Les stratégies d’internationalisation des banques européennes sont-elles efficaces ? Cette thèse analyse le lien entre l’internationalisation des banques et leur performance. L’objectif étant de vérifier s’il existe des modalités d’implantation qui expliquent les écarts de bénéfices entre les établissements bancaires européens. Nous nous focalisons sur trois types de stratégies d’implantation : l’installation de filiales, les alliances ou partenariats avec des entreprises étrangères et les fusions et acquisitions transfrontalières. Parmi les filiales étrangères nous distinguons les filiales qui portent l’enseigne du groupe de celles qui portent un autre nom. Cette distinction nous permet d’analyser l’impact sur la performance du choix de garder ou non l’enseigne du groupe lors du déploiement international. Nos résultats montrent qu’il existe bien des modalités expliquant des différences de rentabilité entre les établissements. En effet, il semble qu’une implantation via des filiales portant le nom du groupe bancaire ait un impact négatif sur la performance. Par ailleurs, nous avons aussi relevé que la réalisation de partenariats transfrontaliers dans plus de dix secteurs différents n’est pas bénéfique pour la banque. / Are European banks’ cross-border strategies effective? This thesis analyzes the relationship between European banks’internationalization strategies and their performance. We investigate whether there are internationalization strategies that explain differences between European banks’ profits. We focus on three types of implementation strategies: at first, the installation of subsidiaries, then, alliances or partnerships with foreign companies and last but not least, cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Among foreign subsidiaries we distinguish those which carry the the group’s brand from those which carry a different name. This distinction allows us to analyze the results a bank can expect by keeping its company name while expanding overseas. Our results show that there are strategies that explain differences in profitability between institutions. Indeed, it appears that internationalization through subsidiaries with a brand perspective has a negative impact on performance. In addition, we also note that the implementation of cross-border partnerships in more than ten different sectors is not beneficial for the bank.

Hochschulabsolventinnen und -absolventen steht eine Vielzahl beruflicher Möglichkeiten offen. Damit der Einstieg in den Arbeitsmarkt gelingt, haben die Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter der Technischen Universität Chemnitz ihre Erfahrungen aus der täglichen Arbeit gebündelt und stellen sie nun in diesem aktualisierten Band zur Verfügung. Von der beruflichen Zielfindung über die Jobrecherche bis zur Gehaltsverhandlung finden sich hier wertvolle Tipps für Studierende, Absolventen und alle weiteren Interessierten. Um auch beim Berufseinstieg im sächsisch-tschechischen Grenzraum zu unterstützen, bietet der vorliegende Band zudem Artikel zum Verfassen internationaler Bewerbungen und Tipps für den grenzübergreifenden Berufseinstieg und die Jobsuche in der Tschechischen Republik. Der Transnational Career Service ist eine Kooperation zwischen der Technischen Universität Chemnitz sowie den tschechischen Partnerhochschulen Universität J. E. Purkyně Ústí nad Labem und Technische Universität Liberec. Ziel des Projektes ist es, Karriereperspektiven im deutsch-tschechischen Grenzraum aufzuzeigen und den Austausch von Fachkräften zu fördern. Dieser Band stellt die Ergebnisse aus fast 3 Jahren grenzübergreifender Projektarbeit dar.:1 Berufliche Ziele finden .......................................................... 1 2 Strategien zur effektiven Jobsuche ..................................... 8 2.1 Vorbereitung ........................................................................ 8 2.2 Klassische Jobsuche über Stellenangebote ........................ 9 2.3 Proaktive Jobsuche ........................................................... 15 3 Mittelstand oder Großunternehmen? ................................ 28 3.1 Der Mittelstand in Deutschland .......................................... 29 3.2 Karriere im Mittelstand....................................................... 30 3.3 Merkmale von Großunternehmen ...................................... 31 3.4 Karriere im Großunternehmen ........................................... 