When back-testing the calibration quality of rating systems two-sided statistical tests can detect over- and under-estimation of credit risk. Some users though, such as risk-averse investors and regulators, are primarily interested in the under-estimation of risk only, and thus require one-sided...

This paper applies the theory of finite Markov chains to analyse the demographic evolution of Belgian enterprises. While other methodologies concentrate on the entry and exit of firms, the Markov approach also analyses migrations between economic sectors. Besides helping to provide a fuller...

The aims of this paper are twofold: first, we attempt to express the threshold of a single “A” rating as issued by major international rating agencies in terms of annualised probabilities of default. We use data from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s publicly available rating histories to...

This paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and evolution of the car manufacturing industry. In addition, it provides evidence that the car industry is still playing a vital role in process innovation. The currently widespread lean production method, under which...

In the context of a first Working Paper the authors argued that electricity has a number of characteristics that set it apart from other commodities. It was demonstrated that some of these characteristics might complicate the deregulation process. This paper analyses the ongoing deregulation...

For quite a long time, network industries used to be regarded as (natural) monopolies. This was due to these industries having some special characteristics. Network externalities and economies of scale in particular justified the (natural) monopoly thesis. Recently, however, a trend towards...