Bank institutional setting and risk-taking: The missing role of directors’ education and turnover

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the relationship between bank institutional setting and risk-taking by exploring whether board education and turnover are drivers of the risk propensity of cooperative banks compared to jointstock banks. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a comprehensive dataset of Italian banks over the 2011-2017 period, we examine whether these board characteristics affect the risk propensity of cooperative and joint-stock banks. Bank risk is measured by the Zindex, profit volatility and the ratio of non-performing loans to total gross loans. Findings: The findings show that cooperatives take less risk than joint-stock banks and have lower board turnover and education. Furthermore, we find that while board education mediates the relationship between the cooperative model and bank risk-taking, we do not find evidence of board turnover. Thus, the lower educational level of cooperative directors contributes to explaining the lower risk-taking of cooperative banks. Implications: The findings have several implications. In terms of the more general policy debate, our results point to the need to strengthen the governance model for both joint-stock and cooperative banks while supporting the view that a more ad hoc perspective on the best models and practices for each type of institutional setting would be preferable. In particular, the study reveals how board education’s effects on bank risk-taking should be carefully monitored. Originality/value: Through a mediation framework, this study provides empirical evidence on the relationship between bankinstitutional setting (by distinguishing between cooperative and joint-stock banks) and risk-taking behavior by exploring the underlying mechanisms at the board level, which is novel in the literature

Early handling and repeated cross-fostering have opposite effect on mouse emotionality

Early life events have a crucial role in programming the individual phenotype and exposure to traumatic experiences during infancy can increase later risk for a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions, including mood and anxiety disorders. Animal models of postnatal stress have been developed in rodents to explore molecular mechanisms responsible for the observed short and long lasting neurobiological effects of such manipulations. The main aim of this study was to compare the behavioral and hormonal phenotype of young and adult animals exposed to different postnatal treatments. Outbred mice were exposed to (i) the classical Handling protocol (H: 15 min-day of separation from the mother from day 1 to 14 of life) or to (ii) a Repeated Cross-Fostering protocol (RCF: adoption of litters from day 1 to 4 of life by different dams). Handled mice received more maternal care in infancy and showed the already described reduced emotionality at adulthood. Repeated cross fostered animals did not differ for maternal care received, but showed enhanced sensitivity to separation from the mother in infancy and altered respiratory response to 6% CO2 in breathing air in comparison with controls. Abnormal respiratory responses to hypercapnia are commonly found among humans with panic disorders (PD), and point to RCF-induced instability of the early environment as a valid developmental model for PD. The comparisons between short-and long-term effects of postnatal handling vs. RCF indicate that different types of early adversities are associated with different behavioral profiles, and evoke psychopathologies that can be distinguished according to the neurobiological systems disrupted by early-life manipulation

Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in a mesoscopic ring with a quantum dot

We present an analysis of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations for a mesoscopic ring with a quantum dot inserted in one of its arms. It is shown that microreversibility demands that the phase of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations changes {\it abruptly} when a resonant level crosses the Fermi energy. We use the Friedel sum rule to discuss the conservation of the parity of the oscillations at different conductance peaks. Our predictions are illustrated with the help of a simple one channel model that permits the variation of the potential landscape along the ring.Comment: 11 pages, Revtex style, 3 figures under request. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B (rapid communications

Proteomic studies of marine organism

Comunicaciones a congreso

High performance polyethylene nanocomposite fibers

A high density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix was melt compounded with 2 vol% of dimethyldichlorosilane treated fumed silica nanoparticles. Nanocomposite fibers were prepared by melt spinning through a co-rotating twin screw extruder and drawing at 125°C in air. Thermo-mechanical and morphological properties of the resulting fibers were then investigated. The introduction of nanosilica improved the drawability of the fibers, allowing the achievement of higher draw ratios with respect to the neat matrix. The elastic modulus and creep stability of the fibers were remarkably improved upon nanofiller addition, with a retention of the pristine tensile properties at break. Transmission electronic microscope (TEM) images evidenced that the original morphology of the silica aggregates was disrupted by the applied drawing

Proteomic signature of non-alcoholic beverages via combinatorial peptide ligand libraries

Comunicaciones a congreso

Control of quantum interference in molecular junctions: Understanding the origin of Fano and anti- resonances

We investigate within a coarse-grained model the conditions leading to the appearance of Fano resonances or anti-resonances in the conductance spectrum of a generic molecular junction with a side group (T-junction). By introducing a simple graphical representation (parabolic diagram), we can easily visualize the relation between the different electronic parameters determining the regimes where Fano resonances or anti-resonances in the low-energy conductance spectrum can be expected. The results obtained within the coarse-grained model are validated using density-functional based quantum transport calculations in realistic T-shaped molecular junctions.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Large-scale seismic vulnerability and risk of masonry churches in seismic-prone areas: Two territorial case studies

In this paper, seismic vulnerability and risk assessment of two samples of churches, located in Teramo and Ischia island (Naples gulf), both affected by the most recent earthquakes that occurred in Italy, are presented. To this aim, we applied a simplified method particularly suitable for seismic evaluations at a territorial scale, providing a global resulting score to be compared among the cases analyzed. The data obtained allowed us to provide vulnerability maps and a seismic risk index for all the considered churches. In addition, the calculated indexes permit a preliminary health state evaluation of the inspected churches, for ranking the priorities and planning additional in-depth evaluations