The Effectiviness Of The Network Theory In Improving The Contribution To Financial Innovation Of Italian Cooperative Banks

Purpose: In light of international financial and structural crisis the local banks should carry out a review of their business models and management approaches of their relationships with customers in order to strenghten their supply model with particular reference to innovative financial services and above all private equity services and to respond quickly to competitive pressures. In this regard, this paper intends to highlight how the network theory can allow the cooperative banks to become more competitive in order to sustain the Italian small-medium enterprises (SMEs). The research intends to verify if a structure ? such as the cooperative banks? network ? is able to enhance the degree of financial and strategic services such as private equity. Methodology/approach: The field research will be conducted in three steps. Step 1: the paper begins with the analysis of the literature available with particular reference to network theory and service management and following a short review on particular case of the technological districts and banking networks. Step 2: this step intend is part of the theme of the role that banks can engage in financing districts. After a review of the literature on this theme, a territorial survey will be carried out through a quantitative questionnaire will be addressed to cooperative banks in North, Central and South Italy to underline strategic guidelines to improve the diffusion of private equity in the modus operandi of these banks. Step 3: an empirical analysis will be conducted in order to verify how much the financial services falling within the business area of private equity transactions are common in the cooperative banks and especially in those banks that operate in technological districts. Findings: The main finding is to determine which key factors are fundamental for increasing the financial diversification of the cooperative banks? network and reinforcing its competitive position by adding innovation such as private equity services) while maintaining a strong relationship with SMEs. Practical implications The study provides both theoretical and practical insights into the advantageousness for the cooperative banks? network to follow the strategies and managerial implications to renew the business models of local banks in light of the financial crisis and Originality/value: This study provides empirical evidence of how a network system could allow the cooperative banks to improve innovation and competitiveness in the relationship with SMEs without alter their mutual identity of local banks

Can unlisted firms benefit from market information? A data-driven approach

[EN] We employ a sample of 10,136 Italian micro-, small-, and mid-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that borrow from 113 cooperative banks to examine whether market pricing of public firms adds additional information to accounting measures in predicting default of private firms. Specifically, we first match the asset prices of listed firms following a data-driven clustering by means of Neural Networks Autoencoder so to evaluate the firm-wise probability of default (PD) of MSMEs. Then, we adopt three statistical techniques, namely linear models, multivariate adaptive regression spline, and random forest to assess the performance of the models and to explain the relevance of each predictor. Our results provide novel evidence that market information represents a crucial indicator in predicting corporate default of unlisted firms. Indeed, we show a significant improvement of the model performance, both on class-specific (F1-score for defaulted class) and overall metrics (AUC) when using market information in credit risk assessment, in addition to accounting information. Moreover, by taking advantage of global and local variable importance technique we prove that the increase in performance is effectively attributable to market information, highlighting its relevant effect in predicting corporate default.Bitetto, A.; Filomeni, S.; Modina, M. (2022). Can unlisted firms benefit from market information? A data-driven approach. En 4th International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics (CARMA 2022). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 65-72. https://doi.org/10.4995/CARMA2022.2022.15045657

The relationship between firm size and efficiency: why does default on bank loans matter?

This paper presents an investigation of the interconnection between firm size and efficiency under the financial constraints lens. Specifically, we used the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique to measure the efficiency of a sample of large, medium-sized and small private Italian firms, using the firms’ default risk as an undesirable output. Our findings indicate that larger companies perform better than medium-sized and smaller companies in terms of efficiency (across all business profiles), including default on bank loans. Based on indicators widely employed to characterize the bank-firm relationship, our study demonstrates the need to improve the efficiency of the Italian entrepreneurial system, consisting mainly of small companies, through their dimensional growth

Can market information predict the credit risk of unlisted MSMEs? Empirical evidence from a novel matching procedure

This paper contributes to the growing body of research on private firms, particularly private firm accounting. We explore the economic factors that drive improvements in the default prediction of unlisted private firms using peers’ market-based information. Specifically, we examine how the market-based default probability of a peer firm can provide valuable insights into the often noisy accounting data of private firms. Our analysis delves deeply into these economic issues to uncover essential insights. To address our research question, we utilize a granular proprietary dataset of 10,136 Italian micro-, small-, and mid-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that are required to disclose their financial statements publicly. We propose a novel public-private firm mapping approach to investigate whether incorporating peers’ market-based information improves the accuracy of default predictions for private unlisted firms. Our mapping approach matches the market information of listed firms with private firms through a data-driven clustering technique using Neural Networks Autoencoder. This method enables us to link the Merton Probability of Default (PD) of public peers to the corresponding private firms within the same cluster. We then apply five statistical techniques—linear models, multivariate adaptive regression splines, support vector machine, k-nearest neighbours and random forests—to predict corporate default at the private firm level, comparing model performance with and without the inclusion of Merton’s PD estimated using peers’ market-based information. To explain the relevance of each predictor, we employ Shapley values. Our results demonstrate a significant improvement in default prediction for unlisted private firms when incorporating peers’ market-based information, confirming that the noisy accounting data of private firms alone hinder accurate default prediction. Furthermore, our findings highlight the importance for banks to broaden the scope of information used in credit risk assessments of private firms. These results have important policy implications for financial institutions and policymakers, providing a tool to mitigate the challenges posed by the noisy information disclosure of MSMEs while ensuring more accurate credit risk assessments

