Using a dataset including more than 6,000 Italian small firms over the period 2010-2012, we find an higher credit growth rate for companies that employ Ict in a more widespread and sophisticated way. This may be related to the improvement of the transparency of small businesses connected with...

The aim of the paper is to investigate the long-run performance of Italian Ipos, paying close attention to the banking companies. Specifically, the objective is to test if there are differences and/or anomalies between the securities issued by banks and those delivered by other issuers, in the...

Do rating models embody correctly the impact of macroeconomic variables on debtors’ solvency, determining a lag in downgrading? In pre-crisis periods, when interest rates increases are recorded as well as decreases in real growth rates, rating assessments fail to register risk increases in...

This paper examines the determinants of shareholder value creation for a large sample of European banks. By using a panel data model, we find that bank profits and shareholder value are positively influenced by cost and profit efficiency, operational risk exposure, unexpected credit losses and...

Are private equity investors able to reduce the overall costs of going public? This hypothesis was tested, for the Italian market, on a sample of 155 Ipos (54 Vb and 101 Nvb) during the period 1999-2007. For each company we estimated the direct and indirect costs of listing. The main results are...

The consequences of the crisis on private equity and venture capital have spurred new forms of SMEs financing, based on partnership between public and private sectors. Internationally, the two sectors cooperate intensively through the fund of funds instruments. In Italy, a new investment fund...

Index-linked bonds are structured products whose returns depend on performance of one or more financial indexes. They can be seen as the sum of a bond and an option (derivative component).The work explores some of the issues for the evaluation of the theoretical value (or fair value) of this...

This research investigates disclosure practices of European insurers over the 2006-2010 time horizon. First, it constructs a disclosure index based on the information companies provide in their annual reports. Then, it estimates the relationship between the extent of disclosure and some...

This study investigates the effect of the publication of spin-off news, published between 2000 and 2011 in the Wall Street Journal (Wsj), on the abnormal returns of companies involved in the deal. The results of the empirical analysis developed through an event study on a sample of 142 listed...

Shares prices trends are often not readable and the correlation between prices, environmental variables and corporate information to the market may be unclear, as shown by a case study in the Italian Stock Exchange