Antitakeover provisions in corporate spin-offs

We analyze the relation between antitakeover provisions (ATPs) and the performance of spin-off firms. We find that firms protected by more ATPs before spin-offs have higher abnormal announcement returns and greater improvements in post-spin-off operating performance than firms with fewer ATPs. Further, firms that reduce the number of ATPs after spin-offs have greater improvements in operating performance than firms that do not reduce the number of ATPs. Finally, CEOs of pre-spin-off firms tend to retain more ATPs in parent firms and assign fewer ATPs to the spun-off units if they remain as the CEOs of the parents but not the spun-off units. Overall, our results indicate a positive relation between ATPs and the value gains to spin-offs.     

Single Market effects on productivity in the German insurance industry

The Single Market project of the European Commission was supposed to foster productivity growth in the financial service industry. We assess its consequences on productivity development in the German insurance industry, one of the largest insurance markets within the European Union, by applying Data Envelopment Analysis to a panel of German insurance companies. We estimate standard and bootstrapped efficiency scores for the years 1991 through 2006 and apply a test on scale efficiency based on bootstrapped statistics. Furthermore, we compute a Malmquist index and test for different types of productivity convergence across firms.     

What makes countries initiate WTO disputes on food-related issues?

This paper analyses relevant determinants for the probability to initiate a dispute on policy measures under the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system. The empirical analysis differs from existing assessments by focusing on agro-food-related disputes and provides a more in-depth analysis of specific country and sectoral characteristics not considered in previous studies. Contrary to recent analyses of overall trade disputes, the results show that some determinants such as legal capacity and monetary means are not statistically significant. Own protectionist behaviour, endured protectionism, and the duration of WTO membership, however, could be identified as relevant determinants with the expected direction of impact.     

Soil conservation in Swiss agriculture—Approaching abstract and symbolic meanings in farmers’ life-worlds

This paper explores the significance of ‘life-worlds’ for better understanding why farmers adopt or reject soil conservation measures and for identifying basic dimensions to be covered by social learning processes in Swiss agricultural soil protection. The study showed that farmers interpret soil erosion and soil conservation measures against the background of their entire life-world. By doing so, farmers consider abstract and symbolic meanings of soil conservation. This is, soil conservation measures have to be feasible and practical in the everyday farming routine, however, they also have to correspond with their aesthetic perception, their value system and their personal and professional identities. Consequently, by switching to soil conservation measures such as no-tillage farmers have to adapt not only the routines of their daily farming life, but also their perception of the aesthetics of cultivated land, underlying values and images of themselves. Major differences between farmers who adopt and farmers who reject no-tillage were found to depend on the degree of coherence they could create between the abstract and symbolic meanings of the soil conservation measure. From this perspective, implementation of soil protection measures faces the challenge of facilitating interactions between farmers, experts and scientists at a ‘deeper’ level, with an awareness of all significant dimensions that characterise the life-world. The paper argues that a certain level of shared symbolic meaning is essential to achieving mutual understanding in social learning processes.     

Agroindustrialization, globalization, and international development: An overview of issues, patterns, and determinants

This paper offers an overview for a special issue on agroindustrialization, globalization, and international development. It sets out a conceptual framework for understanding the links among these three broad phenomena and then discusses emerging issues and evidence concerning the factors conditioning agroindustrialization in developing countries and the subsequent effects on employment, poverty, and the natural environment. We conclude with a research agenda.     

Response to haar's comment— and the beat goes on: Corporate downsizing in the twenty‐first century

Corporate downsizing continues to be a major strategy used by organizations to cope with a dynamic and turbulent global marketplace. A fundamental assumption made by executives is that this strategy improves the financial health of the corporation. De Meuse, Vanderheiden, and Bergmann (1994) examined several indices of financial performance over a five‐year period and found that firms employing downsizing experienced a deterioration in financial performance rather than an improvement. Haar (1999) questioned the findings of this study, asserting that if a company's risk level would have been included in the analysis, their results could have been different. In the present investigation, risk was incorporated in the original analysis. Again, the findings strongly indicate that downsizing was not an effective corporate strategy for enhancing the financial performance of corporations. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Long‐term effects of alcohol warning labels: Findings from a comparison of the United States and Ontario,Canada

Since 1989 the U.S. federal government has required warnings on alcohol containers. Findings are presented from telephone surveys conducted between 1990 and 1994 in the U.S. and Ontario, Canada, the no‐treatment reference site. In the U.S., penetration peaked in 1993–94, with 43% of the lifetime drinkers reporting label awareness. Label exposure was weaker (<20%) for all years in the reference site. The proportion reporting conversations about drinking during pregnancy was higher among label seers in both sites. Those seeing labels in the U.S. were more likely to engage in conversations about drinking and driving than those not seeing. Reports of limiting drinking for health reasons showed a positive association with label exposure increasing with time. In the U.S. only, across all years, controlling for age, gender, education, and alcohol consumption, label seers were more likely to drive after drinking too much, but also to say they had deliberately not driven after drinking during the last year. Findings from this quasi‐experiment cannot establish causal relationships, but the pattern of results, though mixed, suggests modest effects on conversations and several precautionary behaviors related to risks of drinking. The label's effects may partially offset an overall trend toward lower public concern about health risks of alcohol. Results are interpreted as consistent with Congressional intent to remind people of certain hazards of drinking, especially during pregnancy or before driving vehicles. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The role of temperature for seasonal market integration: a case study of poultry in Iran*

Understanding market integration has greatly benefited from analysing and comparing variations in price transmissions. An important source of variation in agricultural markets is seasonal changes in production, consumption and transaction costs. A key factor driving seasonality in agricultural price is temperature, as supply and demand changes are triggered by seasonal temperature differences. In this paper, we study the seasonal variations in vertical price transmission focusing on the asymmetric price adjustment to analyse changes in the market interactions between the stages of the value chain. Our data reveal significant transitory effects of temperature on the price transmission process. Results of a panel threshold model suggest that the farm–wholesale price adjustments to deviations from the market equilibrium are more symmetric at higher temperatures. However, we do not find an effect of temperature on the wholesale–retail price relationship. Our findings can be rationalised with wholesalers making use of their market power to extend their margins in the upstream chain. Wholesaler market power is lower during warm periods, and price adjustment is more symmetric. Concerning the Iranian poultry value chain, our findings imply that temperature-related differences in market interactions should be considered in formulating policy interventions.