This paper analyzes the role of patent filing fees requested by the member states of the European Patent Convention (EPC). We provide a first empirical evidence showing that the fee elasticity of the demand for priority applications is negative and significant. Given the strong variation in...

Microfinance is increasingly seen as a major development tool. Its promise to help the poor by providing financial services is seen as the major reason for its support. Nevertheless, its effectiveness on actual poverty reduction is not yet clear and therefore it generates some unresolved ethical...

This paper investigates the common patterns of ownership structure across different corporate governance systems. We test the predictions of Zwiebel (1995) using ownership data of Belgian listed companies in 1995 and in 1999. Results show good applicability of the model. This empirical research...

Au détour de conférences et selon les dires de la plupart des directeurs financiers de groupes d’assurances confrontés aux normes IFRS, leur implémentation est ou a été la relève d’un véritable défi. Outre le challenge lié à la compréhension et à l’application de ces normes,...

The occupation payments made by France to Nazi Germany between 1940 and 1944 represent one of the largest recorded international transfers and contributed significantly to financing the overall German war effort. Using a neoclassical growth model that incorporates essential features of the...

This paper relates the volatility of interest rates to the collective nature of monetary policymaking in monetary unions. Several decision rules are modelled, including hegemonic and democratic procedures, and also committees headed by a chairman. A ranking of decision rules in terms of the...

By their extreme nature, repudiations rarely occur. History is therefore crucial to analyze their impact on bond prices. This paper provides an empirical study based on an original database: prices of a Tsarist bond traded in Paris before and after its repudiation by the Soviets. A structural...

Two studies were designed to investigate the relations among ethnic group membership, ethnic group identification, group based-appraisals, and group-based emotions in determining behavioral tendencies of support and opposition toward diversity initiatives. The two studies confronted participants...

L'hypothèse d'efficience des marchés n'a pas toujours été (et n'est toujours pas) admise facilement par les praticiens de la finance dont la pertinence du conseil en placements se trouve menacée au profit de stratégies indicielles passives. La littérature académique s'est donc attelée...