The DBA Distinguished Public Lecture Series

The Department of Business Administration of the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) organizes annually a Public Lecture given by Distinguished academic scholars in the areas of Management, Finance, Accounting, Marketing, Information Systems and Economics. These Distinguished Public Lecture Series aim to dissiminate the state-of-the-art and frontier research analysis developed by prominent scholars to academics and practitioners in Greece.

For further information please contact:

George Kouretas (tel. 2108203277, kouretas@aueb.gr)
Olivia Kyriakidou (tel. 2108203384, okyriakidou@aueb.gr)

Academic Year 2016-2017

Wednesday 10 May 2017

Title: The Interest Rate Effect on Private Saving: Alternative Perspectives
Distinguished Speaker: Professor Joshua Aizenman, Robert R. and Katheryn A. Dockson Chair in Economics and International Relations, University of Southern California

Abstract: Lowering the policy interest rate could stimulate consumption and investment while discouraging people from saving, but it may also prompt people to save more to compensate for the low rate of return. Using data on 135 countries from 1995 to 2014, we showthat a low-interest rate environment can yield different effects on private saving under different economic environments.The real interest rate affect private saving negatively if output volatility, old dependency, or financial development is above a certain threshold.Conditioning on the specific circumstancesof a country, these effects are economicallylarge and significant-afour percentage points decline in the real interest rate, which is about the same as one standard deviation for China, would lead to a 2percentage points increase in Chineseprivate saving rate. When the real interest rate is below 1.0%, greater output volatility would lead to higher private saving in developing countries.

Thursday 18 May 2017

Title: Balance sheet recessions and time-varying coefficients in a Phillips curve relationship: An application to Finnish data
Distinguished Speaker: Katarina Juselius, University of Copenhagen

Abstract: Edmund Phelps (1994) introduced a modified Phillips curve where the natural rate of unemployment is a function of the real interest rate instead of a constant. Koo (2010) argues that the e¤ect of the interest rate on the macro economy is likely to be diluted during a balance sheet recession such as the ones recently seen in many countries. In the late eighties, after having deregulated credit and capital movements, Finland experienced a housing boom which subsequently developed into a serious economic crisis similar to the recent ones. To learn from the Finnish experience we estimate the Phelps modified Phillips curve and use a Smooth Transition (STR) model with the aim of finding out whether Finland su¤ered from a balance sheet recession after the collaps of the housing bubble.

Academic Year 2015-2016

Monday 30 May 2016

Title: Value Investing-The 3W's: Who, What and Why?
Distinguished Speaker: George Athanassakos, Professor of Finance (Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada)

Abstract: -

Monday 24 May 2016

Title: An International Monetary System Built on Sound Policy Rules
Distinguished Speaker: John B. Taylor, Professor of Economics (Stanford University)
Abstract: -

Academic Year 2013-2014

Monday 19 May 2014

Title: Brands that Dream
Distinguished Speaker: Xavier Oliver Conti, Professor of Marketing (IESE, Spain)

Abstract:

In this public lecture Professor Oliver presents and discusses three basic values based on which selling can be done, namely instrumental, emotional or central:
• Instrumental are those who tell us what the product do for us
• Emotional values make us feel good with the brand or show others our personality, status and culture.
• Central are those who make us purchase something to join a movement, an ideal, a dream

Brand that use emotional and central values excel. Dreaming is not a simple selling argument, is a way to create and transform companies to be good to others, improving human experiences and helping to make a better world. The bigger the brand dream is, the bigger the stone that thrown into a placid lake, will create waves that will affect all their influence circles. Starting with the top management, following with employees, families and friends, suppliers, industry colleagues, authorities…There is a word that can define this inner strategy: giving. When companies start to put other human beings in their focus, they immediately discover that helping them is the key and that is a virtuous circle that has extraordinary consequences short, middle and long term. Brands will be stronger, will have fans that will talk about them, will survive longer and will make more money.

