Risk transfer between primary insurance and reinsurance companies today takes place against a backdrop of major changes in international insurance and financial markets. One of these changes is the trend for the two markets to converge. This trend manifests itself in a growing number of product...

This contribution discusses a number of ideas for using a shareholder value approach to the problems of risk-adjusted performance measurement and the issue of capital allocation. We demonstrate that, if shareholder value is to be consistently maximised, then not only the total amount of equity...

This paper develops a principal-agent model of financial contracting in which optimal contracts resemble a combination of debt and equity. When defaulting on debt, the firm is punished by disruption of external funding. Such contracts however, invite rivals to compete more aggressively to...

This paper deals with optimal financial contracts which simultaneously provide payincentives and impose constraints on managerial control.

This paper presents a theory of inititial public offerings based on the idea that the optimal ownership structure of a company changes over the life cycle of the firm. Insiders take the company public when they have lost the comparative advantage over outsiders in gathering information to...

Diese Diskussionsarbeit stellt einen wichtigen Baustein zu einer geplanten Monographie über die Theorie der DCF-Verfahren dar. Es gibt viele Veröffentlichungen zu diesem Thema, die nach Ansicht der Verfasser ein Problem aufweisen: sie fußen nicht auf einem stringenten Konzept des Begriffes...

The current EU rules governing the solvency of insurance companies essentially base the required minimum equity capital on the volume of insurance business the companies write. Thus, no attempt is made to identify or quantify the central risks borne by insurance companies. In response to...

This paper analyzes the determinants of the capital structure for a panel of 106 Swiss companies listed in the Swiss stock exchange.

The value of a firm's securities measures the value of the firm's productive assets. If the assets include only capital goods and not a permanent monopoly franchise, the value of the securities measures the value of the capital. Finally, if the price of the capital can be measured or inferred,...

Recent studies have shown that the dynamics of firms (growth, job reallocation, and exit) are negatively correlated with the initial size of the firm and its age. In this paper we analyze whether financial factors, in addition to technological differences, are important in generating these...