32 3.5 Fazit ................................................................................... 33 4 Soft Skills und ihre Bedeutung für den Berufseinstieg ... 36 4.1 Begriffsdefinition ................................................................ 37 4.2 Messbarkeit von Soft Skills ................................................ 38 4.3 Wichtige Soft Skills für den Berufseinstieg ........................ 38 4.4 Lehr- und Lernbarkeit von Soft Skills ................................. 39 4.5 Fazit ................................................................................... 40 5 Die Bewerbung ..................................................................... 42 5.1 Stellenanzeige ................................................................... 42 5.2 Bewerbungsunterlagen ..................................................... 43 5.3 Initiativbewerbung ............................................................. 50 5.4 Online-Bewerbung ............................................................. 51 5.5 Bewerben auf Englisch ...................................................... 52 6 Das Bewerbungsgespräch .................................................. 59 6.1 Ziel des Bewerbungsgesprächs ........................................ 59 6.2 Vorbereitung auf das Gespräch ......................................... 59 6.3 Der Verlauf des Gesprächs ............................................... 63 6.4 Nachbereitung des Gesprächs .......................................... 67 6.5 Umgang mit Absagen ........................................................ 68 7 Die ersten 100 Tage ............................................................. 70 7.1 Inhaltliche Vorbereitung .................................................... 70 7.2 Kleidung ............................................................................ 71 7.3 Erwartungen ...................................................................... 72 7.4 Zielsetzung ........................................................................ 73 7.5 Der erste Tag .................................................................... 75 7.6 Die ersten 100 Tage .......................................................... 76 7.7 Rechtliches ........................................................................ 76 7.8 Ermutigung ........................................................................ 78 8 Exkurs: Vielfalt bringt Erfolg – Einstieg für Geisteswissenschaftler ....... 81 8.1 Hochzeit mit Hindernissen ................................................ 81 8.2 Können und Sollen ............................................................ 87 8.3 Berufsfelder und Möglichkeiten ......................................... 99 8.4 Karrieren und Hindernisse - Beispiele für den Einstieg ... 112 8.5 Informationsmöglichkeiten .............................................. 121 9 Internationale Karriere, direkt um die Ecke: Der Transnational Career Service ... 126 9.1 Vom Career Service zum Transnational Career Service ... 126 9.2 Ziele ................................................................................ 128 9.3 Projektpartner .................................................................. 132 9.4 Projektdurchführung ........................................................ 134 9.5 Ergebnisse ...................................................................... 143 9.6 Fazit ................................................................................. 147 10 Leben und Arbeiten im Nachbarland ............................... 148 10.1 Warum Tschechien? ....................................................... 148 10.2 Warum ein Auslandspraktikum in Tschechien? .............. 148 10.3 Die Jobsuche in Tschechien ........................................... 149 10.4 Bewerben in Tschechien ................................................. 151 10.5 Interkulturelle Kompetenz: Tschechische Republik ......... 152 10.6 Erfahrungsberichte .......................................................... 153 10.7 Fazit ................................................................................. 155 11 Anhang ............................................................................... 158 11.1 Typische Fragen aus Vorstellungsgesprächen ............... 158 11.2 Bewerbungsmuster ......................................................... 160 11.3 Linkliste – Leben und Arbeiten im Nachbarland .............. 