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Selected Working papers:
Smokescreen: How Managers Behave When They Have Something to Hide, T. Artiga González, M. Schmid, D. Yermack, Working Paper, University of St.Gallen and NYU, April 2013.
We study financial reporting and corporate governance in 216 U.S. companies accused of price fixing by antitrust authorities. We document a range of strategies used by these firms when reporting financial results, including frequent earnings smoothing, segment reclassification, and restatements. In corporate governance, cartel firms favor outside directors who are likely to be inattentive monitors due to their status as foreign or «busy». When directors resign, they are often not replaced, and new auditors are rarely engaged. Cartel managers exercise their stock options faster than managers of other firms. While our results are based only upon firms engaged in price fixing, we expect that they should apply generally to all companies in which managers seek to conceal poor performance or personal wrongdoing.
Financial Literacy, Household Investment and Household Debt: Evidence from Switzerland, M. Brown and R. Graf, Working paper on Finance No.13/1, University of St.Gallen, January 2013.
As in other OECD countries a public concern in Switzerland is the improvement of the financial literacy, in particular among young households. This stands in contrast with a lack of reliable data about the financial literacy among the Swiss population and insufficient knowledge about the relationship of financial literacy of households on the one hand and household investment behavior and level of debt on the other. Based on a representative survey among the German speaking population this study investigates the relationship between household characteristics, financial literacy, and financial behavior in Switzerland. The results show that compared to other countries, the level of financial literacy among the Swiss population is relatively high. However, the level of financial literacy strongly depends on gender, education and income.
Why do Local Housing Prices React so Differently to a Monetary Stimulus?, R. Füss, B.Zhu and J. Zietz, Working Paper, June 2013.
This paper examines why monetary policy can have vastly different effects on local housing prices across metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). We focus on the period 1995 to 2008, which includes the period of housing price bubbles in several parts of the U.S. Based on a spatial panel data approach we show that MSAs with similar demand conditions, as measured for example by population growth, and similar supply conditions, as measured for example by housing supply elasticities, react similarly to monetary policy at the national level. In a follow-up panel data model we confirm the importance of these MSA-specific characteristics directly through a set of interaction terms between these factors and monetary policy stance and sentiment indicators. It turns out that MSA-specific demand and supply characteristics, such as population growth and inelastic housing supply, are the crucial links that transmit national monetary policy and sentiment into housing price inflation at the local level.
Conferencepresentation:
Home Price Dynamics Untied from Observable Fundamentals and their Linkages. R. Füss, B.Zhu and J. Zietz, American Economic Association (AEA), 4.-6. Januar 2013, San Diego, CA, USA.
Publications:
- Hedge Fund Liquidity and Performance: Evidence from the Financial Crisis. M. Schmid and N. Schaub, Journal of Banking and Finance 37(3), 2013, 671-692.
- Variance Risk Premiums in Foreign Exchange Markets. M. Ammann and R. Buesser. Journal of Empirical Finance, forthcoming.
- Information Asymmetry and Foreign Currency Borrowing by Small Firms. M. Brown with S. Ongena & P. Yesin, Comparative Economic Studies, forthcoming.
- Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning in Switzerland. M. Brown with R. Graf, Numeracy, forthcoming.
- Spillover Effects among Financial Institutions: A State-Dependent Sensitivity Value-at-Risk (SDSVaR) Approach. Z. Adams, R. and R.Gropp, 2013: Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, forthcoming.
- Come sarebbe l’Italia con 1,000 imprese quotate. E. García Appendini and M. Geranio, Economia & Management, forthcoming.
- On the Predictability of Stock Prices: a Case for High and Low Prices. A. Ranaldo. Journal of Banking and Finance, Elsevier, forthcoming.
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