This paper focuses on asset allocation decisions of life insurance companies in emerging markets. Mature market insurers allocate only a small fraction of their assets to emerging markets because of regulatory constraints, rating pressures, and currency risk. However, global insurers invest...

This paper investigates the relationship between a debtor country's external financial indicators and the cost sassociated with the insurance of export credits to that country. For this purpose a stylized model of export credit insurance (ECI) is developed, the central idea being that ECI is...

This study provides an overview of UK infrastructure investment and finance in an international context, yielding interesting facts insights for both investors and policy makers worldwide. The UK is one of the leading countries in terms of private sector involvement in infrastructure, with...

The global financial crisis triggered a vast number of new laws and regulations at international level, including initiatives that can be classified as "soft law". The legitimacy and efficacy of these new norms are subject to intensive academic and political debates. At the same time, soft law...

A mechanical rebalancing strategy, such as a monthly or quarterly reallocation towards fixed portfolio weights, is an active strategy. Winning asset classes are sold and losers are bought. During crises, when markets are often trending, this can lead to substantially larger drawdowns than a...

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, the United States may feel very flattered by the fact that other nations have modeled many of their regulations governing financial services (securities, banking, and insurance) on U.S. regulations. In fact, the United States government and the...

We provide a comprehensive overview of the role of institutional investors in corporate governance with three main components. First, we provide a detailed characterization of key aspects of the legal and regulatory setting within which institutional investors govern portfolio firms. Second, we...

Since the beginning of the century, modern financial systems have been experiencing a period of dynamic change. These changes have caused the uniform fabric on which the systems were based for a long time to become eroded and a multitude of alternative solutions to appear in their place. The...

In this study we estimate the effect of terror on trade in financial services using the gravity model. In a sample of more than 60 importing and exporting countries from 2000 to 2014, we find robust evidence that terrorist attacks in either the importer or the exporter territory significantly...

The existing replication policies at top finance journals are far weaker than the policies at top economics journals. This paper explores both the costs and benefits of having a stronger replication policy in the context of my failed 2010 initiative to develop a unified policy across all top...