Financial Reporting Quality in Private Equity Backed Companies: The Impact of Ownership Concentration

We empirically show on a sample of 270 unquoted, private equity backed companies that the shareholder structure of private companies impacts the quality of their publicly available accounting information. More precisely, companies in which private equity (PE) investors have a high equity stake produce lower quality accounting information than companies in which PE investors have a low equity stake, after controlling for factors like company size and age. We explain our findings by arguing that PE investors with low equity stakes have a higher need for high quality accounting information whereas PE investors with high equity stakes have other means to closely monitor their portfolio companies. This paper has benefited form discussions with workshop participants at the Max Planck Institute. We specifically want to thank Lorraine Uhlaner and Mike Wright (guest editors), two anonymous referees as well as ignace De Beelde, Wouter De Maeseneire, Marc Deloof, Miguel Meuleman and Lloyd Steier for helpful suggestions. Part of this research was completed when Christof Beuselinck was an FWO Scholar at Ghent University. Financial support from the Fonds of Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Grant G.0012.02) is kindly appreciated. The usual disclaimer applies.     

神经网络在客户流失模型中的应用研究

针对以往企业决策者难以掌握企业客户的流失倾向,运用神经网络的基本原理建立客户流失预测模型,使得决策者在商业实施过程中能够做到有的放矢,并且结合企业实例检测了该模型的可靠性。     

美国贸易逆差与经济增长相辅相成探析

美国的贸易逆差和美国经济增长相辅相成。美国贸易逆差持续扩大的背后是大量廉价商品的涌入和大量廉价资本的流入,它们降低了美国的通货膨胀率、增进了消费者的福利并加速了产业结构的升级,弥补了美国的投资-储蓄缺口,在一定程度上促进了美国的经济增长。而经济的稳定增长刺激了消费需求,又使美国贸易逆差进一步扩大。在经济全球化背景下,美国在发挥自己美元地位、资本市场以及信息技术等比较优势的同时,充分利用了他国的劳动力和资本要素并将其转化为自己的比较利益。     

如何把环境问题纳入贸易体系——浅析WTO在环境规则上的改革方案

GATT/WTO成立 5 0多年来 ,一直致力于推动贸易自由化 ,以让各缔约方能从中获取贸易收益。而GATT/WTO在这方面的成绩亦有目共睹———经过多轮艰苦的谈判 ,一个开放的贸易体系逐渐形成 ,贸易保护主义亦有所收敛。但是 ,在众多问题得到解决的同时 ,GATT/WTO也不断面临新的挑战。这些新问题往往会涉及到贸易以外的领域 ,贸易与环境问题便是一个很可能会成为未来谈判重点的问题。如何使贸易与环境相互协调 ,在保护环境的同时又不对自由贸易造成太大限制 ,以达到可持续发展的目标 ,这就成为了摆在我们面前的一个重大的课题。     

基于TCP/IP的嵌入式WebServer网络测控系统设计

本文研究基于TCP/IP协议栈的嵌入式系统在网络智能设备中的测控应用设计。以Rabbit2000网络微处理器和Dynam ic C软件开发环境为例,阐述构建嵌入式W ebServer的具体技术及相关的实现方案;详细介绍了实现TCP、UDP报文进行网络通信、串行口数据通信和对网络智能设备的测控技术等,并给出系统硬件原理框图和有关软件实现的程序代码及流程图。     

旅游服务质量信息的挖掘分析

运用粗糙集方法对旅游服务质量信息进行分析。采用ROSETTA系统挖掘了旅游服务质量评价的一些关联规则,如旅游交通条件和导游服务水平是影响旅游服务质量的最重要因素;并根据游客对旅游服务质量的信息对游客进行聚类。分析表明,数据挖掘方法可以作为辅助旅游服务部门改进服务质量和进行决策的有力工具。     

时空协同视角下的义乌中国小商品城演进历程分析

集贸式市场组织是一项极具“中国特色”的诱发性制度创新,是以某个固定场所为集聚地,以众多企业和个体商户为经营主体所形成的共享式交易平台。近年来,我国集贸式市场的组织形态及其功能都发生了重大变化,出现了与博览会、连锁经营、电子商务等现代流通业态相融合的趋势。在一个充分竞争的市场环境中,市场组织演进的结果体现出经济效率导向的要求。交易者将随着市场环境的变化,调整交易时间配置和空间分布的组合,以求达到交易成本最小化。本文以义乌中国小商品城为实证对象,以时间配置和空间分布为分析维度,运用交易费用经济学的理论方法,研究我国集贸式市场组织演进的动态过程。     

Participants' perceptions on the role of facilitators using Group Decision Support Systems

The impact of facilitation upon group meetings has been a topic of research and debate for over 40 years. However, with the emergence and increasing usage of Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS), the role of facilitators is once more being addressed. Facilitators aim to substantially increase the effectiveness of group working, making meetings more productive and efficient through the management of both content and process. However, while the benefit that facilitators can bring is acknowledged, developing the necessary skills and techniques is more problematic. There are few manuals for would-be faciliators to draw upon, and much of their ability is acquired through experience. This article therefore attempts to increase the knowledge available and to provide facilitators with some practical suggestions. The research focuses on a series of interviews with group members (participants) who had used a particular GDSS—Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA)—for organizational decision making. From the analysis of the interviews, a number of reoccurring issues were identified which are presented as a set of learning points. These cover not only the workshop/meeting itself, but also the pre-workshop and post-workshop stages. The article also reflects on the impact which these identified learning points have on design and future GDSS development.     

Modeling and supporting task-oriented group processes: Purposeful complex adaptive systems and Evolutionary Systems Design

Evolutionary Systems Design (ESD) is a universal general problem solving, formal modeling, design framework for purposeful complex adaptive systems (PCAS) and processes, i.e., task-oriented group processes. These processes constitute policy making, group decision, negotiation, and multiagent problem solving with human and/or artificial agents. ESD is also a framework for computer group support systems (GSS) that support these processes. The ESD general framework can be applied to define and solve specific problems. In this article the ESD framework is presented and illustrated by example. The article provides background for ESD computer implementations discussed in two other related articles (Lewis and Shakun 1996; Bui and Shakun 1996).     

Introducing E-MARKPLAN: A practical methodology to plan e-marketing activities

Although e-marketing is highly prevalent, no template currently exists for managers who wish to use the Internet/Web and related information technologies to market their products and services. This paper provides managers with a comprehensive, actionable, and practical methodology (E-MARKPLAN) to plan, enact, and analyze e-marketing activities. Five case studies are used to illustrate the diversity of e-marketing actions. E-MARKPLAN consists of five parts: goals, actors (i.e., those who take e-marketing actions), spaces (i.e., theaters of engagement), actions, and outcomes. The E-MARKPLAN methodology is versatile, and is not limited to companies which have e-commerce operations.