Abrupt changes in the unconditional variance of returns have been recently revealed in many empirical studies. In this paper, we show that traditional KPSS-based tests have a low power against nonstationarities stemming from changes in the unconditional variance. More precisely, we show that...

While methodologies and survey techniques recorded progress over the years, corruption measurement remains a many-headed monster. Since 2003 and the first publication of Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer, researchers have access to population's feeling about the corruption...

In this paper, we provide a new empirical analysis of the dynamic portfolio decisions of households by simultaneously considering their stock market participation and home tenure choices. There is already a huge body of literature on housing status (own/rent) decisions and many contributions...

The determinants of venture capital investment have attracted a significant amount of attention from both academics and policymakers. We use a version of the Keuschnigg-Nielsen model for venture-capital-financed projects to condition our analysis on a reasonable set of exogenous variables but we...

We propose a method for estimating hurdle rates for firms' investments in pollution abatement technology, using ex post data. The method is based on a structural option value model where the future price of polluting fuel is the major source of uncertainty facing the firm. The econometric...

We propose a method for estimating hurdlerates for firms' investments in pollution abatement technology, using expost data. The method is based on a structural option value model where thefuture price of polluting fuel is the major source of uncertainty facing thefirm. The econometric procedure...

Using a large panel of 6,946 French manufacturing firms, this paper investigates the effect of the cost of capital and on cash flow on investment from 1990 to 1999. We compare several specifications of neo-classical demand for capital, taking into account transitory dynamics. The user cost of...

This paper proposes a new pre-test estimator of panel data models including time invariant variables based upon the Mundlak-Krishnakumar estimator and an "unrestricted” Hausman-Taylor estimator. The paper evaluates the biases of currently used restricted estimators, omitting the...

This article aims to expand existing empirical knowledge on the impact of debt level on profitability of companies. We analyze a sample of an unbalanced panel of 2325 unlisted French companies of trade sector spanning over a period of 1999 to 2006. By using the generalized method of moments...

In a period where Western donors and economic powers are occupied with own domestic issues, China intensifies its economic ties with Africa. This paper sheds light on this engagement by evaluating the influence of financial capital flows from China on the debt sustainability and country risk of...