This paper is a comparative study of the responses to the 1995 Wharton School survey of derivative usage among US non-financial firms and a 1997 companion survey on German non-financial firms. It is not a mere comparison of the results of both studies, but a comparative study, drawing a...

Banks again and again surprise the public with unexpected high provisions for loan losses sometimes threatening the financial viability of individual companies or even the stability of national financial systems. The paper analyses whether the patterns of loan loss provisions are, in part,...

Banks again and again surprise the public with unexpected high provisions for loan losses sometimes threatening the financial viability of individual companies or even the stability of national financial systems. The paper analyses whether the patterns of loan loss provisions are, in part,...