Friday 16 May 2014

Title: Debating European Elections: The Impact on Youth Employment and other Social Issues
Distinguished Speaker: Henri Malosse (President of European Economic and Social Committee)

Abstract: -

Academic Year 2012-2013

Monday 17 June 2013

Title: The Execution of Strategic Vision in an Entrepreneurial Firm
Distinguished Speaker: Laura B. Cardinal (C.T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston)

Abstract: -

Friday 28 May 2013

Title: Inequality and Economic Growth: What are the Trade-Offs?
Distinguished Speaker: Stephen J. Turnovsky (University of Washington)

Abstract: In this public lecture Professor Turnovsky reviews some recent research analyzing the growth-inequality relationship among heterogeneous agents. The primary source of heterogeneity is due to the initial endowments of physical capital, although extensions to include human capital and ability are also briefly considered. The models considered fall into three structural categories. The first is the one-sector endogenous growth model, which abstracts from distributional, as well as aggregate, dynamics. The second assumes neoclassical production and is characterized by transitional dynamics in both aggregates and inequality, enabling us to discuss both intratemporal and intertemporal tradeoffs. It introduces only one source of heterogeneity and cannot address issues pertaining to wealth and income mobility. To achieve that, requires at least two sources of heterogeneity, such as capital and ability or skills, which are introduced in a third model. An important characteristic of the framework is that the effects of any changes on the measures of inequality are path-dependent, a characteristic that has important policy implications.

Academic Year 2011-2012

Friday 18 May 2012

Title:The Measurement and Management of Corporate Intangibles: New Research Directions on the Future of Business Reporting (Presentation)
Distinguished Speaker: Stefano Zambon (University of Ferrara)

Abstract: Intangibles represent something alike to a "white elephant" for economists, professionals andmanagers. All recognise their role and significance for the long term development of companies andsociety. Also the recent emergence of the intellectual capital literature is correlated to the rise of theeconomic relevance of intangibles. However, methodologies to address their management,measurement and reporting are still subject to rather wide academic and corporate discussionsworldwide.

Thursday 29 March 2012

Title: Managing the Fragility of the Eurozone (Managing a Fragile Eurozone, Mispricing of Sovereign Risk and Multiple Equilibria in the Eurozone, A Fragile Eurozone in Search of a Better Governance)
Distinguished Speaker: Paul De Grauwe (Catholic University of Leuven and London School of Economics)

Abstract: In this public lecture Professor De Grauwe argues that when entering a monetary union, member-countries change the nature of their sovereign debt in a fundamental way, i.e. they cease to have control over the currency in which their debt is issued. As a result, financial markets can force these countries’ sovereigns into default. In this sense member countries of a monetary union are downgraded to the status of emerging economies. This makes the monetary union fragile and vulnerable to changing market sentiments. It also makes it possible that self-fulfilling multiple equilibria arise. Within this framework he analyzes the implications of this fragility for the governance of the Eurozone. His main conclusion is that the new governance structure (ESM) does not sufficiently recognize this fragility. Some of the features of the new financial assistance are likely to increase this fragility. In addition, it is also likely to rip member-countries of their ability to use the automatic stabilizers during a recession. This is surely a step backward in the long history of social progress in Europe. Professor De Grauwe suggests a different approach to deal with these problems.

Monday 13 February 2012

Title: Value Migration and Strategy in a Shifting Landscape
Distinguished Speaker:Michael Jacobides (London Business School)

Abstract: In this talk, Prof. Jacobides will bring together a good part of his academic work, and his engagement in executive education and strategy,of potential interest to academics and practitioners alike. He will argue that one of the most important changes happening in today’seconomy is the change in industry architectures- the division of labour in a sector, and the rules and roles around “who does what”. Thesechanges affect “who takes what” – and shift the profit from one part of the value chain to the next. In computers, profits migrated fromOEMs to makers of chips like Intel and software firms like Microsoft. In cars, automobile manufacturers have still been able to keep thelion’s share of the value added. In telecommunications, the battle still rages between firms like Apple (and their ecosystem), Google (andtheir Android platform) and traditional telephony incumbents. Competition is no longer within the sector; it is to shape the nature of thesector. So, what does this mean for firms as they try to compete in these changing circumstances? What does this mean for academics,who need to revisit some of their units of analysis and re-direct their analytical efforts? And what does this mean for regulators? Bylooking at the example of the changes in financial services, which led to wild profit migration but also the systemic collapse of the sectorunder the nose of economists and central bankers, we’ll consider implications for policy and welfare too.

Thursday 15 December 2011

Title:Monetary Policy, Deleveraging and Soundness of Banks in the Eurozone and SE Europe
Distinguished Speaker:Gligor Bishev (President of the Board of Directors and CEO, Stopanska Banka AD – Skopje, Member of the NBG Group and Professor of Banking, University of Skopje)

Abstract: After two and a half years of good statistics, the world economy is facing again a high degree of uncertainty. Global slowdown, high public debt, high indebtedness of the private sector in some countries and accelerating inflation are main features of the current economic developments. It seems that 2008-2010 restructuring was not deep enough. High indebtedness threatens again to undermine the stability of the financial sector and freeze credit markets. New comprehensive restructuring is becoming inevitable. Three sets of policy measures are needed. First, measures for reducing public and private debt. Second, measures for maintaining solvency of the financial sector, as a healthy financial system is a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth. Third, measures for maintaining the aggregate demand at optimal level for attaining dynamic economic growth.

