Stefano Caselli

Bocconi University | Bocconi · Department of Finance

The attention paid to the role of money as a store of privacy is increasing. In a monetary transaction, full privacy protection coincides with anonymity. In such situations, an empirical question arises: Is anonymity relevant in shaping the demand for money? We attempt to answer this question through laboratory experiments. The results show that an...

This paper investigates the risk of failure of loans guaranteed by public credit guarantee schemes. We analyse the determinants of the time to default of approximately 15,000 loans guaranteed by the Italian Central Guarantee Fund between 2007 and 2009. Using the Cox proportional hazards model, we test the role of the financial intermediary that req...

The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the Italian State Credit Guarantee Scheme (Central Guarantee Fund). The paper analyzes the impact of the program on SMEs’ profitability considering the firm size and sector. The analysis is performed using propensity‐score matching estimators and the Difference in Differences regressions on a...

In this paper, we propose a novel method for extrinsic and intrinsic automatic calibration of four wheel industrial Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) compliant with Ackermann and Dual Drive kinematics. For each kinematic model the algorithm estimates the trajectories measured by an on-board sensor and the expected ones given the state of the wheels....

In this paper, we present a model that demonstrates the effect of debt on cost of capital and value in the case of banking firms. Using a static partial equilibrium setting, both in a steady state and steady growth scenario, we derive a bank-specific valuation metric which separately attributes value to assets and debt cash flows in the form of a l...

The aim of this chapter is to investigate and highlight the typical features of the transactions and market covering a family of instruments known as structured leasing deals, namely, complex, intricate deals assembled ad hoc, with an organizational and contractual framework that is grafted onto a leasing transaction. To achieve the above, this cha...

This chapter gives a brief introduction to the characteristics that various structured finance transactions analyzed in the following chapters have in common. It is worthwhile to consider the entire set of such transactions in order to provide readers with a general framework and to focus attention directly on aspects which characterize each one. A...

We propose a novel calibration method for industrial Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) adopting the tricycle wheeled robot model and equipped with an on-board exteroceptive sensor. The method simultaneously estimates the calibration parameters for the odometry and the exteroceptive sensor using only the input commands and the sensor egomotion of th...

In this paper we present a model that demonstrates the effect of debt on cost of capital and value for banks with risky assets. Using a static partial equilibrium setting, both in a steady state and steady growth scenario, we derive a bank- specific valuation metric which separately attributes value to assets and debt cash flows in the form of a li...

This book, now in its second edition, provides an in-depth overview of all segments of the structured finance business, with particular reference to market trends, deal characteristics and deal structuring. The goal is to assist readers in gaining a clear understanding of the common features of structured finance transactions. The process of deal s...

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a vision system conceived to provide perception in Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) intervention tasks. Due to the accuracy requirements inherent in manipulation tasks, high performance vision systems, enabling adequate perception capabilities, are needed to cope with underwater interventions. Ho...

Underwater object detection and recognition using computer vision are challenging tasks due to the poor light condition of submerged environments. For intervention missions requiring grasping and manipulation of submerged objects, a vision system must provide an Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) with object detection, localization and tracking c...

The Italian national project MARIS (Marine Robotics for Interventions) pursues the strategic objective of studying, developing, and integrating technologies and methodologies to enable the development of autonomous underwater robotic systems employable for intervention activities. These activities are becoming progressively more typical for the und...

The global financial crisis had a major impact on the cost and availability of finance for infrastructure-based public–private partnerships (PPPs). In response, policy-makers have introduced models of ‘credit-enhancement’ that aim to reduce the risk faced by private investors and attract additional capital into the market. Other policies involve hy...

The chapter discusses, for the first time ever, impact investing as a refocus of venture capital on societal impact enterprises. After an overview of the different definitions given to impact investing and a conceptualisation of its investment targets, the chapter analyses the similarities and differences between impact investing and traditional ve...

Public-Private Partnership (hereafter PPP) is a blurred concept, with several meanings (Linder 1999; Wettenhall 2003; Hodge and Greve 2005; Khanom 2010), spanning from a specific contract or arrangement to a wider policy (Bovaird 2004).

This paper examines the spillover effect of Eurozone sovereign rating changes announced by Standard and Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch on domestic bank share prices in the period 2002–2012. This spillover effect appears negative in the case of downgrades, but insignificant for upgrades. Surprisingly, announcement of sovereign negative credit watches re...

