Numerous bank productivity studies indicate rapid changes in the structure of the financial services industry and advances in financial and nonfinancial technologies. Based on the literature review, this paper analyses the theoretical background of two concepts of performance evaluation – the...

European electricity industry has recently come through liberalization. Surge of intakes with high share of cross-border deals was market players’ response. Measuring of post-merger performance alterations is a central question of M&A literature. EU energy sector is responsible for significant...

We present principles and empirical facts that should govern the thinking of securities regulators and corporate law policy debates on the subject of hostile takeovers. The time as come to present a different view on the alleged long term benefits of board insulation. Contrary to the insulation...

The internal audit function (IAF) has become one of the main pillars of good corporate governance in recent years. Empirical findings show that the size of the IAF varies considerably across companies. This study analyzes the effect of selected company characteristics on the size of the IAF....

The euro-area sovereign debt crisis is receding. Europe is on a recovery path, growth is broad-based and unemployment is falling. One after the other, countries hit hardest by the crisis are exiting their adjustment programmes. However, debt remains high in most countries and future debt crises...

This paper compares four forms of inter-regional financial risk sharing: (i) segmentation, (ii) integration trough the secured interbank market, (iii) integration trough the unsecured interbank market, (iv) integration of retail markets. The secured interbank market is an optimal risk-sharing...

This paper studies the implications of cross-border financial integration for financial stability when banks' loan portfolios adjust endogenously. Banks can be subject to sectoral and aggregate domestic shocks. After integration they can share these risks in a complete interbank market. When...