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In the 18 chapters in this volume of Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, expert contributors gather together to examine the extent and characteristics of forensic accounting, a field which has been practiced for many years, but is still not internationally regulated yet.

Risk shifting and incomplete contracting lie at the heart of the agency relationship inherent in the procurement and financing of large-scale projects such as power plants, oil and gas pipelines, and liquefied natural gas facilities. An investigation of Ras Gas bonds provides empirical evidence of the risk-shifting consequences of contractual incompleteness.

This paper analyses structural and cyclical determinants of banking profitability in 16 Western European countries. We find that financial structure matters, particularly through the beneficial effect of the capital market orientation in the respective national financial system. Furthermore, higher diversification regarding banks' income sources shows a positive effect. The industry concentration of national banking systems, though, does not significantly affect aggregate profitability. Business cycle effects, in particular lagged GDP growth, display a substantial procyclical impact on bank profits. These results are obtained in a single equation panel framework using the Hausman-Taylor instrument variable estimator. The data set comprises aggregate annual country data and banking group data (commercial banks, cooperative banks and savings banks) over the period 1979-2003.

This volume focuses on the latest findings concerning financial environment research and the effects on business. Major topics addressed range from finance-driven globalization, contagion risk transmission, financial sustainability, and bank efficiency, to oil price shocks and spot prices research. Further topics include family business, business valuation, public sector development and business organization in the globalized environment. This book features selected peer-reviewed articles from the 16th EBES conference in Istanbul, where over 270 papers were presented by 478 researchers from 56 countries.