Shareholder Bargaining Power and the Emergence of Empty Creditors
Stefano Colonnello, M. Efing, Francesca Zucchi
Journal of Financial Economics,
Nr. 2,
2019
Abstract
Credit default swaps (CDSs) can create empty creditors who potentially force borrowers into inefficient bankruptcy but also reduce shareholders’ incentives to default strategically. We show theoretically and empirically that the presence and the effects of empty creditors on firm outcomes depend on the distribution of bargaining power among claimholders. If creditors would face powerful shareholders in debt renegotiation, firms are more likely to face the empty creditor problem. The empirical evidence confirms that more CDS insurance is written on firms with strong shareholders and that CDSs increase the bankruptcy risk of these same firms. The ensuing effect on firm value is negative.
Artikel Lesen
Pricing Sin Stocks: Ethical Preference vs. Risk Aversion
Stefano Colonnello, Giuliano Curatola, Alessandro Gioffré
European Economic Review,
2019
Abstract
We develop an ethical preference-based model that reproduces the average return and volatility spread between sin and non-sin stocks. Our investors do not necessarily boycott sin companies. Rather, they are open to invest in any company while trading off dividends against ethicalness. When dividends and ethicalness are complementary goods and investors are sufficiently risk averse, the model predicts that the dividend share of sin companies exhibits a positive relation with the future return and volatility spreads. An empirical analysis supports the model’s predictions. Taken together, our results point to the importance of ethical preferences for investors’ portfolio choices and asset prices.
Artikel Lesen
Expectation Formation, Financial Frictions, and Forecasting Performance of Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Models
Oliver Holtemöller, Christoph Schult
Historical Social Research,
Special Issue: Governing by Numbers
2019
Abstract
In this paper, we document the forecasting performance of estimated basic dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models and compare this to extended versions which consider alternative expectation formation assumptions and financial frictions. We also show how standard model features, such as price and wage rigidities, contribute to forecasting performance. It turns out that neither alternative expectation formation behaviour nor financial frictions can systematically increase the forecasting performance of basic DSGE models. Financial frictions improve forecasts only during periods of financial crises. However, traditional price and wage rigidities systematically help to increase the forecasting performance.
Artikel Lesen
Zu den rentenpolitischen Plänen im Koalitionsvertrag 2018 von CDU, CSU und SPD: Konsequenzen, Finanzierungsoptionen und Reformbedarf
Oliver Holtemöller, Christoph Schult, Götz Zeddies
Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik,
Nr. 3,
2018
Abstract
In the coalition agreement from February 7, 2018, the new German federal government drafts its public pension policy, which has to be evaluated against the background of demographic dynamics in Germany. In this paper, the consequences of public pensions related policy measures for the German public pension insurance are illustrated using a simulation model. In the long run, the intended extensions of benefits would lead to an increase in the contribution rate to the German public pension insurance of about two and a half percentage points. Referring to pension systems of other countries, we discuss measures in order to limit this increase in the contribution rate.
Artikel Lesen
Industrial Relations: Worker Codetermination and Collective Wage Bargaining
Steffen Müller, Claus Schnabel
Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik,
Nr. 1,
2019
Abstract
Trade unions and employers’ associations, collective bargaining, and employee representation at the workplace are the cornerstones of industrial relations systems in many developed countries. Germany stands out as a country with powerful works councils and a high coverage rate of collective bargaining agreements, supported by encompassing interest groups of employees and employers and by the state. The German case and the perceived stability of its industrial relations regime have attracted considerable attention among researchers and politicians, which also has to do with the country’s high productivity, comparably few strikes, and relatively minor employment problems. However, in recent years industrial relations in many countries including Germany have come under pressure and the fact that there is no obvious and clearly superior alternative to the current regime of industrial and labour relations may not be sufficient to guarantee the survival of the present system.
