Spillover and Competition Effects: Evidence from the Sub-Saharan African Banking Sector

This paper examines the efficiency effects of foreign bank entry on domestic banks in sub-Saharan Africa during the period 1999-2006. Using a recently compiled dataset on foreign bank presence, the competition and spillover effects of North-South, regional and nonregional South-South banks are distinguished. The results show that the competitive pressure on domestic banks' net interest margins emanates only from regional South-South banks. There is evidence of spillover effects from North-South and regional South-South banks on domestic banks. As domestic banks invest in foreign technologies, their overhead costs increase in the short-run. Non-regional South-South banks seem to have little effect on the efficiency of domestic banks. --Sub-Saharan Africa,efficiency,South-South banks,spillover

Foreign Banks in Sub-Saharan Africa - Do North-South and South-South Banks Induce Different Effects on Domestic Banks?

In theory, the presence of foreign banks has spillover and competition effects on domestic banks leading to higher efficiency. Next to foreign banks from industrialized countries (north-south banks), foreign banks from developing countries (south-south banks) are important investors in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). South-south banks are either regional investors or are hosted in developing countries beyond SSA. This paper studies the competitive advantages and strategies of north-south as well as regional and non-regional south-south banks from a theoretical perspective. Moreover, the study examines theoretically whether these foreign banks induce different effects on domestic banks. To explore these issues empirically, 80 domestic banks in 17 countries of SSA between 1999 and 2006 are considered. The results show that the presence of north-south and south-south banks positively affects the costs of domestic banks. This suggests that domestic banks invest in the modern practices of foreign banks. Domestic banks margins are positively related to the presence of north-south and nonregional south-south banks indicating a lack of competitive pressure. In contrast, regional south-south banks have a negative impact on the margins of domestic banks. --south-south banks,spillover and competition effects,efficiency

Work Organisation and Innovation - Case Study: LHT, Germany

[Excerpt] Lufthansa Technik AG (LHT) provides aircraft-related technical services to a worldwide customer base comprising airlines, aircraft leasing companies, maintenance organisations, and operators of business and VIP aircrafts. Besides the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services that form the organisation’s core business, activities also include development and production activities, as well as logistics

Outcome contingency selectively affects the neural coding of outcomes but not of tasks

Value-based decision-making is ubiquitous in every-day life, and critically depends on the contingency between choices and their outcomes. Only if outcomes are contingent on our choices can we make meaningful value-based decisions. Here, we investigate the effect of outcome contingency on the neural coding of rewards and tasks. Participants performed a reversal-learning paradigm in which reward outcomes were contingent on trial-by-trial choices, and performed a ‘free choice’ paradigm in which rewards were random and not contingent on choices. We hypothesized that contingent outcomes enhance the neural coding of rewards and tasks, which was tested using multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data. Reward outcomes were encoded in a large network including the striatum, dmPFC and parietal cortex, and these representations were indeed amplified for contingent rewards. Tasks were encoded in the dmPFC at the time of decision-making, and in parietal cortex in a subsequent maintenance phase. We found no evidence for contingency-dependent modulations of task signals, demonstrating highly similar coding across contingency conditions. Our findings suggest selective effects of contingency on reward coding only, and further highlight the role of dmPFC and parietal cortex in value-based decision-making, as these were the only regions strongly involved in both reward and task coding

On Third-Order Limiter Functions for Finite Volume Methods

In this article, we propose a finite volume limiter function for a reconstruction on the three-point stencil. Compared to classical limiter functions in the MUSCL framework, which yield $2^{\text{nd}}$-order accuracy, the new limiter is $3^\text{rd}$-order accurate for smooth solutions. In an earlier work, such a $3^\text{rd}$-order limiter function was proposed and showed successful results [2]. However, it came with unspecified parameters. We close this gap by giving information on these parameters.Comment: 8 pages, conference proceeding

Legitimacy in conflict: concepts, practices, challenges

The study of legitimacy in situations of conflict and peacebuilding has increased in recent years. However, current work on the topic adopts many assumptions, definitions, and understandings from classical legitimacy theory, which centers on the relationship between the nation-state and its citizens. In this introduction, we provide a detailed critical overview of current theories of legitimacy and legitimation and demonstrate why they have only limited applicability in conflict and post-conflict contexts, focusing on the three main areas that the articles included in this special issue examine: audiences for legitimacy, sources of legitimacy, and legitimation. In particular, we show how conflict and post-conflict contexts are marked by the fragmentation and personalization of power; the proliferation and fragmentation of legitimacy audiences; and ambiguity surrounding legitimation strategies

Spillover and Competition Effects: Evidence from the sub-Saharan African Banking Sector

This paper examines the efficiency effects of foreign bank entry on domestic banks in sub- Saharan Africa during the period 1999–2006. Using a recently compiled dataset on foreign bank presence, the competition and spillover effects of North–South, regional and nonregional South–South banks are distinguished. The results show that the competitive pressure on domestic banks' net interest margins emanates only from regional South–South banks. There is evidence of spillover effects from North-South and regional South-South banks on domestic banks. As domestic banks invest in foreign technologies, their overhead costs increase in the short-run. Non-regional South-South banks seem to have little effect on the efficiency of domestic banks.sub-Saharan Africa, efficiency, South–South banks, spillover

Conjunctive Query Answering for the Description Logic SHIQ

Conjunctive queries play an important role as an expressive query language for Description Logics (DLs). Although modern DLs usually provide for transitive roles, conjunctive query answering over DL knowledge bases is only poorly understood if transitive roles are admitted in the query. In this paper, we consider unions of conjunctive queries over knowledge bases formulated in the prominent DL SHIQ and allow transitive roles in both the query and the knowledge base. We show decidability of query answering in this setting and establish two tight complexity bounds: regarding combined complexity, we prove that there is a deterministic algorithm for query answering that needs time single exponential in the size of the KB and double exponential in the size of the query, which is optimal. Regarding data complexity, we prove containment in co-NP