Trade Credit and Firm Investments: Empirical Evidence from Italian Cooperative Banks

By exploiting a unique and proprietary panel dataset comprising 18,682 Italian SMEs operating with 99 cooperative banks over the period 2008-2014, we investigate the influence of the trade credit channel on firm investment decisions in the Italian market, distinguished by a considerable presence of relationship cooperative banks’ branches with a heterogeneous geographical distribution. Firstly, our findings confirm a significant influence of the trade credit channel on firm investment decisions. Secondly, we document that those SMEs located in those Italian provinces with an abundance of cooperative banks’ branches rely less on trade credit to finance investments. Lastly, we show that longer firm-bank relationships decrease firm dependence on trade credit to boost investments. Our study is of particular relevance because it strengthens the effectiveness of the commercial credit channel for SMEs in spurring corporate investments. Indeed, fostering a deep understanding of the real effects of firm financing sources is paramount to encourage investment by SMEs and to allow them to preserve their positioning in the market. Moreover, we exploit the Italian market, well-suited to perform such an analysis, since it is characterized by more inter-personal financing relationships as compared to other countries

Il rating 2.0 per una nuova relazione tra impresa e banca

La ricerca intende approfondire come l'accordo di Basilea 3 impatta sulla gestione della banca e delle aziende ma soprattutto come riconfigura la relazione banca-impresa. i modelli di rating sono valutati sia nell'ottica diagnostica per la banca di valutazione dell'affidamento, sia nell'ottica dell'impresa come strumento di rappresentazione e misurazione delle reali potenziali di sviluppo e persistere nel tempo dell'azienda

Meniscal femoral and tibial surfaces characterization in the swine model.

Menisci are wedge-like structures interposed, in the knee joint, between the femoral and the tibial articular heads (Kohn et al. 1995; Greis et al. 2002). Improving the articular surface, the cellular nutrition and the articular lubrication, they are essential structures for the prevention of gonarthrosis (Proctor et al.1989; Makris et al. 2011). This study is focused upon the relationship between the contact forces at the femoral and tibial surfaces and the corresponding structure of these meniscal surfaces. For this purpose, 20 adult (~9 months old) female pigs (Landrace x Large white, average weight 75–90 kg; n=80 meniscal samples) were obtained from a local slaughterhouse and dissected to isolate the menisci. Swine meniscal samples were evaluated from morphological (Safranin-O, Sirius Red and collagen type I and II) (Di Giancamillo et al. 2014), biochemical (DNA and glycosaminoglycans, or GAGs, contents) and biomechanical (compression and traction tests) points of view at the level of femoral and tibial meniscal surfaces. Results revealed a characterization of the meniscus which is biomechanical-dependent.  The femoral surface, morphologically characterized by the interposition of radial and oblique fibers and biomechanically by the femoral condyles compression, sliding and rolling forces, shows a higher compressive modulus (p<0.05) and a greater amount of cells and GAGs deposition (p<0.01 for each analysis). On the other hand, results from traction test revealed a higher tensile modulus (p<0.05) in the tibial surface, characterized by a circumferential arrangement of the fibers and a poorer GAGs deposition and cellular distribution (p<0.01). Results (summarized in the figure 1) from this work suggest that a biphasic “femoral-to-tibial” scaffold that mimic the different behavior and composition of the two meniscal surfaces could be useful in the light of meniscal replacement.

Sarcopenia in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a prospective study exploring prevalence, associated factors and diagnostic approach

Sarcopenia gained importance in the evaluation of patients with chronic respiratory diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), since it may impact negatively on clinical outcomes

Three-dimensional genome architecture persists in a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth skin sample

Analyses of ancient DNA typically involve sequencing the surviving short oligonucleotides and aligning to genome assemblies from related, modern species. Here, we report that skin from a female woolly mammoth (†Mammuthus primigenius) that died 52,000 years ago retained its ancient genome architecture. We use PaleoHi-C to map chromatin contacts and assemble its genome, yielding 28 chromosome-length scaffolds. Chromosome territories, compartments, loops, Barr bodies, and inactive X chromosome (Xi) superdomains persist. The active and inactive genome compartments in mammoth skin more closely resemble Asian elephant skin than other elephant tissues. Our analyses uncover new biology. Differences in compartmentalization reveal genes whose transcription was potentially altered in mammoths vs. elephants. Mammoth Xi has a tetradic architecture, not bipartite like human and mouse. We hypothesize that, shortly after this mammoth's death, the sample spontaneously freeze-dried in the Siberian cold, leading to a glass transition that preserved subfossils of ancient chromosomes at nanometer scale