In this paper, we describe object detection algorithms designed for underwater environments, where the quality of acquired images is affected by the peculiar light propagation. We propose an object detection method operating as a pipeline in which each phase works at a different level of abstraction. After a preprocessing phase, the input image is...

After the 2007 financial crisis, European banks performed recapitalization efforts and lower risk-taking as a result of more prudent lending standards, asset disposals, the limitation of the growth in balance sheets, and pressure from supervisory authorities. Using a multi-country panel of banks observed over the 2008-2012 period, we study the meas...

Introduction Project Finance as a Nexus of Contracts Risk Management in Project Finance Capital Budgeting in Project Finance Summary and Conclusions Discussion Questions References About the Authors

In this paper we consider the role of private equity for growth and restructuring processes, through the analysis of a comprehensive dataset of European going private deals during the period 1998-2007, for which we explore the post-transaction operating performance of companies gone private and potential variables that can explain this choice. We s...

We analyze the relationship between contracts and returns in private equity (PE) investments. Contractual control in the form of covenants tends to be employed to identify good deals. Better quality firms are more likely to have covenant-rich contracts, as they are less concerned by the constraints imposed by the covenants. PE investors appoint clo...

Object category recognition and localization in 3D range data is of great importance in robot manipulation. In this work we propose a novel approach for object categorization and grasping that is focused on topological shape segmentation. The method allows generation of watertight triangulated models of the objects and their shape segmentation into...

Neuro-psychological findings have shown that human perception of objects is based on part decomposition. Most objects are made of multiple parts which are likely to be the entities actually involved in grasp affordances. Therefore, automatic object recognition and robot grasping should take advantage from 3D shape segmentation. This paper presents...

Recently, the proliferation of cheap and effective sensor devices for 3D perception, like depth cameras and 3D laser systems, has promoted the development of accurate and detailed object detection. The perception, representation and classification of objects is not only relevant for navigation tasks and semantic description of unstructured environm...

This article aims to identify the essential elements of a project finance deal. It examines this issue from the standpoint of a sponsoring enterprise that has to assess the feasibility of the deal from the financial point of view with the help of its financial advisor. The term "financial advisor" often refers to banks that act as mandated lead arr...

Analysing a comprehensive dataset of European going private deals during the period 1998-2007, we explore the post-transaction operating performance of companies gone private and potential variables that can explain this choice. We find these firms’ situations improved slightly before going private, even if the most relevant and significant benefit...

Access to finance is critical to further enhance the competitiveness of Central Asia. Financial systems in the region are not yet globally integrated (except for Kazakhstan) and often do not provide a diverse range of financial products to local businesses. Moreover, there is still a gap in access to finance which disproportionately affects small a...

Many innovative ideas in robotics have been inspired by neuroscience and, in particular, by the investigation of how intelligence and perception work. In this paper we explore an approach for semantic robot grasping, which combines programming by demonstration, automatic 3D shape segmentation and manipulation planning by parts. Neuro-psychology stu...

Loop closure is one of the most difficult task in localization and mapping problems since it suffers from perceptual aliasing. Multi-hypothesis topological SLAM algorithms have been developed to exploit connectivity and disambiguate such difficult task. In this paper, we propose a multi-hypothesis constraint network algorithm that tracks multiple m...

Physics-based simulation is increasingly important in virtual manufacturing for product assembly and disassembly operations. This work explores potential benefits of physics-based modeling for automatic learning of assembly tasks and for intelligent disassembly planning in desktop virtual reality. The paper shows how realistic physical animation of...

We study the drivers of financial sophistication in small family firms. Sophistication is defined as the use of non-basic financial products such as options, swaps, debt restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory services. Our analysis is based on a unique dataset with detailed information on 187 Italian family firms. We find that t...

We study the drivers of financial sophistication in small family firms. Sophistication is defined as the use of non-basic financial products such as options, swaps, debt restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions (MA (2) the presence of a non-family CFO; and (3) the existence of a non-family shareholder. We analyze the impact of these factors on t...

This chapter provides an overview of financing growth. The investment activity of venture capitalists is subdivided according to the different financing needs of the target company connected with its phase in the life cycle. This chapter illustrates that development, consolidation, and maturity are all phases of growth that a target company goes th...