Artikel Lesen
The Joint Dynamics of Sovereign Ratings and Government Bond Yields
Makram El-Shagi, Gregor von Schweinitz
Journal of Banking and Finance,
2018
Abstract
Can a negative shock to sovereign ratings invoke a vicious cycle of increasing government bond yields and further downgrades, ultimately pushing a country toward default? The narratives of public and political discussions, as well as of some widely cited papers, suggest this possibility. In this paper, we will investigate the possible existence of such a vicious cycle. We find no evidence of a bad long-run equilibrium and cannot confirm a feedback loop leading into default as a transitory state for all but the very worst ratings. We use a bivariate semiparametric dynamic panel model to reproduce the joint dynamics of sovereign ratings and government bond yields. The individual equations resemble Pesaran-type cointegration models, which allow for valid interference regardless of whether the employed variables display unit-root behavior. To incorporate most of the empirical features previously documented (separately) in the literature, we allow for different long-run relationships in both equations, nonlinearities in the level effects of ratings, and asymmetric effects in changes of ratings and yields. Our finding of a single good equilibrium implies the slow convergence of ratings and yields toward this equilibrium. However, the persistence of ratings is sufficiently high that a rating shock can have substantial costs if it occurs at a highly speculative rating or lower. Rating shocks that drive the rating below this threshold can increase the interest rate sharply, and for a long time. Yet, simulation studies based on our estimations show that it is highly improbable that rating agencies can be made responsible for the most dramatic spikes in interest rates.
Artikel Lesen
Crises and Rescues: Liquidity Transmission Through Global Banks
Michael Koetter, Claudia M. Buch, C. T. Koch
International Journal of Central Banking,
Nr. 4,
2018
Abstract
This paper shows that global banks transmit liquidity shocks via their network of foreign affiliates. We use the (unexpected) access of German banks' affiliates located in the United States to the Federal Reserve's Term Auction Facility. We condition on the parent banks' U.S. dollar funding needs in order to examine how affiliates located outside the United States adjusted their balance sheets when the U.S. affiliate of the same parent tapped into TAF liquidity. Our research has three main findings. First, affiliates tied to parents with higher U.S. dollar funding needs expanded their foreign assets during periods of active TAF borrowing. Second, the overall effects are driven by affiliates located in financial centers. Third, U.S.- dollar-denominated lending particularly increased in response to the TAF program.
Artikel Lesen
Aktuelle Trends: Betriebliche Lohnungleichheit wieder rückläufig
Eva Dettmann, Steffen Müller
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
Nr. 5,
2018
Abstract
Artikel Lesen
IWH-Bauumfrage im Dezember 2004: Ostdeutsches Baugewerbe im Dezember 2004: Geschäftsklima von unterschiedlichen Tendenzen geprägt
Brigitte Loose
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
Nr. 1,
2005
Abstract
Die vom IWH regelmäßig befragten 300 ostdeutschen Bauunternehmen meldeten im Dezember 2004 zwar eine Verschlechterung der Geschäftslage gegenüber der vorangegangenen Umfrage im Oktober, bei Ausschluss der Saisoneffekte ergibt sich jedoch immer noch nahezu eine Balance positiver und negativer Urteile. Verantwortlich dafür zeichnen nach wie vor Sondereinflüsse, die in allen Sparten die an sich abwärtsgerichtete Tendenz abmildern. Die Geschäftsaussichten bis in das Frühjahr 2005 werden dagegen mehrheitlich negativ und erheblich ungünstiger als zuvor beurteilt.
Artikel Lesen
Aktuelle Trends: Sozialversicherungspflichtige Beschäftigungsverhältnisse im Osten anteilig stärker ausgeprägt als im Westen
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
Nr. 1,
2005
Abstract
Die Arbeitsplatzdichte ist in den einzelnen Bundesländern sehr unterschiedlich. Je 1 000 Erwerbsfähige – das sind alle Personen im Alter von 15 bis 65 Jahren – sind in Bremen fast 60% mehr Personen erwerbstätig als in Brandenburg. Erhebliche Unterschiede bestehen auch hinsichtlich der Art von Beschäftigungsverhältnissen innerhalb der Landesgrenzen. In allen ostdeutschen Ländern, die gemeinsam mit Berlin über die geringste Zahl von Arbeitsplätzen je 1 000 Erwerbsfähigen verfügen, ist der Anteil der sozialversicherungspflichtigen Vollzeitbeschäftigten höher als in den westdeutschen Ländern.
Artikel Lesen
