Finance Commons^™

Regulation Of Government Agencies Through Limitation Riders, Neal Devins

Neal E. Devins

Congress often attaches limitation riders to appropriations bills to establish its policy directives. Professor Devins argues that the appropriations process is not the proper vehicle for substantive policymaking. In this article, he analyzes institutional characteristics that prevent the full consideration or articulation of policy in appropriations bills. Professor Devins also considers the extent to which Congress's use of limitation riders inhibits the effectiveness of the other branches of the federal government. Professor Devins concludes that, while Congress's use of limitation riders is sometimes necessary, Congress should be aware of the significant risks associated with policymaking through the appropriations process.

Thinking Finance - The Comic Book, Dimitrios V. Siskos

Dimitrios V. Siskos

Thinking financially results in the best possible outcome and establishes a secure foundation for the future as an independent man. In contrast, thinking emotionally leads to short-sighted financial decisions and usually, deep regrets. However, thinking financially is not pleasant for the people around us. This comic book presents a guy, whose dream is to become an accountant. When he finally succeeds in this, he realizes that thinking financially may be effective for his boss but it is irritating for everyone else, even for his family.

Public Actors In Private Markets: Toward A Developmental Finance State, Robert Hockett, Saule Omarova

Saule T. Omarova

The recent financial crisis brought into sharp relief fundamental questions about the social function and purpose of the financial system, including its relation to the “real” economy. This Article argues that, to answer these questions, we must recapture a distinctively American view of the proper relations among state, financial market, and development. This programmatic vision – captured in what we call a “developmental finance state” – is based on three key propositions: (1) that economic and social development is not an “end-state” but a continuing national policy priority; (2) that the modalities of finance are the most potent means of …

Asimmetria Del Rischio Sistematico Dei Titolo Immobiliari Americani: Nuove Evidenze Econometriche, Paola De Santis, Carlo Drago

Carlo Drago

In questo lavoro riscontriamo un aumento del rischio sistematico dei titoli del mercato immobiliare americano nell’anno 2007 seguito da un ritorno ai valori iniziali nell’anno 2009 e si evidenzia la possibile presenza di break strutturali. Per valutare il suddetto rischio sistematico è stato scelto il modello a tre fattori di Fama e French ed è stata studiata la relazione tra l’extra rendimento dell’indice REIT, utilizzato come proxy dell’andamento dei titoli immobiliari americani, e l’extra rendimento dell’indice S&P500 rappresentativo del rendimento del portafoglio di mercato. I risultati confermano la presenza di un “Asymmetric REIT Beta Puzzle” coerentemente con alcuni precedenti studi …

Foreign Shocks On Chilean Financial Markets: Spillovers And Comovements Between Bond And Equity Markets, Marco Morales

Marco Morales

No abstract provided.

Finance, Productivity And Growth: Does It Work For Chile?, Marco Morales, Fernando Diaz, Fernando Lefort

Marco Morales

No abstract provided.

Finanzkapital In The Twenty-First Century, Nikhilesh Dholakia

Nikhilesh Dholakia

Purpose – Drawing inspiration from the 1910 book Finanzkapital by Rudolf Hilferding, this paper seeks to explore the nature of financial capital in the early twenty-first century from a political-economic and culture theory perspective. It aims to offer suggestions for transcending the crises-prone contemporary economic systems.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper reconceptualises the notions of Finanzkapital in the contemporary context, drawing selective evidence from current and twentieth century economic and business history.

Findings – The nature of contemporaneous Finanzkapital is elaborated by presenting seven “theses” that probe the nature of Finanzkapital prior to, during, and after the Great Recession of 2007-9. …

Determinants Of Ownership Concentration And Tender Offer Law In The Chilean Stock Market, Marco Morales, Maria Jose Melendez, Vanessa Ramirez

Marco Morales

No abstract provided.

Time Series, Unit Roots, And Cointegration: An Introduction, Lonnie K. Stevans

Lonnie K. Stevans

The econometric literature on unit roots took off after the publication of the paper by Nelson and Plosser (1982) that argued that most macroeconomic series have unit roots and that this is important for the analysis of macroeconomic policy. Yule (1926) suggested that regressions based on trending time series data can be spurious. This problem of spurious correlation was further pursued by Granger and Newbold (1974) and this also led to the development of the concept of cointegration (lack of cointegration implies spurious regression). The pathbreaking paper by Granger (1981), first presented at a conference at the University of Florida …

Transmisión De Shocks Y Acoplamiento Con Mercados Accionarios Externos: Efectos Asimétricos Y Quiebre Estructural, Marco Morales, Maria Jose Melendez, Guillermo Yáñez

Marco Morales

No abstract provided.

The Real Yield Curve And Macroeconomic Factors In The Chilean Economy, Marco Morales

Marco Morales

No abstract provided.

A Two-Sided Auction For Legacy Loans, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

On Monday, 23 March 2009, Treasury Secretary Geithner presented the Public-Private Investment Program as a key instrument to resolve the financial crisis (www.financialstability.gov). The Treasury’s description still leaves many issues unanswered. We flesh out the auction design for legacy loans. A two-sided auction is required. Both banks and private investors must compete in a transparent and competitive process.

