to remember what went wrong and some of the fallout from the scandal, but it is unlikely they will know much about why something went wrong. For example, people will remember that Lehman Brothers went bust during the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008 and can picture its employees leaving its offices with Iron Mountain boxes. They will also perhaps remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989, and the devastation it caused the local wildlife. But does anyone remember exactly why these events occurred? Practical implications This paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-37

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – A lot has been written of the consequences of the global financial crisis (GFC) in the late 2000s – who was to blame, who should have seen it coming, who didn’t see it coming and who claimed to have predicted it years later. Such speculation has contributed to what might be termed a “global crisis of confidence”, as all the established rules went out of the window. Business leaders didn’t know who to trust any more, and decision-making suddenly got a lot more difficult as a result. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Baber

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report and review the legislative and regulatory responses to the global financial crisis (GFC) from within the United Kingdom (UK). Design/methodology/approach – The paper observes aspects of the effect of the GFC within the UK, using economic statistics and institutional case studies. It summarises the laws that the European Union (EU) and the UK have produced in the wake of the crisis and recommends approaches to be taken from this point. Findings – The regulators are putting in place a comprehensive, integrated framework, much of which is sensible in its content. However, this structure will be insufficient to re-establish the effective operation of the financial sector, unless firms comply with the rules and a “relationship culture” is developed. Research limitations/implications – It is not yet clear how the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will perform and coordinate. Originality/value – The paper presents a comprehensive review of relevant EU and UK legislation, thereby bringing readers up to date with the situation in the UK.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Mio ◽  
Marco Fasan ◽  
Antonio Ros

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study whether and how owners’ preferences for CEO characteristics changed due to the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. The authors identify three fundamental success factors needed for companies to compete in the after-crisis environment, and the authors connect five CEO characteristics to such factors. Design/methodology/approach The authors rely on a hand-collected database to build a panel data of European CEOs for the 2010-2012 period. Findings The empirical results indicate that after 2009, CEOs of companies that were more severely hit by the crisis are significantly different compared to those of other companies. More specifically, they have a background in science or engineering; they have international experience; and they are remunerated to a higher extent through stock options. The results of this paper also indicate that only international experience had a positive and significant impact on financial performance. Originality/value The paper contributes to the stream of literature on CEO characteristics and owners’ identity, tackling the research theme from a dynamic rather than from a static perspective.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 904-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain ◽  
Lawrence Kryzanowski

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant literature on the causes of and regulatory reactions to the financial crisis of the last decade, popularly known as the “Global Financial Crisis (GFC)” or the “Housing Crisis” in the USA. Design/methodology/approach This review primarily focuses on the four main causes of the crisis, namely, excessive household leverage, securitization, corporate governance and credit ratings. The main reaction vis-à-vis recovery measures taken by most governments were quantitative easing (QE), bailouts and more stringent regulations of banks, though the discussion mainly focuses on QE. Findings In this paper, the authors summarize the literature on the causes and regulatory reactions to the GFC and propose future avenues of research for various topics. Originality/value Research on the GFC spans multiple disciplines as well as multiple facets of financial economics. A review paper such as this should help future researchers in generating ideas and gathering information for their research. Given that no review uncovers all worthy papers, the authors apologize in advance to the authors of any papers that the authors have inadvertently not reviewed in this paper.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 29-31 ◽  

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – There are some business phenomena that, like fashion, never seem to go away, or be truly original. Think of the drainpipe trousers that first saw the light in the nineteenth century, or the 1970s frilly shirts that were not a patch on those worn in Elizabethan times. Similarly, the global financial crisis was not a Great Depression, and the dot-com bubble could not hold a candle to the bubble that did for the East India Company all those years ago. Practical implications – This study provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Original/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and an easy-to-digest format.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 26-28

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings One of the less-discussed and analyzed phenomena in the wake of the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008 was just how resilient, and even successful, some businesses had become. In the same way that in Western films the undertakers profited, when a new sheriff came to town to crack down on the bad guys, there is strong school of thought that certain types of firms and industries will benefit when all around them are failing. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darush Yazdanfar ◽  
Peter Öhman

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to empirically investigate determinants of financial distress among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the global financial crisis and post-crisis periods.Design/methodology/approachSeveral statistical methods, including multiple binary logistic regression, were used to analyse a longitudinal cross-sectional panel data set of 3,865 Swedish SMEs operating in five industries over the 2008–2015 period.FindingsThe results suggest that financial distress is influenced by macroeconomic conditions (i.e. the global financial crisis) and, in particular, by various firm-specific characteristics (i.e. performance, financial leverage and financial distress in previous year). However, firm size and industry affiliation have no significant relationship with financial distress.Research limitationsDue to data availability, this study is limited to a sample of Swedish SMEs in five industries covering eight years. Further research could examine the generalizability of these findings by investigating other firms operating in other industries and other countries.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine determinants of financial distress among SMEs operating in Sweden using data from a large-scale longitudinal cross-sectional database.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Salman Saleh ◽  
Enver Halili ◽  
Rami Zeitun ◽  
Ruhul Salim

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the financial performance of listed firms on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) over two sample periods (1998-2007 and 2008-2010) before and during the global financial crisis periods. Design/methodology/approach The generalized method of moments (GMM) has been used to examine the relationship between family ownership and a firm’s performance during the financial crisis period, reflecting on the higher risk exposure associated with capital markets. Findings Applying firm-based measures of financial performance (ROA and ROE), the empirical results show that family firms with ownership concentration performed better than nonfamily firms with dispersed ownership structures. The results also show that ownership concentration has a positive and significant impact on family- and nonfamily-owned firms during the crisis period. In addition, financial leverage had a positive and significant effect on the performance of Australian family-owned firms during both periods. However, if the impact of the crisis by sector is taking into account, the financial leverage only becomes significant for the nonmining family firms during the pre-crisis period. The results also reveal that family businesses are risk-averse business organizations. These findings are consistent with the underlying economic theories. Originality/value This paper contributes to the debate whether the ownership structure affects firms’ financial performance such as ROE and ROA during the global financial crisis by investigating family and nonfamily firms listed on the Australian capital market. It also identifies several influential drivers of financial performance in both normal and crisis periods. Given the paucity of studies in the area of family business, the empirical results of this research provide useful information for researchers, practitioners and investors, who are operating in capital markets for family and nonfamily businesses.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-169
Author(s):  
Alberto Fuertes ◽  
Jose María Serena

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how firms from emerging economies choose among different international bond markets: global, US144A and Eurobond markets. The authors explore if the ranking in regulatory stringency –global bonds have the most stringent regulations and Eurobonds have the most lenient regulations – leads to a segmentation of borrowers. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a novel data set from emerging economy firms, treating them as consolidated entities. The authors also obtain descriptive evidence and perform univariate non-parametric analyses, conditional and multinomial logit analyses to study firms’ marginal debt choice decisions. Findings The authors show that firms with poorer credit quality, less ability to absorb flotation costs and more informational asymmetries issue debt in US144A and Eurobond markets. On the contrary, firms issuing global bonds – subject to full Securities and Exchange Commission requirements – are financially sounder and larger. This exercise also shows that following the global crisis, firms from emerging economies are more likely to tap less regulated debt markets. Originality/value This is, to the authors’ knowledge, the first study that examines if the ranking in stringency of regulation – global bonds have the most stringent regulations and Eurobonds have the most lenient regulations – is consistent with an ordinal choice by firms. The authors also explore if this ranking is monotonic in all determinants or there are firm-specific features which make firms unlikely to borrow in a given market. Finally, the authors analyze if there are any changes in the debt-choice behavior of firms after the global financial crisis.


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