Studies of hepatic synthesis in vivo of plasma proteins, including orosomucoid, transferrin, α-antitrypsin, C8, and factor B

Serum protein types were determined in eight recipients and donors in cases of hepatic homotransplantation. A change from recipient type to donor type was observed for factor B, C8, orosomucoid, haptoglobin, transferrin, α1-antitrypsin, C3 and C6, but not for Gm and Inv immunoglobulin markers. The results indicate that all the proteins studied (except immunoglobulins) are produced primarily by the liver in vivo. © 1980

Impact of financial deregulation on bank productivity: Evidence from a panel of Arab banks

This paper investigates the effect of financial deregulation and liberalisation on the productivity growth and efficiency of eleven Arab banking sectors (6 GCC banking sectors and 5 non-GCC banking sectors) over the period 2000-2010. The Data Envelopment Analysis method and the Malmquist total factor productivity index are used to measure the productivity developments and to decompose it into: technical efficiency, technological change, scale efficiency, and total factor productivity. The empirical results show an overall improvement in technical efficiency of all Arab banking sectors under study. Conversely, we observe deterioration in technological and scale efficiencies for the majority of these banking systems over the studied period, which is translated into deterioration in overall productivity. We also find that whereas GCC banking sectors show stability in scale efficiency over the studied period, the non-GCC banking sectors recorded deterioration coupled with volatility in this measure. By comparing the two groups, we notice that GCC banks record – on average – higher technical and scale efficiency measures than non-GCC banks. Conversely, non-GCC banks record – on average – higher technological progress and total factor productivity measures. These results suggest that GCC banks have higher organisational and managerial efficiency and operate at the appropriate size. On the other hand, non-GCC banks have better ability to use technological advances in their production process

How Do Students Negotiate their Affect toward Mathematical Problem-Solving and How Do they Assign Meaning to Problems and Problem-Solving? A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis.

Qualitative studies have enriched the mathematics education field over the past 40 years across various topics. In spite of the fact that the number of these studies is increasing and the quality of qualitative research studies in mathematics education is changing, little is still known about how this qualitative research findings would contribute to our understanding of a particular topic within the field. Through the process of qualitative research meta-synthesis, our knowledge base can be widened to offer better and deeper understanding of attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors relevant to mathematics teaching and learning. This study is a qualitative research meta-synthesis that aims at synthesizing, analyzing, and integrating the findings of a collective body of qualitative research to understand the way students negotiate their affective field toward problem-solving, and the way students assign personal meanings to problems and to problem-solving. This study utilizes theory-generating approaches to qualitative meta-synthesis which is based on the grounded formal theory to analyze data extracted from twenty-one selected relevant qualitative studies. The grounded theory would provide a comprehensive framework that enables us to understand and explain how students negotiate their affective relationship with problem-solving and the way they assign meaning to it by coding, categorizing, constant comparison, coming up with a theme, and generating a well-founded theory

Remittances to Lebanon: Economic Impact and the Role of Banks

Lebanon is one of the largest remittance-receiving countries worldwide, where remittances have exceeded one fifth of its nominal GDP and surpassed financial inflows from both exports of goods and services and foreign direct investments over the past decade. This study analyzed several aspects of remittances received by Lebanon and found that these remittances considerably boost non-resident deposits in domestic banks. Nevertheless, they have a weak positive economic impact, a low correlation with domestic investment, and a high correlation with both inflation and imports. The study also presented an overview of the global network of Lebanese banks and their products and services targeting Lebanese expatriates worldwide. The findings of a comprehensive survey show a considerable gap between supply and potential demand in terms of presence of Lebanese banks in countries hosting large Lebanese Diaspora and in terms of products and services designed for expatriates

Banking Sector Development and Economic Growth in Lebanon

We study the causality direction between banking sector development and economic growth in Lebanon over the period 1992-2011. Firstly, using Granger Causality tests, we find a one-way causality running from economic growth to banking sector measures such as deposit growth and credit to local private sector. Conversely, credit provided by banks to the resident private sector, and the banking sector size, efficiency, and concentration do not impact significantly economic growth. These results provide support for the demand-following hypothesis regarding the link between financial sector and economic development in Lebanon. Finally, regression estimates using OLS method confirm the above results

The Determinants of Bank Profitability and the Effects of Foreign Ownership

We study the profitability of banks operating in Lebanon between 1996 and 2007 and examine the effect of micro- and macroeconomic variables on it. We find that foreign control deteriorates bank ROA, and foreign banks (FBs) have better profitability than banks with majority domestic ownership (MDO). Our results show that ROE and ROA are determined differently among banks. For instance, larger MDO generate higher ROE and ROA, unlike banks with majority foreign ownership (MFO) and FBs. MDO benefit from OBS activities, whereas FBs and MFO lose from this business. A negative correlation between MDO and MFO bank capital and profitability is found, but the opposite for FBs. This suggests that profitable domestic banks hold lesser capital, whereas better capitalization allows FBs to engage in more profitable (risky) businesses. Concentration and economic condition of the host market do not influence FBs, whereas MDO and MFO seem to be negatively affected by concentration, but benefit from the economic growth of the host market

