scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Stijn Claessens

Bio: Stijn Claessens is an academic researcher from Bank for International Settlements. The author has contributed to research in topics: Financial crisis & Corporate governance. The author has an hindex of 96, co-authored 462 publications receiving 42743 citations. Previous affiliations of Stijn Claessens include Australian National University & International Monetary Fund.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the separation of ownership and control for 2,980 corporations in nine East Asian countries and found that voting rights frequently exceed cash-ow rights via pyramid structures and cross-holdings.

4,195 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the authors disentangle the incentive and entrenchment effects of large ownership and find that firm value increases with the cash-flow ownership of the largest shareholder, consistent with a positive incentive effect.
Abstract: This article disentangles the incentive and entrenchment effects of large ownership. Using data for 1,301 publicly traded corporations in eight East Asian economies, we find that firm value increases with the cash-flow ownership of the largest shareholder, consistent with a positive incentive effect. But firm value falls when the control rights of the largest shareholder exceed its cash-flow ownership, consistent with an entrenchment effect. Given that concentrated corporate ownership is predominant in most countries, these findings have relevance for corporate governance across the world.

3,190 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors disentangle the incentive and entrenchment effects of large ownership and find that firm value increases with the cash-flow ownership of the largest shareholder, consistent with a positive incentive effect.
Abstract: This article disentangles the incentive and entrenchment effects of large ownership. Using data for 1,301 publicly traded corporations in eight East Asian economies, we find that firm value increases with the cash-flow ownership of the largest shareholder, consistent with a positive incentive effect. But firm value falls when the control rights of the largest shareholder exceed its cash-flow ownership, consistent with an entrenchment effect. Given that concentrated corporate ownership is predominant in most countries, these findings have relevance for corporate governance across the world.

2,910 citations

BookDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors apply the Panzar and Rosse (1987) methodology to estimate the extent to which changes in input prices are reflected in revenues earned by specific banks in 50 countries' banking systems.
Abstract: Using bank-level data, the authors apply the Panzar and Rosse (1987) methodology to estimate the extent to which changes in input prices are reflected in revenues earned by specific banks in 50 countries' banking systems. They then relate this competitiveness measure to indicators of countries' banking system structures and regulatory regimes. The authors find systems with greater foreign bank entry and fewer entry and activity restrictions to be more competitive. They find no evidence that the competitiveness measure negatively relates to banking system concentration. Their findings confirm that contestability determines effective competition, especially by allowing (foreign) bank entry and reducing activity restrictions on banks.

1,416 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: The authors found that companies that provided contributions to elected federal deputies experienced higher stock returns than firms that did not around the 1998 and 2002 elections, indicating that access to bank finance is an important channel through which political connections operate.
Abstract: Using novel indicators of political connections constructed from campaign contribution data, we show that Brazilian firms that provided contributions to (elected) federal deputies experienced higher stock returns than firms that don't around the 1998 and 2002 elections. This suggests contributions help shape policy on a firm-specific basis. Using a firm fixed effects framework to mitigate the risk that unobserved firm characteristics distort the results, we find that contributing firms substantially increased their bank financing relative to a control group after each election, indicating that access to bank finance is an important channel through which political connections operate. We estimate the economic costs of this rent seeking over the two election cycles to be at least 0.2% of GDP per annum.

1,207 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson as discussed by the authors used estimates of potential European settler mortality as an instrument for institutional variation in former European colonies today, and they followed the lead of Curtin who compiled data on the death rates faced by European soldiers in various overseas postings.
Abstract: In Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson, henceforth AJR, (2001), we advanced the hypothesis that the mortality rates faced by Europeans in different parts of the world after 1500 affected their willingness to establish settlements and choice of colonization strategy. Places that were relatively healthy (for Europeans) were—when they fell under European control—more likely to receive better economic and political institutions. In contrast, places where European settlers were less likely to go were more likely to have “extractive” institutions imposed. We also posited that this early pattern of institutions has persisted over time and influences the extent and nature of institutions in the modern world. On this basis, we proposed using estimates of potential European settler mortality as an instrument for institutional variation in former European colonies today. Data on settlers themselves are unfortunately patchy—particularly because not many went to places they believed, with good reason, to be most unhealthy. We therefore followed the lead of Curtin (1989 and 1998) who compiled data on the death rates faced by European soldiers in various overseas postings. 1 Curtin’s data were based on pathbreaking data collection and statistical work initiated by the British military in the mid-nineteenth century. These data became part of the foundation of both contemporary thinking about public health (for soldiers and for civilians) and the life insurance industry (as actuaries and executives considered the

6,495 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the legal approach is a more fruitful way to understand corporate governance and its reform than the conventional distinction between bank-centered and market-centered financial systems, and discuss the possible origins of these differences, summarize their consequences, and assess potential strategies of corporate governance reform.

6,387 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a new class of multivariate models called dynamic conditional correlation models is proposed, which have the flexibility of univariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models coupled with parsimonious parametric models for the correlations.
Abstract: Time varying correlations are often estimated with multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models that are linear in squares and cross products of the data. A new class of multivariate models called dynamic conditional correlation models is proposed. These have the flexibility of univariate GARCH models coupled with parsimonious parametric models for the correlations. They are not linear but can often be estimated very simply with univariate or two-step methods based on the likelihood function. It is shown that they perform well in a variety of situations and provide sensible empirical results.

5,695 citations

BookDOI
TL;DR: This Time Is Different as mentioned in this paper presents a comprehensive look at the varieties of financial crises, and guides us through eight astonishing centuries of government defaults, banking panics, and inflationary spikes.
Abstract: Throughout history, rich and poor countries alike have been lending, borrowing, crashing--and recovering--their way through an extraordinary range of financial crises. Each time, the experts have chimed, "this time is different"--claiming that the old rules of valuation no longer apply and that the new situation bears little similarity to past disasters. With this breakthrough study, leading economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff definitively prove them wrong. Covering sixty-six countries across five continents, This Time Is Different presents a comprehensive look at the varieties of financial crises, and guides us through eight astonishing centuries of government defaults, banking panics, and inflationary spikes--from medieval currency debasements to today's subprime catastrophe. Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, leading economists whose work has been influential in the policy debate concerning the current financial crisis, provocatively argue that financial combustions are universal rites of passage for emerging and established market nations. The authors draw important lessons from history to show us how much--or how little--we have learned. Using clear, sharp analysis and comprehensive data, Reinhart and Rogoff document that financial fallouts occur in clusters and strike with surprisingly consistent frequency, duration, and ferocity. They examine the patterns of currency crashes, high and hyperinflation, and government defaults on international and domestic debts--as well as the cycles in housing and equity prices, capital flows, unemployment, and government revenues around these crises. While countries do weather their financial storms, Reinhart and Rogoff prove that short memories make it all too easy for crises to recur. An important book that will affect policy discussions for a long time to come, This Time Is Different exposes centuries of financial missteps.

4,595 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a new parameterization of the multivariate ARCH process is proposed and equivalence relations are discussed for the various ARCH parameterizations, and conditions suffcient to guarantee the positive deffniteness of the covariance matrices are developed.
Abstract: This paper presents theoretical results in the formulation and estimation of multivariate gen- eralized ARCH models within simultaneous equations systems. A new parameterization of the multivariate ARCH process is proposed and equivalence relations are discussed for the various ARCH parameterizations. Constraints suffcient to guarantee the positive deffniteness of the con- ditional covariance matrices are developed, and necessary and suffcient conditions for covariance stationarity are presented. Identifcation and maximum likelihood estimation of the parameters in the simultaneous equations context are also covered.

4,413 citations