164 / University graduates have a wide range of career perspectives ahead. In order to smooth the entry into working life, the employees of the Technische Universität Chemnitz have combined their daily work experience and made it available in this updated volume. Starting with defining professional objectives, continuing with job research and salary negotiations, university students, graduates and other interested parties will find valuable advice. This volume furthermore provides articles on international application processes as well as advice for a cross-border job entry and job research in the Czech Republic, supporting a career start in the Saxon-Czech border region. The Transnational Career Service is a cooperation between the Technische Universität Chemnitz and the Czech partner universities J. E. Purkyně Ústí nad Labem und Technical University Liberec. The project’s objective is to show career perspectives in the Saxon-Czech border region and to support the exchange of skilled personnel. This volume presents the results of almost three years of transnational project work.:1 Berufliche Ziele finden .......................................................... 1 2 Strategien zur effektiven Jobsuche ..................................... 8 2.1 Vorbereitung ........................................................................ 8 2.2 Klassische Jobsuche über Stellenangebote ........................ 9 2.3 Proaktive Jobsuche ........................................................... 15 3 Mittelstand oder Großunternehmen? ................................ 28 3.1 Der Mittelstand in Deutschland .......................................... 29 3.2 Karriere im Mittelstand....................................................... 30 3.3 Merkmale von Großunternehmen ...................................... 31 3.4 Karriere im Großunternehmen ........................................... 32 3.5 Fazit ................................................................................... 33 4 Soft Skills und ihre Bedeutung für den Berufseinstieg ... 36 4.1 Begriffsdefinition ................................................................ 37 4.2 Messbarkeit von Soft Skills ................................................ 38 4.3 Wichtige Soft Skills für den Berufseinstieg ........................ 38 4.4 Lehr- und Lernbarkeit von Soft Skills ................................. 39 4.5 Fazit ................................................................................... 40 5 Die Bewerbung ..................................................................... 42 5.1 Stellenanzeige ................................................................... 42 5.2 Bewerbungsunterlagen ..................................................... 43 5.3 Initiativbewerbung ............................................................. 50 5.4 Online-Bewerbung ............................................................. 51 5.5 Bewerben auf Englisch ...................................................... 52 6 Das Bewerbungsgespräch .................................................. 59 6.1 Ziel des Bewerbungsgesprächs ........................................ 59 6.2 Vorbereitung auf das Gespräch ......................................... 59 6.3 Der Verlauf des Gesprächs ............................................... 63 6.4 Nachbereitung des Gesprächs .......................................... 67 6.5 Umgang mit Absagen ........................................................ 68 7 Die ersten 100 Tage ............................................................. 70 7.1 Inhaltliche Vorbereitung .................................................... 70 7.2 Kleidung ............................................................................ 71 7.3 Erwartungen ...................................................................... 72 7.4 Zielsetzung ........................................................................ 73 7.5 Der erste Tag .................................................................... 75 7.6 Die ersten 100 Tage .......................................................... 76 7.7 Rechtliches ........................................................................ 76 7.8 Ermutigung ........................................................................ 78 8 Exkurs: Vielfalt bringt Erfolg – Einstieg für Geisteswissenschaftler ....... 81 8.1 Hochzeit mit Hindernissen ................................................ 