Banking in Lebanon : an empirical investigation of performance, capitalisation and mergers

This thesis investigates three aspects of Lebanese banking: Bank Perfonnance, Bank Capital and Bank Mergers. The first chapter tackles the issue of bank perfonnance, with focus on the differences between domestic and foreign banks. We study panel data of almost the entire population of Lebanese banks between 1993 and 2003 to analyse the (different) detenninants of domestic and foreign banks' profitability. Using the Fixed Effects Regression Model, we find that foreign banks are more profitable than domestic ones and factors that shape a domestic bank's profitability are different from those of a foreign bank, mainly the macroeconomic variables. Moreover, we find that subsidiaries of foreign banks perfonn better than domestic banks acquired by foreign banks. The second chapter tests the applicability of some bank capital theories. Specifically, the Too-Big-To-Fail, the signalling, and the cyclicality of bank capital theories. Besides, we test the importance of market capital requirements vs. regulatory capital requirements. We use a panel of data from almost all the population of commercial Lebanese banks between 1993 and 2003. We split the panel data "horizontally" (according to bank ownership) and "vertically" (by time), and fmd that the above mentioned theories are applicable in certain conditions and circumstance. The Too-BigTo- Fail hypothesis emerges with tighter capital requirements, foreign banks do not "signal" using their capital level and foreign bank capital is not cyclical, etc ... The third chapter deals with bank mergers in emerging markets. We are interested in: (1) finding the motives behind bank mergers, and (2) detecting the outcome of bank mergers. We study the merger experience in the Lebanese banking sector, which has witnessed a large number of bank mergers. We find that mergers in emerging markets are driven by the will of large healthy banks to acquire small underperfonning banks. Additionally, we find that the regulatory authorities play an important role in this process. Bank mergers do have a constructive effect on consolidated entities as there is an improvement in profitability and efficiency, but the credit risk deteriorates

How Do Banks Set their Capital?

We have analysed the determinants of capital for banks operating in the Lebanese market between 1994 and 2008. We firstly found that the subsidiaries of foreign banks hold significantly lower capital than their domestic counterparties and the institutional ownership has a productive impact on domestic bank capital. Secondly, the capital of domestic banks is shaped differently from that of foreign banks. For instance, the host market capital regulation is more binding for domestic banks than foreign banks. Besides, domestic banks use their capitalization level to signal, unlike foreign banks that rely on their reputation. Finally, regarding the cyclicality of bank capital, this only applies for domestic banks, whereas foreign bank capital does not follow the economic cycle of the host market

Development finance, institutional quality and human development in the MENA region

Purpose: The majority of MENA countries suffer low levels of human development, coupled with scarcity of funding resources, low level of governance, and poor institutional environment. Consequently, this research aims at detecting the impact of development finance resources and institutional quality on the human development in the MENA region, in order to examine if/why the MENA countries fail to efficiently exploit all the available financial inflows to promote human development and boost living standards. Design/methodology/approach: This study tests the short- and long-run impact of six financing resources representing injections in the economy and four institutional quality variables on the human development index in the MENA region. It adopts co-integration analysis, vector error correction model, and Granger causality test on a sample of 13 MENA countries over the period 1996–2019. Findings: This research finds that domestic credit to private sector and exports of goods and services do not have any significant added value for human development in the MENA region. In contrast, government expenditures and migrant remittances are found to be crucial in promoting human development in both the short- and long-run. FDI and ODA do enhance human development, but only in the short-run. In parallel, control of corruption, government effectiveness and regulation quality are essential boosters of human development in the MENA region, but with different importance, while political stability was found to be irrelevant. Originality/value: To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study that examines the impact of financial inflows and institutional quality on the overall human development index in the MENA region. The contribution of this paper lies in unlocking for policymakers the potential impactful financing resources to serve national developmental plans, in an endeavour to catch up to the SDGs amid the additional challenges imposed by governance and institutional environment. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

The Determinants of Bank Net Interest Margin: Evidence from the Lebanese Banking Sector

This study analyses the determinants of commercial bank interest margins in Lebanon using bank-specific, industry specific, monetary policy, and macroeconomic variables for the period 1996-2009. The empirical results indicate that interest rate margins are shaped differently between domestic and foreign banks. For instance, domestic bank size, liquidity, efficiency, and to a lower extent, capitalisation and credit risk, have a negative impact on interest margins. The same impact was captured by concentration, dollarization, and to a lower extent, by economic growth. On the other hand, the growth rate of deposits, lending, inflation, central bank discount rate, national saving, domestic investment, and to a lower degree, the interbank rate, all have a positive impact on net interest margins. For foreign banks, we found that size, liquidity, capitalisation, and credit risk, do not show a significant impact. Another interesting remark is that the host market macroeconomic conditions, industry characteristics, central bank discount rate, and interbank rate, have much weaker impact for foreign bank interest margins