This chapter provides an overview of the fundamentals of private equity and venture capital and highlights important differences between American and European approaches to funding startups and the typical characteristics of the business. The European definition proposes that private equity and venture capital are two separate clusters based on the...

Investing is the core of private equity business and the way to develop a business idea for the investor. There are two main areas of investing: valuation and selection of opportunities and matching them with the appropriate investment vehicle. The other area is Target company valuation. The “core competence” of a private equity fund is a proper bl...

This chapter provides a brief overview of the management of equity investment and discusses the four pillars of equity investment: fundraising, investing, managing and monitoring, and exiting. Equity investment satisfies two different needs: companies collect funds because their entrepreneurs do not have sufficient financial resources to support an...

Fundraising sells a proposal or business idea to a particular market. The funds raised are used to create an invest equity vehicle that produces value shared between the promoters, managers, and the investors. Funds raised over a period of one to two years can create information asymmetry and moral hazard problems between the venture capitalist and...

Exiting is the final step in the investment process made by the venture capitalist. This step is very important because the venture capitalist sells his stake to gain the value added created by the investment and managing and monitoring activities of the venture. When to exit an investment is planned on an individual basis and with a broad portfoli...

Each entrepreneurial project is developed through several phases according to the life cycle time of a company. Key management process analysis focuses on critical topics related to the relationship between the entrepreneur and the venture capitalist and all the building steps necessary to organize the complex structure owned by the venture capital...

A buyout is a structured financial operation that, through merger, division, or acquisition of control participation, allows the transfer of the property from the old shareholders to a new entrepreneur with economic and technical support of a financial intermediary. In a leveraged buyout (LBO), a major part of the capital is supplied by debt securi...

This chapter explains the different clusters of investment private equity operators and venture capitalists put in place to meet a firm's needs. It also illustrates two approaches explaining the relationship between investment and activity implemented by investors: traditional and firm-based. Different clusters of equity investment define the activ...

This chapter identifies and discusses the content of each phase, the equity investor's role, and the goals and content of each stage. The private equity process is divided into different phases. One of these is the investing phase, which includes choosing and closing the deal. Within this phase, the company's valuation is critical since it is funda...

The listing of a private company is considered from two different perspectives. First, it is hidden inside a complex financial restructuring of the company. Secondly, the listing process of a company is key to support the firm's growth; since the raised funds on the public market are used to realize new development opportunities. This chapter provi...

This chapter examines the future and perspectives of private equity and venture capital. Financial structuring complexity has driven debt-market participants to lose the sense of risk and driven the great renaissance of the high-yield market. The focus is to find how private equity firms can match an efficient business model with the different choi...

There are many theories explaining the birth and development of the private equity and venture capital industry. This chapter describes theories about financing selected by corporations; such as whether debt or equity financing is chosen. Leading theories of capital structure attempt to explain the proportion of debt and equity on a corporation's b...

This chapter highlights the third pillar of equity investment that is managing and monitoring. Before analyzing specific monitoring and controlling activities, it is critical to define how funds evaluate the success of their investment activity. This is done by performance determinations consisting of a set of guidelines defined by industry associa...

Company valuation is a critical phase of investment policies put in place by venture capitalists. It is important because the value of the company gives both the entrepreneur and the venture capitalist a place to bargain over the amount of money required by the entrepreneur and the number of shares that the shareholders can give up in favor of the...

This chapter discusses two types of deals: turnaround or replacement financing representing more than 50% of the private equity market and distressed financing, which includes deals realized when the target company is in bad condition or in a crisis. Replacement financing is 50% of the private equity market. This type of financing is given to firms...

This chapter provides an overview of legal framework in Europe for equity investors; in the European Union (EU), private equity is considered a financial service and is supervised by the appropriate authorities. Because it is supervised, private equity financing is considered safer, more stable, and easier to control than unsupervised financing. Th...

The private equity market in the United States is the largest one in the world. The United Kingdom is the most important market in Europe with rules very similar to the US market. This chapter describes the regulating frameworks of the US and UK financial markets. There are different vehicles/investors used to set up equity investments: banks, priv...

This chapter presents the role of taxation in private equity and venture capital throughout Europe and the United States. Policymakers play a fundamental role in private equity and venture capital development. They address regulatory and administrative barriers and ensure coherent policies. This enables investors to provide a continuous financing c...

