Microcredit has expanded rapidly since its beginnings in the last 1970s, but whether and how much it reduces poverty is the subject of intense debate. Generally it depends on how the program is implemented and the set of policies that regulate it. In this spirit, microcredit impacts in the...

A two-stage procedure is employed to evaluate non-bank financial institution cost efficiency. In the first stage, data envelopment analysis is used to calculate technical, allocative and cost efficiency indices using a sample of two hundred Australian credit unions. The results indicate that a...

This paper examines the transmission of equity returns and volatility among Asian equity markets and investigates the differences that exist in this regard between the developed and emerging markets. Three developed markets (Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore) and six emerging markets (Indonesia,...

The ‘daylight saving effect’ predicts that the mean weekend return following the spring and fall/autumn changes in daylight saving time is less than the mean weekend return throughout the rest of the year. With this market anomaly, the change in market participants’ behaviour is linked...

In this study the nature and extent of efficiency and productivity growth in deposit-taking institutions is investigated using nonparametric frontier techniques. Employing Malmquist indices, productivity growth is decomposed into technical efficiency change and technological change for a sample...

Electric utilities in Australia have been developing policies to stimulate interest and permit the purchase of electricity generated by renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic systems (PV). Studies show that under current conditions, it is technically feasible to introduce small-scale,...

This study explores gender differences in entrepreneurship and informal investment in Ireland, a country with one of the lowest rates of female entrepreneurship in the developed world. Females in Ireland are less likely than males to be engaged in either the demand for (as entrepreneurs), or the...

As a consequence of the expressive changes in global economy those happen from the end of 20th century the structure of the national economy’s sectors internally the structure of the ventures changes also. The (capital) resource gap is said to be the most common obstacle to development and...

In the course of cost-benefit analysis of management information systems such peculiar elements can be found on both sides the interpretation of which might be a difficult task.Looking at the costs the generally known cost elements are found (TCO – Total Cost of Ownership): investment costs...

The objective of this paper was to compare and to analyze three portfolio selection models: Mean-Variance, Minimax and Minimax Weighted. These models were evaluated using historical data (September 1999 to August 2000, January 2001 to December 2001 and February 2002 to January 2003) obtained...