Due to the scarcity of reliable data, the existing literature on default risk still displays an imbalance between theoretical and empirical contributions. Consequently, the focus of this book is on empirical work. Within an intensity based modelling framework a broad range of promising specifications is tested using corporate bond data. The book provides one of the most comprehensive empirical studies in the field, from Kalman filtration of affine term structure models to the use of Efficient Method of Moments estimation of dynamic term structure models in a default risky context. Filling...

The complexity of distribution systems is augmented by various trends: globalization of the manufacturing industry, rising customer demands, and the reverse flows within closed-loop systems. In this light, the need for 'advanced' planning methods that are based on quantitative optimization is constantly increasing. This book takes up the challenges posed by these developments. In doing so, it presents recent results and case studies from a group of researchers that regularly meet at the IWDL (International Workshop on Distribution Logistics). The text covers the design of distribution...

This book is the first comprehensive treatment of structural credit risk models for the simultaneous and consistent pricing of corporate securities. Through the development of a flexible economic framework based on the firm s EBIT, the reader is taken from the economic principles of firm value models to the empirical implementation. Analytical solutions are provided if EBIT follows an arithmetic or geometric Brownian motion. In addition, numerical methods are proposed to solve more advanced economic settings or to price derivatives on corporate securities. Numerical examples make the...

Dynamic oligopolistic competition has implications both for the strategic management of firms and for the design of an effective competition policy. Consequently, the present book considers the issue from a private and social perspective. It discusses the potential pro- and anticollusive effects of long-term business strategies, especially for cooperation and reinvestment in production, financing and management compensation, in markets with fluctuating demand. The method of supergame theory is applied to integrate long-run decisions and different types of demand into the analysis. Aside...

One of the most striking macroeconomic developments during the last three decades is the rise and persistence of large fiscal deficits in a number of countries. Despite recent major fiscal reforms around the world, many countries suffer from recurrent large fiscal imbalances that often reflect lack of fiscal discipline. Why do some countries have recurrent fiscal deficit or volatility problems, while others do not? What factors are most important in explaining cross-country variation in fiscal outcomes? How are they related to growth or inflation? This book presents new, rigorous,...

During the last 25 year, the neoclassical Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory has been extended to the new trade theory by including imperfect competition and fixed costs into the analysis of trade relations. Furthermore, these micro-oriented trade models are increasingly used to analyze macro-oriented questions. Chapter 2 of this study investigates the dynamic welfare effects of exposure to trade in a new trade model, which is extended by firm heterogeneity. It is analyzed under which conditions exposure to trade with firm heterogeneity increases or decreases steady state welfare of a country....