Italian banks have undergone an evolutionary process and development of corporate, retail and private banking within the Italian banking system as a response to market pressures exerted by business and private customers for a broadening and qualitative expansion of offerings and organization of available competencies. This not only refers to large...

In this paper, we describe an integrated software tool suite for simulation, programming and monitoring of palletizing machines. All the tools belonging to the suite share a common machine model in order to allow software reuse according to sound software design principles. The simulator emulates the machine behavior and, while abstracting unnecess...

This paper focuses on the problem of grasp stability and grasp quality analysis. An elegant way to evaluate the stability of a grasp is to model its wrench space. However, classical grasp quality measures suffer from several disadvantages, the main drawback being that they are not task related. Indeed, constructive approaches for approximating the...

Offtaking agreements are an important risk transfer mechanism in project finance. However, they can also be thought of as a trade-off between lower market and higher counterparty risks. We use the case of the Quezon Power Ltd Co. to test the effect of higher counterparty risk on the cost of funding. Results indicate that the spread of Quezon's bond...

Our study shows that the ownership of private equity funds influences the investments’ performances. Our analysis focuses on the universe of PE investments, made by Italian closed-end funds, from 1999 to 2005. We find that bank-owned funds are able to carry into effect a weaker monitoring of the companies in which they invest, because their represe...

Past research has documented that the utilisation of conference calls is greater in the high tech sector than in other industries. Do high tech firms benefit from that? This study attempts to answer this question by examining the impact of ‘post-Reg FD’ conference calls on the price volatility of high tech firms listed in the US market. We find evi...

This study demonstrates that the ownership of private equity (PE) funds influences investment performance. The analysis focuses on the universe of PE investments made by Italian closed-end funds from 1999 to 2005. We find that bank-owned funds generally engage in weaker monitoring of the firms in which they invest, because their representatives hol...

We find that credit rating is the most important variable in determining tranche spread at issue on Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) issues backed by project finance (PF) loans. Factors that are important for pricing in the case of corporate bonds, such as market liquidity and weighted average maturity, are also relevant for determining sprea...

The distinctive nature of the European pe/vc environment is on display in Stefano Caselli's presentation of its complete conceptual framework, from the volatile (its financial side) to the stable (its legal organization). A Bocconi University professor, Caselli offers a European perspective on market fundamentals, the v.c. cycle, and valuation issu...

This study investigates the determinants of spread on structured finance issues backed by project finance (PF) loans. We find that credit rating is the most important variable in determining tranche spread at issue. We also document how factors that are important for pricing in the case of corporate bonds, such as market liquidity and weighted aver...

Exploiting a unique opportunity offered by the Italian private equity (PE) market, we examine the hitherto largely unexplored internal rate of return (IRR) of PE investments. Our database covers the entire universe of transactions sponsored by Italian PE investors in Italy up to 2007 and offers rarely accessible information about IRR, covenants and...

The extraordinary global growth in the private funding of public infrastructure projects in the form of public‐private partnerships (or PPPs) is expected to have major social and economic benefits—benefits that result in large part from improving the allocation of project risks between the public and private sectors. But with the financial crisis a...

"In this paper we test two hypotheses concerning the presence of innovation in venture capital investments and the growth of innovative venture backed firms. To examine these hypotheses we considered sample of 37 Italian venture backed firms that went public on the Italian Stock Exchange between 1995 and 2004 and by a statistical matching procedure...

Biomechanics has strong implications in both medicine and robotics as it is concerned with the study of biological systems from an engineering point of view. In this work we propose a physics-based system for accurate simulation of dogpsilas spine at walking gait. The spinal column has been modeled as a set of rigid bodies, representing the vertebr...

We verify the existence of a relation between loss given default rate (LGDR) and macroeconomic conditions by examining 11,649 bank loans concerning the Italian market. Using both the univariate and multivariate analyses, we pinpoint diverse macroeconomic explanatory variables for LGDR on loans to households and SMEs. For households, LGDR is more se...

Using data from 708 small and medium Italian firms during the period of 2002-2004, we find that in family firms (FFs) a nonfamily Chief Financial Officer (CFO) drives firm performance in a positive direction. FFs with a nonfamily CFO perform better than both FFs with a family CFO and nonfamily firms. The best performance is achieved when the Chief...