Limited Information and the Sustainability of Unlisted-Target Acquirers' Returns

Abstract:  Relaxed disclosure requirements of unlisted firms, as compared to publicly listed companies, lead to limited quality and quantity of information at bid announcements, causing difficulty in valuing gains from mergers. This raises the question: are the frequently reported superior announcement-period gains to unlisted-target acquirers sustainable in the long run? Our results for the UK show that unlisted-target acquirers gain on announcement, but suffer a substantial loss in the long run. This reversal in fortune of unlisted-target acquirers is in sharp contrast to the performance of listed-target acquirers in the UK. Therefore, short-run gains for unlisted-target acquirers may result from investors' excessive optimism when faced with limited and biased information.     

如何组织创业团队

当你终于艰难地做出了决定,“我要去创业“,而且你已经有了切入市场的产品或者仅仅是一个点子的话,你最重要的任务就是建立起一个共同创业的团队.在硅谷流传这样一个“规则“,有两个哈佛MBA和MIT的博士组成的创业团队几乎就是获得风险投资人青睐的保证.……     

The Allocation of Nutrient Load Reduction across a Watershed: Assessing Delivery Coefficients as an Implementation Tool

Delivery coefficients have long been used in economic analysis of policies that seek to address environmental problems like water pollution. However, the derivation and validity of delivery coefficients have not been examined carefully by empirical analyses. We derived estimates of delivery coefficients and then evaluated them as a bridge between complex simulation models and economic policies like water quality trading. We found that the allocations achieved outcomes that differed from intended water quality targets by less than 10% in most cases. For the least-cost allocation with heterogeneous costs, cost savings significantly outweighed deviations from water quality targets.     

Strategic application of events

This paper explores the area of strategy and events through a qualitative study. Organisations are increasingly seeking to achieve strategic objectives through the delivery of events. Particularly, as regards the role of events in the communication of brand strategy. This paper seeks to illuminate the underpinning reasoning for this trend, and examine prevalent issues relating to event management and event experience. There is a critical evaluation of the factors that facilitate and constrain events in supporting organisational strategy, with a number of themes identified that impede events from realising their strategic potential.     

Consumer choice for hearing aids and listening devices: newspaper advertisements for UK private sector provision

In the UK there can be several ways to access health care and this is true of hearing aid provision. Although there may appear to be a well‐defined distinction between the National Health Service (NHS) and independent dispenser hearing aid provision, there have been many examples of overlap between the two and recent government policy initiatives mean that distinctions have become less clear. This article outlines the changing relationship between the two sectors and the problems that potential consumers face accessing information on private sector options for amplification devices. A 1‐year sample of newspaper advertisements was content‐analysed for clarity of information provided. The analysis highlighted a range of provision, from well‐known hearing aid dispensers to the greyer areas of listening device retailers and intermediary services. Some advertisements were found to have been reported to the Advertising Standards Authority. Sufficiently misleading adverts may also infringe consumer protection legislation. The article concludes there is the possibility of consumer confusion about products and their potential for amelioration.     

Potential demand for hedging by Australian wheat producers

The potential for hedging Australian wheat with the new Sydney Futures Exchange wheat contract is examined using a theoretical hedging model parametised from previous studies. The optimal hedging ratio for an ‘average’ wheat farmer was found to be zero under reasonable assumptions about transaction costs and based on previously published measures of risk aversion. The estimated optimal hedging ratios were found by simulation to be quite sensitive to assumptions about the degree of risk aversion. If farmers are significantly more risk averse than is currently believed, then there is likely to be an active interest in the new futures market.     

'You don't know what you've got till it's gone': re-contextualising the origins, development and impact of the call centre

This paper locates the emergence of call centres within the broader political economy. We demonstrate how British Gas responded to privatisation, restrictive regulation and the need to deliver shareholder value by radically changing work organisation. Using documentary evidence and oral testimonies, we show how the call centre was pivotal to tightening control over the labour process, to intensifying work and transforming the experience of work.     

The enterprise response to industrial relations legislation

The authors report a study into the impact of the former Labour Government's industrial relations legislation, much of which remains on the statute book. They focus on joint health and safety committees and provide a useful starting point for further research concerned to develop a model of firm response to industrial relations legislation in any particular subject area.     

Problems of diet and affluence

In this article the author adduces evidence for suggesting that diet is one of the principal factors in the development of coronary heart disease and goes on to suggest that the diets of whole nations can and should be modified. He then discusses efforts made by some countries to alter dietary patterns so as to bring these in line with the consensus of nutritional expert opinion. The author concludes that attempts to influence eating habits by recourse to education alone will fail, and that public education must be underpinned by appropriate food production and pricing policies.