The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of microfinance institutions in The MENA region over the period 2006-2009. Following Simar and Wilson (1998, 2000) we use a DEA-Bootstrapping methodology to drift appropriate measures of DEA efficiency scores. The estimated results show...

A conspicuous lacuna in the literature on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the lack of clarity on variables key for driving and predicting inclusive growth. To address this, I train the machine learning algorithms for the Standard lasso, the Minimum Schwarz Bayesian Information Criterion (Minimum...

Recently, the number of state interventions and of firm subsidies has largely increased. However, the possible outcome of such interventions is rather am-biguous. This paper investigates the impact of firm subsidies granted by Ger-man regional policy. The long experiences made with regional...

This paper studies how institutional characteristics of Specified Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) are related to their post-merger survival. SPACs are unique financial firms that conduct the IPO with the solely purpose to use the proceeds to acquire another private company. Paper finds...

A decent budgetary portfolio is nothing more, and nothing less, than an accumulation of advantages that develop in quality and produce abundance money for the financial specialist to spend or reinvest. Markowitz (1959) is one of the pioneers of present day portfolio hypothesis. Generally, the...

This paper analyses the informational role of the trading activity when jumps occur in the US Treasury market. As jumps mark the arrival of new information to the market, we explore the contribution of jumps in reducing the informational asymmetry. We identify jumps using a combination of jump...

The introduction of the Euro has led to price level stability and fostered growth within the European Union. Consequently, since its launch as a store of value and unit of account, there has been a clear convergence between the yield of France’s sovereign debt and German benchmark. This paper...

In this study, we examine characteristics of Specified Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) used as a financing tool for companies from China in period 2004-2011. We offer the evidence that, similarly to evidence from studies on reverse mergers focusing on China, SPACs that focus on China are...

The study examines the influence of a selective set of macroeconomic forces on stock market prices in Bangladesh. The Dhaka Stock Exchange All-Share Price Index (DSI) is used to represent the prices in the stock market while deposit interest rates, exchange rates, consumer price index (CPI),...

According to theoretical models of valuing risky corporate securities, risk of default is primary component in overall yield spread. However, sizable empirical literature considers it otherwise by giving more importance to non-default risk factors. Current study empirically attempts to provide...