81 8.2 Können und Sollen ............................................................ 87 8.3 Berufsfelder und Möglichkeiten ......................................... 99 8.4 Karrieren und Hindernisse - Beispiele für den Einstieg ... 112 8.5 Informationsmöglichkeiten .............................................. 121 9 Internationale Karriere, direkt um die Ecke: Der Transnational Career Service ... 126 9.1 Vom Career Service zum Transnational Career Service ... 126 9.2 Ziele ................................................................................ 128 9.3 Projektpartner .................................................................. 132 9.4 Projektdurchführung ........................................................ 134 9.5 Ergebnisse ...................................................................... 143 9.6 Fazit ................................................................................. 147 10 Leben und Arbeiten im Nachbarland ............................... 148 10.1 Warum Tschechien? ....................................................... 148 10.2 Warum ein Auslandspraktikum in Tschechien? .............. 148 10.3 Die Jobsuche in Tschechien ........................................... 149 10.4 Bewerben in Tschechien ................................................. 151 10.5 Interkulturelle Kompetenz: Tschechische Republik ......... 152 10.6 Erfahrungsberichte .......................................................... 153 10.7 Fazit ................................................................................. 155 11 Anhang ............................................................................... 158 11.1 Typische Fragen aus Vorstellungsgesprächen ............... 158 11.2 Bewerbungsmuster ......................................................... 160 11.3 Linkliste – Leben und Arbeiten im Nachbarland .............. 164

Problemstellung Kooperationsstrukturen grenzüberschreitender Nahverkehrsangebote sind bislang nur zu Einzelvorhaben untersucht und beschrieben worden. Es fehlte bislang eine vergleichende, typologisierende und systematisierende Untersuchung. Die besondere Herausforderung grenzüberschreitender Nahverkehrsplanung und -organisation liegt in der starken Verankerung des ÖPNV in nationalen Strukturen und Hierarchien. Besonders der fortwährende Annäherungsprozess an der deutsch-tschechischen Grenze stellt die Akteure vor große Herausforderungen. Forschungsfrage: Wer sind in unterschiedlichen Regionen die Akteure grenzüberschreitender Planungs- und Organisationsprozesse im öffentlichen Nahverkehr, wie und aus welchen Gründen gestalten sie die notwendigen Interaktionsprozesse vor dem Hintergrund ihrer Motive und Ressourcen? Vorgehensweise Ausgehend von eine theoretischen Fundierung in den Bereichen ÖPNV-Planung, Netzwerken und grenzüberschreitenden Kooperationen sind anhand eines Leitfadens insgesamt 43 Experteninterviews in deutscher und tschechischer Sprache in Salzburg, dem Berchtesgadener Land, Nordböhmen (Liberecký kraj, Ústecký kraj und Karlovarský kraj) sowie Südsachsen durchgeführt worden. Im Sinne einer qualitativen Netzwerkanalyse konnten insgesamt 23 Projekte und Vorhaben (davon 14 im sächsisch-tschechischen Raum) analysiert werden. Ergebnisse Ausgehend vom aktuellen ÖPNV-Angebot auf den grenzüberschreitenden Linien konnten unterschiedliche Angebotsstrukturen in themenbezogener Weise typologisiert werden. Zu unterscheiden sind partielle und verbundähnliche Kooperationen. Eine Erweiterung dieser Typisierung durch eine zielbezogene Strukturierung und Einbeziehung der Akteurs- und Interaktionsmodi liefert drei grundlegende Kooperationsstrukturen: Die problemlösungsorientierte, innersphärische Kooperation, die projektbezogene Kooperation (zielbezogene Umsetzung) und die entwicklungsorientierte, integrierte Kooperation. Querschnittsorientierte Ergebnisse Im Zuge der Interviewauswertung konnte eine Vielzahl an querschnittsorientierten Erkenntnissen gewonnen werden, die für die zukünftige Gestaltung grenzüberschreitender ÖPNV-Vorhaben handlungsleitend sein können. Die Erkenntnisse richten sich u.a. auf die Relevanz von Vertrauen, die Problematik fehlender Kongruenzen, zeitliche Aspekte sowie Unsicherheiten bzgl. Traditionen, Eigenarten und Hierarchien. Wissenschaftlich-methodische Ergebnisse Die Werkzeuge und Methoden der qualitativen Netzwerkanalyse konnten gewinnbringend im grenzüberschreitenden Kontext