Questioning Finance

Author(s):  
Vincent Antonin Lépinay

This introductory chapter considers the significance of examining how financial operators and financial products coexist. This coexistence is tense because the bank deals with innovative products that yield unexpected reactions on unevenly charted markets. Since the designs of the financial products introduced here is coextensive to the lives of traders, engineers, and salespeople, these innovations are major protagonists and need to be fleshed out. The chapter also explains how the book is a case study of economic derivation, but rather than look at derivatives as a class of economic goods, it studies derivation as a process. In doing so, it fills the gap between propagandists of financial engineering and its blunt critics by offering some elements of an analysis of economic derivation.

Author(s):  
Vincent Antonin Lépinay

The financial industry's invention of complex products such as credit default swaps and other derivatives has been widely blamed for triggering the global financial crisis of 2008. This book takes readers behind the scenes of the equity derivatives business at the bank before the crisis, providing a detailed firsthand account of the creation, marketing, selling, accounting, and management of these financial instruments-and of how they ultimately created havoc inside and outside the bank. The book explains how financial operators and financial products coexist and how this coexistence is tense because the bank deals with innovative products that yield unexpected reactions on unevenly charted markets. The book is also a case study of economic derivation, but rather than look at derivatives as a class of economic goods, it studies derivation as a process.


2009 ◽  
Vol 53 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eike W. Schamp

The financial centre - a cluster? A multiscalar approach and evidence from a case study of Frankfurt/Main: The cluster approach has recently been applied in various studies of financial centres, for example of London or Frankfurt. Its current use in financial geography, however, seems to be more metaphorical than analytical. This paper firstly discusses specific sectoral characteristics which make it difficult to simply apply a concept which was developed for the industrial sector to the financial economy. Secondly, value networks in the production processes of financial products indicate that only certain parts of the production process, i.e. knowledge-based, non-repetitive transactions in the network, require local proximities. Following Gordon/McCann in their reasoning on industrial clusters, it is argued that the cluster approach to financial centres calls for a multi-scalar perspective combining the juridical national territory, the advantages of a large urban agglomeration, and, finally, the network externalities of a district within the urban agglomeration, i.e. the “financial district”. This is demonstrated using the example of the financial centre of Frankfurt/RhineMain, a term which stands for the larger urban agglomeration.


Author(s):  
Oliver H. Creighton ◽  
Duncan W. Wright ◽  
Michael Fradley ◽  
Steven Trick

This introductory chapter outlines the historiography of the reign of King Stephen (1135–54), highlighting how study has been dominated by documentary history while archaeological and other material evidence has played a marginal role. It identifies landmark studies of the period, summarises the principal chroniclers that cover Stephen’s reign and discusses charters as another cornerstone of the evidence base. A major debate has centred on whether or not the period should continue to be styled as ‘the Anarchy’, with scholars taking maximalist and minimalist views of the violence and disturbances of the period. The final part of the chapter explains the approach and structure of the volume: after a chronological outline of the civil war (Chapter 2), the book covers conflict landscapes and siege warfare (Chapter 3), castles (Chapter 4), artefacts and material culture (Chapter 5), weaponry and armour (Chapter 6), the church (Chapter 7), settlements and landscape (Chapter 8), and a detailed case study of the fenland campaigns (Chapter 9), while Chapter 10 presents a self-contained concluding essay that reflects on what the material evidence can and cannot us about the conflict and its consequences.


Author(s):  
Katherine Dashper ◽  
Guðrún Helgadóttir ◽  
Ingibjörg Sigurðardóttir

Abstract This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of key findings in the wider field of event studies, focusing mainly on sports events as our case study is primarily an elite sporting competition. We then introduce the idea of multispecies events, drawing on insights from human-animal studies to consider how the active involvement of nonhuman animals shapes all aspects of the event experience. After discussing equestrian tourism and equestrian events more broadly, we introduce the case study event - Landsmót, the National Championships of the Icelandic horse - in more detail to provide the reader with important background information to the event which provides the empirical base and therefore unites subsequent chapters. The chapter ends with an overview of the research process underpinning the book and an outline of the chapter contributions that enable holistic critical examination of a multispecies event and cultural festival.


Author(s):  
Keiphe Nani Setlhatlhanyo ◽  
Odireleng Marope ◽  
Richie Moalosi ◽  
Oanthata Jester Sealetsa

Due to colonisation and globalisation, ethnic cultures are changing and Botswana’s ethnic cultures are no exception to this change. This study aims to explore how the ethnic culture of different tribes in Botswana can be used to inspire the design of new products. A case study was conducted with students at the University of Botswana on particular themes of ethnic cultural knowledge, which inspired them to design futuristic innovative products. Visual analysis was used to assess the student designs for how they informed current trends without distorting their ethnic cultural meaning. The findings indicated that students were able to design using their own cultural heritage, to work in teams, thus, attaining soft skills, and to modernise ethnic cultural symbols to design symbolic, innovative, and futuristic products.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 246
Author(s):  
Shiva Ilkhanizadeh ◽  
Mahmoud Golabi ◽  
Siamand Hesami ◽  
Husam Rjoub

Considering the recent lockdowns and travel bans due to COVID-19, novel tourism strategies are necessary to face the increasing need for innovative products and services and to ensure long-term sustainable growth. This study looks into the potential use of drones in providing online virtual tours of open-space tourist attractions. To do so, a novel mixed-integer linear mathematical model is developed to optimally determine the number and location of required facilities and the number of drones assigned to each center. The model is applied to a case study of Rome by selecting six historic sites as the tourist attractions and considering several candidate locations for establishing the facilities. The results of different potential scenarios imply that the project is profitable, even if the demand for virtual tours is low.


Author(s):  
Dominique Foray ◽  
Martin Woerter

Abstract “Coasean” institutions are an alternative institutional form that provides a solution to some market and coordination failures. As such they can weaken considerably the case for public subsidies in a vast range of context. They are “market-based” and an inexpensive way to address the public good issues of R&D. They are, however, a largely overlooked institutional option. Early theoretical notions emphasize the advantages of such an institutional setting, however, broader empirical evidence about their effectiveness is lacking. We apply two different empirical approaches to assess the relationship between “Coasean” institutions and the innovation performance of SMEs. In a case study, we investigate Inspire AG, a successful bottom-up, institutional invention in the spirit of a “Coasean” institution. To assess the general validity of this model, we use representative firm-level data to econometrically investigate the relationship between “Coasean” institutions and the sales share of innovative products. “Coasean” institutions are positively related with innovative sales only if the company has a sufficiently large absorptive capacity for external knowledge. This positive moderating effect of “Coasean” institutions for the innovation performance is larger for SMEs. Our empirical findings provide a strong case for policies aimed at encouraging the operation of this type of institution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Kurnia Asni Sari

Sharia Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia since 1995 is an attempt to internalize Islamic values in entrepreneurial activities at financial institutions at the micro-community level. With case study approach to a BMT in Indonesia, this study is different with the previous studies which consider that institutions or companies in Indonesia only undertake the efforts of religious commodification of religious symbols that are in demand in the Indonesian market. This study argues that BMT Daarut Tauhiid Bandung in Indonesia as an Islamic financial institutions are committed to Islamic values both in the product and management of the company, although this commitment has an impact on the decline in company performance. The results of the study show that although BMT Daarut Tauhiid Bandung has decreased in corporate performance, this company can maintain its commitment to Islamic values, especially in its financial products. This shows that the BMT is not only focusing its efforts on the commodification of religious activities but also retains religious values in its business.


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