In such environment the choice of optimal monetary policy in Eurozone and SE Europe countries has become an extremely difficult task, given that the monetary policy should, at the same time, achieve two conflicting goals: to support the growth of the aggregate private consumption and to support the deleveraging of the public and private sector.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Title:The Future of Business Schools
Distinguished Speaker:Professor David Wilson (Warwick Business School)

Academic Year 2010-2011

Tuesday 24 May 2011 (organized jointly with the Department of Economics, AUEB)

Title:Financial Crisis, Global imbalances, and the international Monetary System
Distinguished Speaker:Maurice Obstfeld (University of California at Berkeley)

Abstract: The recent financial crisis was preceded by large current account imbalances and large gross cross-border financial flows, flows that in many cases continue at high levels. Yet the relationship among foreign borrowing, financial inflows, and financial fragility, though taken for granted in the context of emerging markets, remains controversial in the context of the high-income countries. The 2007-2009 global financial crisis and the continuing turmoil in euro zone sovereign debt markets has revealed important vulnerabilities in the 21st century's global financial and monetary infrastructure. In this talk I will survey recent experience and suggest some lessons for reform of the international monetary system.

Academic Year 2009-2010

31 May 2010 (Organized jointly with the Department of Economics and the Department of Accounting and Finance, AUEB)
Title:How Better Monetary Statistics Could Have Signaled the Financial Crisis
Distinguished Speaker:William A. Barnett (University of Kansas)

Abstract: This paper explores the disconnect of Federal Reserve data from index number theory. A consequence could have been the decreased systemic‐risk misperceptions that contributed to excess risk taking prior to the housing bust. We find that most recessions in the past 50 years were preceded by more contractionary monetary policy than indicated by simple‐sum monetary data. Divisia monetary aggregates were generally lower than simple‐sum aggregates in the period preceding the Great Moderation, and higher since the mid 1980s. Monetary policy was more contractionary than likely intended before the 2001 recession and more expansionary than likely intended during the subsequent recovery.

31 May 2010 (Organized jointly with the Department of Economics and the Department of Accounting and Finance, AUEB)
Title:On the Efficiency of the UPREIT Organizational Form: Implications for the Subprime Crisis And CDO’s
Distinguished Speaker:Ike Mathur (Southern Illinois University)

Abstract: This paper studies optimal real estate organizational forms as a means of enhancing real estate values in the ongoing subprime crisis. We model the organizational response to stakeholder conflicts and regulatory changes to show how they evolve to an optimal form and undertake an optimal capital structure to enhance the welfare of investors. Using the examples of the REIT and RELP organizational forms, we show how the rivalry between taxable and institutional investors shapes the UPREIT form. We employ a twoperiod partial equilibrium model to demonstrate that UPREITs adapt to regulatory changes by (i) meticulously acquiring a hybrid form (containing the desirable features of both REITs and RELPs), and (ii) efficiently trading off debt claims (between their constituent investor bases). This adaptation enhances welfare by mitigating administrative costs, agency costs, bankruptcy costs, illiquidity costs and taxes.

Academic Year 2008-2009

13 July 2009 (Organized jointly with the Bank of Greece and the Department of Economics, AUEB)
Title: The Global Credit Crisis and China's Exchange Rate
Distinguished Speaker: Ronald I. McKinnon (Stanford University)

Abstract: The case for stabilizing China’s exchange rate against the dollar is strong. Before 2005 when the yuan/dollar rate was credibly fixed, it helped anchor China’s domestic price level. But gradual RMB appreciation from July 2005 to July 2008 created a "one-way-bet" that disordered China’s financial markets in two respects: (1) no private capital outflows to finance China’s huge trade surplus leading to an undue build up of official exchange reserves and loss of monetary control, and (2) a breakdown of the forward exchange market in 2007-08 so that exporters could no longer get trade credit—probably worsening the severe slump in Chinese exports. But after July 2008, the credit crunch induced an unexpected unwinding of the dollar carry trade leading to a sharp appreciation in the dollar’s effective exchange rate. The People’s Bank of China (PBC) then stopped RMB appreciation against the dollar. China’s forward exchange market was restored and monetary control regained. Now the PBC can better support the fiscal stimulus by promoting a parallel expansion of bank credit.

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