Search results

This study investigates the determinants of profitability of U.S. commercial banks in the 1970s and 1980s. It is established that banks, depending on their size, may need to exercise greater control over a defined set of variables in order to maximize profits and/or minimize costs. Further, the study provides some indirect evidence of economies of scale/scope in certain aspects of the banks’loan and investment portfolios.

Despite its shortcomings, the IRR method continues to be a widely employed evaluation technique in capital budgeting. This paper demonstrates the reasons for its continued popularity. Specifically, the non‐requirement of a discount rate is suggested to be an important factor in the choice of IRR over the NPV criterion. A major implication is that managers face a very elusive, or stochastic, discount rate for NPV analysis. Thus, the aversion to NPV may go beyond simple aesthetics.

The study investigates the co-movements amongst real estate investments trust (REITs). This study examines the co-movements between the world and individual countries' REITs and the co-movements amongst country-pair REITs. This study explores the responsiveness of the REITs markets' co-movements to the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC), the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the Russian–Ukraine conflict.

The study employs a wavelet coherency technique and relies on data from six REITs markets over the 1995–2022 period.

The evidence shows a generally high level of coherency between the global and the country's REITs. The findings further indicate higher co-movements between some country pairs and a lower co-movement for others. The results suggest that the REITs markets increased in co-movements around the 2008 GFC, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian–Ukraine conflict. These increased co-movements mostly lasted for a short period suggesting REITs markets contagion around these global events. The results generally suggest interdependence between the global and the country's REITs. Additionally, interdependence is observed for some of the country-pair REITs.

The evidence indicates that REITs markets respond to global events. Thus, the increasing co-movement amongst REITs observed in this study may expose domestic REITs to global crisis. However, this study provides opportunities for minimising the cost of capital for real estate projects. Also, REITs provide limited diversification gains around crisis times. Therefore, countries need to open the REITs markets to global investors whilst pursuing policies to ensure the resilience of the REITs markets to global events. Investors should also take note of the declining geographic diversification gains from some country-pair REITs portfolios.