angewendet werden, wodurch ebenfalls ein Beitrag zur Überwindung des methodologischen Nationalismus geleistet wurde. Die qualitative Analyse von Einzelbeispielen liefert wichtige Hinweise für eine eher quantitativ-standardisierte Erhebungen einer größeren Anzahl von grenzüberschreitenden ÖPNV-Vorhaben. Nationale Organisationsmodelle des ÖPNV wurden diskutiert und um eine grenzüberschreitenden Komponente erweitert. Dadurch steht nun eine Darstellungsmethode für vergleichende Analysen zur Verfügung und grenzüberschreitende Organisationsstrukturen des ÖPNV zwischen nationalen Kontexten können systematisch verstanden und erklärt werden. Inhaltlich-anwendungsbezogene Ergebnisse Erstmals steht eine vergleichende Darstellung unterschiedlichster grenzüberschreitender Linien und Vorhaben in Bezug auf ihre Genese und Geschichte, ihrer regionalen Einbettung und ihrer ÖPNV-bezogenen Funktion zur Verfügung. Die den oft rudimentären grenzüberschreitenden ÖPNV-Angeboten und ihrer Einbindung in nationale Systeme zugrunde liegenden Problemstrukturen können besser verstanden werden. Die Blackbox der Gestaltung ÖPNV-bezogener Kooperationsstrukturen wird aufgebrochen. Die genaue Analyse der Netzwerkbeziehungen mit der qualitativen Ergänzung führt zu einem besseren Verständnis grenzüberschreitender ÖPNV-Strukturen durch verantwortliche Akteure in Politik und Verwaltung und erleichtert damit die politische und verwaltungsbezogene Unterstützung grenzüberschreitender Vorhaben vor Ort. Ergänzend wird der Handlungsbedarf auf regionaler, nationaler und europäischer Ebene hinsichtlich notwendiger rechtlich-organisatorischer Rahmenbedingungen für eine Vereinfachung grenzüberschreitender ÖPNV-Vorhaben skizziert. Fazit Die Arbeit liefert eine vergleichende ÖPNV-bezogene Darstellung zweier sehr unterschiedlicher Regionen im Mitteleuropa. Akteure im ÖPNV finden darin systematische Darstellungen der rechtlich-organisatorischen Rahmenbedingungen in den untersuchten Räumen und können den Umgang der Akteure vor Ort mit diesem institutionellen Kontext verstehen. Flexible, unkonventionelle und strategisch bedeutsame Lösungsansätze können nachgeschlagen und aufgrund der Modellbildung hinsichtlich ihrer Anwendbarkeit und Übertragbarkeit überprüft werden. Gerade für den sich weiter im Transformationsprozess befindlichen sächsisch-tschechischen Grenzraum liefert die Arbeit im Sinne des europäischen Kohäsionsprozesses umfangreiche Grundlagen, zukünftige Kooperationen im ÖPNV erfolgreich für alle Seiten zu gestalten.

The number of border barriers has increased rapidly in the last decades. These barriers appeared between the wealthy and the poor, between the stable and those ridden by civil wars, between traditional military rivals and even between partners in the integration process. This suggests that a complex theory is necessary to explain the phenomenon of border barrier building. The presented work aims to provide an answer to the question of why states build border barriers by the use of Schmitt's theory of state based on nomos, sovereignty and political unity in interaction with globalization. This theory served as a framework for establishing the independent variables, namely challenges to land-appropriation, challenges to sovereignty from military threat, challenges to sovereignty from cross-border ethnic group, challenges to political unity from irregular mass migration and finally challenges to political unity from terrorism. These were then tested using regression analysis with number of border barriers constructed by a state serving as a dependent variable. The results suggest that states that often face challenges to land-appropriation, to sovereignty coming from politicised cross-border ethnic groups and to political unity from irregular mass migration build more border barriers than those that...

Projektet behandlar det sublima i relation till arkitektur; både som händelse, diskurs och institution. Genom ett event som dynamisk förskjuter arkitekturens parametrar och sätter dessa i kontinuerlig förändring i relation subjekt-tid och objekt-rum. Ett gränsöverskridande erfarande av arkitektur. / The project deals with the sublime in relation to architecture; both as event, discourse and institution. Through an event that dynamically shifts architectural parameters and position these in continuous change in relation to subject-time and object-space. A cross-border experience of architecture.