Financial Stability, Trade Openness And The Structure Of Banks’ Shareholders, Claudiu T. Albulescu

Claudiu T Albulescu

The adverse effect of financial crises upon the world’s economies represented the background for the development of a wide economic literature on financial stability. The assessment of this phenomenon stands for a complex exercise, as many techniques can be used for this purpose. Such a technique is the construction of an aggregate financial stability index which allows for a comparison between financial systems stability. Based on an aggregate index and on a panel of data, we show that, for several Eastern European Countries, the financial stability is largely influenced by the trade openness and by the quality of banks’ shareholders. …

Auctions For Injecting Bank Capital (Addendum To 'A Troubled Asset Reverse Auction'), Peter Cramton, Lawrence M. Ausubel

Peter Cramton

Public discussion has turned, in the past few days, toward using some of the $700 billion in rescue funds for the injection of government money into banks in return for ownership stakes. The purpose of this short note, an addendum to “A Troubled Asset Reverse Auction,” is to describe an auction mechanism suitable for injections of capital into banks. The auctions would price the equity purchases through a competitive process.

A Troubled Asset Reverse Auction, Peter Cramton, Lawrence M. Ausubel

Peter Cramton

The US Treasury has proposed purchasing $700 billion of troubled assets to restore liquidity and solve the current financial crisis, using market mechanisms such as reverse auctions where appropriate. This paper presents a high-level design for a troubled asset reverse auction and discusses the auction design issues. We assume that the key objectives of the auction are to: 1) provide a quick and effective means to purchase troubled assets and increase liquidity; 2) protect the taxpayer by yielding a price for assets related to their value; and 3) offer a transparent rules-based process that minimizes discretion and favoritism. We propose …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Annuity Rate In Chile, Marco Morales, Roberto Rocha, Craig Thorburn

Marco Morales

No abstract provided.

An Overview Of Combinatorial Auctions, Peter Cramton, Yoav Shoham, Richard Steinberg

Peter Cramton

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Money's Worth Ratios In Chile, Marco Morales, Roberto Rocha, Craig Thorburn

Marco Morales

No abstract provided.

Combinatorial Auctions, Peter Cramton, Yoav Shoham, Richard Steinberg

Peter Cramton

A comprehensive book on combinatorial auctions―auctions in which bidders can bid on packages of items. The book consists of original material intended for researchers, students, and practitioners of auction design. It includes a foreword by Vernon Smith, an introduction to combinatorial auctions, and twenty-three cross-referenced chapters in five parts. Part I covers mechanisms, such as the Vickrey auction and the ascending proxy auction. Part II is on bidding and efficiency issues. Part III examines computational issues and algorithmic considerations, especially the winner determination problem―how to identify the (tentative) winning set of bids that maximizes revenue. Part IV discusses implementation and …

Demand Reduction And Inefficiency In Multi-Unit Auctions, Peter Cramton, Lawrence M. Ausubel

Peter Cramton

Auctions typically involve the sale of many related goods. Treasury, spectrum and electricity auctions are examples. In auctions where bidders pay the market-clearing price for items won, large bidders have an incentive to reduce demand in order to pay less for their winnings. This incentive creates an inefficiency in multiple-item auctions. Large bidders reduce demand for additional items and so sometimes lose to smaller bidders with lower values. We demonstrate this inefficiency in an auction model which allows interdependent values. We also establish that the ranking of the uniform-price and pay-as-bid auctions is ambiguous in both revenue and efficiency terms. …

Auctioning Securities, Peter Cramton, Lawrence M. Ausubel

Peter Cramton

Treasury debt and other divisible securities are traditionally sold in either a pay-your-bid (discriminatory) auction or a uniform-price auction. We compare these auction formats with a Vickrey auction and also with two ascending-bid auctions. The Vickrey auction and the alternative ascending-bid auction (Ausubel 1996) have important theoretical advantages for sellers. In a setting without private information, these auctions achieve the maximal revenue as a unique equilibrium in dominant strategies. In contrast, the pay-your-bid, uniform-price, and standard ascending-bid auction admit a multiplicity of equilibria that yield low revenues for the seller. We show how these results extend to a setting where …

Auctions And Takeovers, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

Under Delaware law (the predominant corporate law in the US), when a potential acquirer makes a serious bid for a target, the target's board of directors is required to act as would "auctioneers charged with getting the best price for the stock-holders at a sale of the company." (Revlon v. MacAndrews & Forbes, 173). The target's board may not use defensive tactics that destroy the auction process and must attempt to seek higher bids. Similarly, the Williams Act requires takeover bids to remain open for at least 20 business days on the grounds that the delay facilitates auctions. This preference …

Relational Investing And Agency Theory, Peter Cramton, Ian Ayres

Peter Cramton

This Article analyzes how, and when, corporate governance could be improved by utilizing "relational investing." The term relational investing is just coming into vogue and there does not yet seem to be a consensus on what it means. Although the term has been trumpeted on the cover of Business Week, before the Conference on Relational Investing at Columbia University, relatively little legal writing had been published on the subject. For the purposes of this Article, we define relational investing to encompass commitments to buy and hold significant blocks of a corporation's stock. And it is particularly important that the relational …

Using Auction Theory To Inform Takeover Regulation, Peter Cramton, Alan Schwartz

Peter Cramton

This paper focuses on certain mechanisms that govern the sale of corporate assets. Under Delaware law, when a potential acquirer makes a serious bid for a target, the target’s Board of Directors is required to act as would "auctioneers charged with getting the best price for the stock-holders at a sale of the company.’’ The Delaware courts’ preference for auctions follows from two premises. First, a firm’s managers should maximize the value of their shareholders’ investment in the company. Second, auctions maximize shareholder returns. The two premises together imply that a target’s board should conduct an auction when at least …