Within the commercial client segment, small business lending is gradually becoming a major target for many banks. The new Basel Capital Accord has helped the financial sector to recognize small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as a client, distinct from the large corporate. Some argue that this client base should be treated like retail clients from a risk management point of view in order to...

A common method of valuing the equity in leveraged transactions is the flows-toequity method whereby the free cash flow available to equity holders is discounted at the cost of equity. This method uses a standard definition of equity free cash flow, but the cost of equity varies over time as leverage varies. Various formulas can be used to calculate the time-varying cost of equity, most of whic...

The paper investigates to what extent the convergence of banks over risk-adjusted capital standards set by the new Basel Capital Accord may affect the way in which they screen innovative firms. It also gives an overview of the existing forms of credit support to R&D activities. The study is built upon a survey conducted in January and February 2006 on 12 main Italian banking groups. The survey ...

Within the commercial client segment, small business lending is gradually becoming a major target for many banks. The new Basel Capital Accord has helped the financial sector to recognize small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as a client, distinct from the large corporate. Some argue that this client base should be treated like retail clients from a risk management point of view in order to...

Riboswitches are cis-acting genetic control elements. Due to their fundamental importance in bacteria gene regulation, they have been proposed as antibacterial drug targets. Tetrahydrofolate (THF) is an essential cofactor of one-carbon transfer reactions and downregulates the expression of downstream genes. However, information on how to transfer from the binding site of THF to the expression p...

This paper examines the reorganization process under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. We model the strategic interaction between claimants under Chapter 11 as a multiple-stage costly bargaining process, and solve it in a game theory setting. Using a structural framework, we show that our model generates di¤erent ranges of equilibrium strategies: reorganization, liquidation and continuati...

Powder flakes prepared from 50 ~m thick melt spun ribbons of Markomet 1064 (Ni Mo Cr B1 wt%) were shock consolidated in the unannealed and anne~f~~ co~§iti§n. "lhe unannealed flakes (microhardness g33 kg/mm2) are amorphous while flakes annealed at 900°C for 2 hours have an fcc structure with a grain size of 0.3 ~m and microhardness of 800 kg/mm2. The shock consolidated amorphous powder compact ...

Southern Cone economies exhibit a high record of exchange rate volatility. In this context, firms tend to contract dollar debt, irrespective of their trade orientation, and without available hedging instruments. This exposes them to bankruptcy risk, in the event of large exchange rate movements. This paper provides a framework to analyze the output effect of exchange rate uncertainty in that co...

This paper examines the optimal priority structure and mix of bank and bond market debt within a continuous-time asset pricing framework. Closed-form expressions are derived for the values of renegotiable bank debt, non-renegotiable bond market debt, equity, and levered firm values. We show that the optimal debt structure hinges upon the ex post division of bargaining power between the firm and...

Clinal analysis for fitness-related traits provides a well-known approach to investigate adaptive evolution. Several fitness-related traits (developmental time, thorax length, wing length and wing loading) were measured at two laboratory generations (G7 and G33) of D. buzzatii from an altitudinal gradient from northwestern Argentina, where significant thermal differences persist. Developmental ...