This study investigates how the mandatory adoption of the international reporting standards IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) for publicly listed companies affect countries’ levels of in- and outflow of cross-border capital. The continued harmonization of financial reporting standards on an international level is bringing up questions regarding supposed benefits of their implementation. These benefits cover areas such as increased accessibility of external financing, lower costs of capital, greater opportunities to receive a loan with longer terms, and the perceived improvements to the quality and transparency of annual reports. These factors, along with others, are driving forces as to why countries should experience changes in cross-border flows of capital when they officially adopt IFRS. It is this study’s goal to establish differences and relationships between different components of the international flow of capital and the aforementioned adoption. In this study the components are represented by the dependent variables; foreign direct investment inflow, foreign direct investment outflow, foreign portfolio investment, foreign loans as well as loans that are given to other countries. To analyse differences caused in these values by the adoption, paired t-tests are performed on data consisting of 2 360 observations from 59 countries during the period of 2001-2019. In addition, 42 countries from the continent of Asia are investigated during the period of 2013-2019 with several multiple regression analyses to determine relationships, in this case the data consisted of 4 410 observations. The paired t-tests exhibited statistically significant increases in all variables as of the adoption while the multiple regressions analyses resulted in only one out of five variables having a significant relationship with the event, that variable being foreign direct investment outflow. The results put to question previous studies successful attempts to show significant positive relationships between adoption and countries’ levels of foreign direct investment inflow, foreign portfolio investment, foreign loans and loans given to other countries. The result also has implications for further research in regard to choice of controlling variables as well as method of data collection. / Denna studie undersöker hur den obligatoriska implementeringen av de internationella redovisningsstandarderna IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) för börsnoterade företag påverkar länders in- och utgående flöden av gränsöverskridande kapital. Den fortsatta harmoniseringen av redovisningsstandarder på internationell nivå tar upp frågor gällande implementeringens påstådda fördelar. Fördelar som implementering av IFRS leder till täcker områden såsom ökad tillgänglighet av extern finansiering, lägre kapitalkostnader, större möjligheter att ta ut lån med längre löptider, och att årsredovisningar upplevs få bättre kvalitet och bli mer transparenta. Ovanstående faktorer m.fl. utgör grunden till varför länder borde uppleva förändringar i gränsöverskridande kapitalflöden i och med implementering av redovisningsstandarderna. Det är denna studies mål att etablera skillnader och samband mellan olika beståndsdelar av det internationella kapitalflödet och denna implementering. De beståndsdelarna representeras i denna studie av de fem olika beroende variablerna; ingående utländsk investering, utgående utländsk investering, utländsk portföljinvestering, utländska lån samt lån som delas ut till andra länder. För att undersöka ifall skillnader uppstår i dessa värden i och med implementering utförs parade t-test på ett dataunderlag av 2 360 antal observationer tagna från 59 länder under perioden 2001–2019. Dessutom undersöks 42 länder i kontinenten Asien under perioden 2013–2019 med multipla regressionsanalyser för att påvisa samband, datan i detta fall uppgick till 4 410 stycken observationer. T-testen visade på statistiskt signifikanta ökningar i alla variabler i och med implementeringen av IFRS medan de multipla regressionsanalyserna resulterade i att endast en av de fem olika variablerna, nämligen utgående utländsk investering, hade ett signifikant positivt samband med händelsen. Resultaten problematiserar tidigare studier som föreslår att det existerar signifikanta positiva samband mellan implementering och länders nivåer av ingående utländsk investering, utländsk portföljinvestering, utländska lån och lån som delas ut till andra länder. Undersökningen har även implikationer för framtida undersökningars val av kontrollvariabler och datainsamlingsmetod.

