Protest responses and community attitudes toward accepting compensation to host waste disposal infrastructure

Despite the use of host community compensation to solve NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) siting difficulties in many industrialised countries, the effectiveness of this policy is still being debated in academic and policy-making arenas. In this paper, we examine attitudes held regarding compensation in communities directly impacted upon by final waste disposal infrastructure projects (landfill and incineration) in Ireland using survey responses to two contingent valuation (CV) scenarios and a question relating to preferences for compensation delivery. We find that communities in the pre-construction planning phase for locally undesirable development are less accepting of compensation offers to host the facility than are communities who have lived with such developments to host an extension to the existing facility in their localities. However, many of our respondents who initially reject compensation offers in the CV question go on to accept at least one compensation package in the later compensation preference question. Using this information allows us to draw a distinction between ‘Hardcore’ and ‘Switcher’ protesters to illustrate a more subtle picture of rejection of locally undesirable facilities and compensation packages than has previously been articulated. Using probit regression analysis, we find that property rights or NIMBY concerns – specifically, the treatment of non-local waste at the facility is a concern for many residents – drive this rejection of compensation. Finally, contrary to previous studies concerning preferences for host compensation, community compensation is not always preferred to individual compensation payments.     

Innovation in a global consulting firm: when the problem is too much diversity

This paper explores how individual managers in multinational firms utilize their informal relations to create new knowledge. Specifically, how does the density of informal networks affect an actor's ability to access and integrate diverse information and consequently that actor's innovation performance? The arguments are developed using the setting of 79 senior partners in a global management consulting firm and tested on a dataset of 1,449 informal relationships. I distinguish between internal, external, local, and global relations and find that this separation permits a more nuanced understanding of the effect of network structure on innovation performance. Specifically, I argue that the most effective network strategy is contingent upon the context in which the partners operate. The findings show that partners operating in homogeneous contexts, where the primary challenge is to access diverse information, benefit from low‐density networks. In contrast, when crossing both firm and geographic boundaries, partners with dense networks have higher innovation performance. I argue that in such heterogeneous contexts, dense network interactions facilitate partners' ability to integrate the diverse information to which they are exposed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The fiscal behavior of municipal governments: 1905–1930

This report discusses a new set of annual U. S. municipal expenditure estimates. These estimates deal with the 1905–1930 period. While these expenditures are seen to be influenced by urbanization and price inflation, it is clear that real per capita spending rose substantially during the period. The distribution of municipal spending between current and capital accounts is seen to be associated with relative price change. A model of the structure of budget decisions—emphasizing an incremental budgeting format—is developed. Estimates of the structural parameters suggest that this model adequately represents the data; and that municipal decision makers responded in a regular and rational fashion to shifts in relative prices and nominal sources of funds.     

Leveraged Buyouts in the U.K. and Continental Europe: Retrospect and Prospect

The markets for management buyouts in the U.K. and continental Europe have experienced dramatic growth in the past ten years. In the U.K., buyouts accounted for half of the total M&A activity (measured by value) in 2005. And as in the U.S. during the‘80s, the greatest number of U.K. buyouts in recent years have been management‐ and investor‐led acquisitions of divisions of large corporations. In continental Europe, by contrast, the largest fraction of deals has involved the purchase of family‐owned private businesses. But in recent years, increased pressure for shareholder value in countries like France, Netherlands, and even Germany has led to a growing number of buyouts of divisions of listed companies. Like the U.K., continental Europe has also seen a small but growing number of purchases of entire public companies (known as private‐to‐public transactions, or PTPs), including the largest ever buyout in Europe, the €13 billion purchase this year of the Danish corporation TDC. In view of the record levels of capital raised by European private equity funds in recent years‐which, until 2005, exceeded the amounts invested in any given year‐we can expect more growth in private equity investment in the near future. In continental Europe, the prospects for buyouts remain especially strong, given both the pressure from investors to restructure larger corporations and the possibilities for adding value in family‐owned firms. But, as the authors note, today's private equity firms face a number of challenges in earning adequate returns for their investors. One is increased competition. In addition to the increased activity of U.S. private equity firms, local private equity investors are also facing competition from hedge funds and new entrants such as government‐sponsored operators, family offices, and wealthy entrepreneurs. Another major challenge is finding value‐preserving exit vehicles. Although an IPO is an option for the largest buyouts with growth prospects, most buyout investments are harvested either through sales to other companies or, increasingly, other private equity firms. The latter transactions, known as “secondary” buyouts, now account for a significant share of new funds invested by private equity firms across Europe.     

Floriculture du Suroît inc.*

Floriculture du Suroît inc. is a SME in the horticulture field. It cultivates and sells geraniums, but a new subsidiary, Les Roses de Caroline, recently start the culture of roses. Floriculture has just obtained a governmental subsidy and, for the first time, the company will have to produce audited financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Thus, the two owners will have to choose between two accounting frameworks, that is, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or Canadian Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE). Many differences exist between these two frameworks. More specifically, IFRS provide specific standards related to agricultural activity and investment properties, while ASPE do not. In addition, ASPE permit many choices between accounting treatments, which should be carefully analyzed. The owners are neophytes in accounting matter. Thus, they need help for accounting issues.