Otto von Zwiedineck-Südenhorst † 6. 8. 1957

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Vorwort

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Regulation as a means for the social control of technology

The argument that regulation is a necessary, though controversial, component of technology policy is discussed in detail. Ib addition to the regulation of technology, various other regulatory policies, such as market regulation, affect the development of technology. Various types of direct regulation and their conditions of operation are discussed. It is shown that regulation can afect technological innovation positively by providing a surrogate market. The paper serves as an introduction to this special issue and shows how the different contributions fit into a general framework of regulatory effects on technolgy. Regulation as a factor in competition is discussed, particularly in the context of developing countries.     

Board gender diversity and dividend policy in Australian listed firms: the effect of ownership concentration

Asia Pacific Journal of Management - We examine the association between board gender diversity and corporate dividend payout. Our results suggest that although board gender diversity impacts...     

On Compliance with Ethical Standards in Tax Return Preparation

The Statements on Responsibilities in Tax Practice (SRTPs) provide guidance to the CPA when making decisions in tax practice. Many of these decisions are ethical in nature and have implications for tax compliance. In this study, a survey methodology is used to test whether the SRTPs affect decisions that CPAs make. The findings suggest that a clear majority of CPAs follow the SRTPs when making ethical decisions relating to tax return preparation and that CPAs follow the SRTPs more often than unlicensed preparers on half the issues tested. However, a statistically significant number of CPAs do not follow the SRTPs and, CPAs do not follow the SRTPs any more often than unlicensed tax preparers on three issues.     

Risk analysis for operation of aluminum heat exchangers contaminated by mercury

Brazed aluminum plate-fin heat exchangers are extensively used in gas separation processes including LNG, LPG, NGL, nitrogen rejection and olefins manufacture. In situations where mercury is a trace component of feed gas or liquid feeds to crackers, condensation of liquid or precipitation of solid mercury can occur in heat exchanger passes, even with functional mercury removal systems in place. Mercury in liquid phase causes, under certain well-defined conditions, liquid metal embrittlement of susceptible metallurgy or amalgam corrosion of core fins, both of which can lead to sudden loss of pressure containment. Mercury-contaminated aluminum heat exchangers require close scrutiny and quantitative risk assessment to allow safe operation, remediation or to justify replacement. The risk analysis procedure involves computational prediction of mercury deposition, inspection of critical areas, detailed assessment of metallurgy and fabrication, strain analysis of temperature changes during trips and shutdowns and oxide fatigue analysis. Assigning probability of equipment failure requires a complete understanding of the mechanisms of liquid metal embrittlement and amalgam corrosion that operate on aluminum plate-fin heat exchangers. Statistical correlations to known failures are essential to assignment of probability-based risk factors. Probabilities of leak and rupture failure modes can be estimated using amounts and locations of mercury deposits determined from focused inspection or calculated thermodynamically. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2009     

Self‐selection,endogeneity, and the relationship between CEO duality and firm performance

This study focuses explicitly on the methodological implications of the endogenous theory of governance as applied to firm performance. In particular, if firms choose their governance structures as part of a constrained performance maximization process, then application of an appropriate empirical methodology should reveal statistical evidence of such behavior. In this study we take advantage of the endogenous switching regression model framework to determine whether such predicted optimizing behavior can be corroborated by the data. The model allows us to test explicitly for selection behavior in accordance with comparative advantage and, concomitantly, the presence of selectivity bias, in estimating the impact of CEO duality on firm performance. The selection and performance equations are modeled in accordance with the extant accounting, economics, and management literature on the impact of the dual governance structure on firm performance. Overall, we tested four performance measures for the entire sample of firm‐year observations as well as for the largest three industries in terms of sample sizes. The major finding, robust in all cases, is that there is no evidence to support a contention that CEO duality is a structure purposefully chosen for optimizing performance. If firms are indeed choosing the dual leadership structure, they are doing so for reasons other than improving performance from what it would be otherwise. In fact, for performance measured as market return and earnings per share, there is evidence of a significant selectivity bias that acts to lower performance below what it would have been under random assignment. For performance measured by Tobin's q and return on assets, we found neither evidence of selectivity bias, nor any significant marginal performance impacts of CEO duality. Such findings are inconsistent with an endogenous governance theory, at least when applied to firm performance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.