Disputes involving emerging technology, often leave a grey area on applicable law, as it is unlocated in the physical world. The problem with crypto-assets is partly driven by their underlying technology, allowing for the assets to be distributed in an international, digital sphere, and making it hard to pinpoint their territorial location and solve legal issues. This thesis, therefore, aims to clarify the questions of qualification and connecting factors for the choice of law when dealing with disputes concerning crypto-assets under a cross-border contractual agreement. It particularly seeks to examine consumer protection and the predictability of the choice of law in cryptocurrency trading. The thesis concludes that, for some specifically listed contracts, the applicable law is determined through hard and fast rules, but for other more complex contracts, the applicable law is determined by primarily examining the habitual residence of the operator of the characteristic performance, and secondarily, the closest connection. As to consumer contracts, a special rule appoints the law of the country where the consumer has his habitual residence, but only when several requirements are met. The rules pose problems with predictability and finding a territorial connection when the location of the assets or parties cannot be located. It is particularly a problem in decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges. Regarding the qualification, the thesis concludes that the current rules and statements do not provide a definite answer to the characterization of crypto-assets and require technically complex interpretations. Crypto-assets are mainly categorized based on their purpose, and the parties’ expectations. Therefore, fictional objectification of cryptocurrencies as movable property is possible when accepted as such by the parties. Moreover, cryptocurrency trading does not fall within traditional financial regulations but can be categorized as a service where the coins constitute a means of payment. Although the views are divided, causing uncertainty in the market, the obligations of traders are expected to be clarified through upcoming regulations.

This dissertation collects four essays on banks, firms and real effects of bank lending. Owing to the appliance of different econometric methods on several datasets, insights in the behav-ior of and the impacts from financial markets and market participants are generated. In the first chapter, our results uncover a so far undocumented ability of the interbank market to distinguish between banks of different quality in times of aggregate distress. We show empirical evidence that during the 2007 financial crisis the inability of some banks to roll over their interbank debt was not due to a failure of the interbank market per se but rather to bank-specific shocks affecting banks’ capital, liquidity and credit quality as well as revised bank-level risk perceptions. Relationship banking is not capable of containing these frictions, as hard information seems to dominate soft information. In detail, we explore determinants of the formation and resilience of interbank lending relationships by analyzing an extensive da-taset comprising over 1.9 million interbank relationships of more than 3,500 German banks between 2000 and 2012. The second chapter examines the relationship between central bank funding and credit risk-taking. Employing bank-firm-level data from the German credit registry during 2009:Q1-2014:Q4, we find that banks borrowing from the central bank rebalance their portfolios to-wards ex-ante riskier firms. We further establish that this effect is driven by the ECB’s maturi-ty extensions and that the risk-taking sensitivity of banks borrowing from the ECB is inde-pendent of idiosyncratic bank characteristics. Finally, we show that these shifts in bank lend-ing are associated with an increase in firm-level investment and employment, but also with a deterioration of bank balance sheet quality in the following year. Once we analyze the relationship of banks as lenders vis-à-vis banks as borrowers and banks as lenders vis-à-vis non-financial companies as borrowers, we enlarge the understand-ing of non-financial companies not only in terms of being simply borrowers, respectively sub-jects exhibiting of credit risks. Instead, we try to understand the inner working of those com-panies more generally and analyze their quality not only in terms of a bank’s risk assessment but also in terms of the overall market assessment. However, this in turn can generate infor-mation useable to assess the quality of a bank’s credit portfolio in dimensions that so far are not taken into account by the current regulatory framework. Moreover, a better understanding of banks and non-banks beyond the standard lens of the banking and corporate finance litera-ture might promote new scopes for future research connecting those discrete subjects. In this regard, the third chapter analyzes the dependence of price reactions to corporate insider trad-ing on several measures of corporate governance quality. Our results strongly support the view that first, higher corporate governance levels seem to prevent or discourage insiders from engaging in insider trading as means of opportunistic rent extraction. Second, results confirm the notion of buy and sell trades not being just two sides of the same coin. That is, a higher level of corporate governance leads to a better pre-event information environment which results in less positive abnormal returns after insider buy trades as the incremental posi-tive information revealed by the trade is smaller. In