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This study examines the role of social and cultural acceptance of new ideas and the fear of failure in emerging economies within the context of entrepreneurship and growth (Romer Growth Model, 1986). Using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the Panel Regression Analysis methodology for a sample of 22 emerging countries over the period 2008–2014, this study finds that perceived opportunities, knowledge of peers involved in startups, and media attention to startups, all indicators of the social acceptance of entrepreneurship, are statistically significant determinants of growth as measured by per capita Gross Domestic Product and reduction in unemployment. This influence is persistent even after controlling for time effects, despite the liquidity crunch and credit squeeze that occurred during the financial crisis starting in 2008. The fear of failure factor did not have a statistically significant influence on growth, confirming the notion that entrepreneurs in emerging economy environments, in particular, are prepared to pursue their goals doggedly, even in the face of less than 50:50 odds of succeeding.

Multi-criteria decision-making is an increasingly accepted tool for decision-making in management. In this work, we highlight the application of a novel multi-objective evolutionary algorithm, NSGA-II, to the risk-return trade-off for a bank-loan portfolio manager. The manager of a bank operating in a competitive environment faces the standard goal of maximizing shareholder wealth. Specifically, this attempts to maximize the net worth of the bank, which in turn involves maximizing the net interest margin of the bank (among other factors, such as non-interest income). At the same time, there are significant regulatory constraints placed on the bank, such as the maintenance of adequate capital, interest-rate risk exposure, etc. The genetic algorithm-based technique used here obtains an approximation to the set of Pareto-optimal solutions which increases the decision flexibility available to the bank manager, and provides a visualization tool for one of the trade-offs involved. The algorithm is also computationally efficient and is contrasted with a traditional multi-objective function - the epsilon-constraint method.

This study investigates changes in the risk-taking behavior of state chartered savings banks resulting from three types of regulatory changes: the expansion of asset investment powers contained in the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 and the Garn–St Germain Depository Institutions Act (DIA) of 1982, the authority to change organizational structure from mutual to stock form contained in the Financial Institutions Regulatory and Interest Rate Control Act of 1978 and DIA, and the change in intensity of regulatory oversight contained in the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. Using data for New York state chartered savings banks for the period 1986 to 1991, the analysis found mixed results for the asset deregulation hypothesis that institutions eventually placed on the problem bank list invested more in deregulated assets. Strong support was found for the organizational structure hypothesis that stock savings banks have greater incentives to pursue value-maximizing levels of risk by using more leverage, growing at faster rates, and increasing credit risk. This finding suggests that the regulatory changes that permitted mutual to stock conversions may have had a significant negative impact on the severity of the thrift crisis. The results also suggest that increased regulatory scrutiny limited the risk-taking of New York state chartered savings banks after 1988.

This study examines the impact of international acquisitions on the shareholder wealth of both acquiring and acquired firms, and compares it with that of domestic acquisitions. The results indicate significant differences—bidders in domestic acquisitions lose a statistically significant 0.39 percent, while bidders in international acquisitions do not lose, which supports the diversification motive for foreign expansion. Further, in terms of dollar values, unlike their domestic counterparts, international acquisitions are net wealth creating activities and the division of gains between bidders and targets are more equitable. A cross-sectional analysis of the abnormal returns suggests that the extent of controlling interest being acquired and previous presence in the target country both significantly affect the abnormal returns of the bidders and the method of payment significantly affects the abnormal returns for the targets.