contrast, sell trades in firms with better corporate governance are perceived to convey more valuable and most importantly negative information to the capital market so that prices adjust more for companies with better govern-ance schemes. Third, we show that institutional ownership even on an aggregate level is a sufficient measure to proxy a company’s corporate governance level. Hence, as information on companies’ bylaws and on investors’ investment dedication and type for example are scarce, respectively associated with higher costs because one has to gather that information one can refrain from that and instead proxy the governance level with the aggregate measure of institutional ownership. The latter result is important for carrying out future analyses merg-ing and extending the findings of the first two chapters. Last, the fourth chapter abstracts from borrowers as subjects of credit risk, as well, and most importantly extends the analysis of banks, firms and their interactions effecting each other by a macroeconomic perspective of the real effects of bank lending. That is, as capital flows and real estate are pro-cyclical, and real estate has a substantial weight in economies’ income and wealth Chapter 4 studies the role of real estate markets in the transmission of bank flow shocks to output growth across German cities. In this regard, real sector firms play a central role in the transmission mechanism we uncover. More specifically, the empirical analysis relies on a new and unique matched data set at the city level and the bank-firm level. To measure bank flow shocks, we show that changes in sovereign spreads of Southern Eu-ropean countries (the so-called PIGS spread) can predict German cross-border bank flows. To achieve identification by geographic variation, in addition to a traditional supply-side varia-ble, we use a novel instrument that exploits a policy assigning refugee immigrants to munici-palities on an exogenous basis. We find that output growth responds more to bank flow shocks in cities that are more exposed to tightness in local real estate markets. We estimate that, during the 2009-2014 period, for every 100-basis point increase in the PIGS spread, the most exposed cities grow 15-2 basis points more than the least exposed ones. Moreover, the differential response of commercial property prices can explain most of this growth differen-tial. When we unpack the transmission mechanism by using matched bank-firm-level data on credit, employment, capital expenditure and TFP, we find that firm real estate collateral as measured by tangible fixed assets plays a critical role. In particular, bank flow shocks in-crease the credit supply to firms and sectors with more real estate collateral. Higher credit supply then leads firms to hire and invest more, without evidence of capital misallocation.

No description available.

The EU jurisdictional scheme, known as the “Brussels Regime”, confers competence to national courts to adjudicate over international matters. The main rule in Article 4(1) of the Brussels Ibis Regulation sets out that the defendant should generally be sued in the courts of the Member State where he is domiciled. For certain subject matters, the scheme allows the action to be brought elsewhere. The raison d’être is to provide an adequate counterbalance to the one-sided rule of Article 4(1). Articles 7(1) and (2) enable the claimant to launch the suit, “in matters relating to a contract”, at the court of the Member State where the contractual obligation was to be fulfilled, and, in “matters relating to tort”, in the courts for the place where the harmful event occurred. Whether to invoke Article 7 is entirely the claimant’s choice, but the final decision on its interpretation is vested in the Court. Thereby, the manner in which the Court views the provisions will effectively decide the extent of the claimant’s choice to invoke so-called special jurisdiction. It also means that greater emphasis on special jurisdiction will reduce the importance of the main rule in Article 4. Conversely, if the Court were to interpret Article 7 narrowly, its intended effect within the system would be denied. In both cases, the balance between Articles 4 and 7 has been upset. In the former case, the claimant is favoured because of the increased possibilities to choose the forum for the dispute, while in the latter case, the defendant is favoured because he retains the advantage of litigating in his home turf. The starting point for this essay is this very idea of a purported balance between litigants’ interests in EU cross-border litigation. The thesis analyses whether the Court’s case-law on general vis-à-vis special jurisdiction has transitioned from being generally defendant-friendly to claimant-friendly. It is argued that already from the first judgments rendered on the original Brussels Convention in 1976, increasingly more disputes have been launched at special fora, which has amounted to a claimant-friendly scheme. It is also argued that this development has been at the expense of the defendant. Greater choice for the claimant means in turn that the defendant’s ability to foresee before what courts he may be sued has been largely impaired. The thesis highlights how this imbalance is the result of inherent challenges in the Brussels Regime, particularly in relation to how the relevant connecting factors are designated. It is proposed that the unwanted effects of the Court’s practice as well as the shortcomings of the scheme itself are to be considered in the Commission’s evaluationof the Brussels Ibis Regulation, which is presently in the works.