Effects of firm owenership structure on hiring of M&A advisors

This study tests the hypothesis that certification is an important service performed by M&A (merger and acquisition) advisors. It conducts an empirical investigation of the relationship between corporate ownership and the decision to hire an advisor. It demonstrates that ownership by institutional investors increases the propensity of firms to hire advisors in merger and acquisition transactions. The effect is (1) nonlinear in institutional investor percentage ownership, (2) greater for the selling firm than for the buyer, and (3) stronger where control is changing than where significant assets are being bought and sold. Confirmation of the certification hypothesis is also found in the decision to hire a prestigious advisor given that an advisor is to be hired.     

Modeling total cholesterol as predictor of mortality: the low-cholesterol paradox

Elevated total cholesterol is well-established as a risk factor for coronary artery disease and cardiovascular mortality. However, less attention is paid to the association between low cholesterol levels and mortality--the low cholesterol paradox. In this paper, restricted cubic splines (RCS) and complex survey methodology are used to show the low-cholesterol paradox is present in the laboratory, examination, and mortality follow-up data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). A series of Cox proportional hazard models, demonstrate that RCS are necessary to incorporate desired covariates while avoiding the use of categorical variables. Valid concerns regarding the accuracy of such predictive models are discussed. The one certain conclusion is that low cholesterol levels are markers for excess mortality, just as are high levels. Restricted cubic splines provide the necessary flexibility to demonstrate the U-shaped relationship between cholesterol and mortality without resorting to binning results. Cox PH models perform well at identifying associations between risk factors and outcomes of interest such as mortality. However, the predictions from such a model may not be as accurate as common statistics suggest and predictive models should be used with caution.     

Risk factors in Australian bond returns

This study examines the risk factors in Australian bond returns. The study quantifies bond liquidity and estimates a liquidity risk factor in the Australian setting. We develop a three‐factor asset pricing framework that uses term, default and liquidity risk factors to explain the variation of Australian bond returns. Our findings corroborate the US evidence on the pervasiveness of these risk factors faced by bond investors. The three‐factor model developed in this study has practical applications when calculating the cost of debt, evaluating the performance of an active bond fund manager and hedging underlying risk in a bond portfolio.     

The failure of ‘nationalization by attraction’: Britain's cross‐class alliance against earnings‐related pensions in the 1950s1

In 1957, the Labour Party published radical proposals for a state earnings‐related pension scheme (‘national superannuation’) whose funds were to be invested in stock markets to generate high returns, and to help modernize and dynamize the British economy. This article explores a sophisticated campaign against the proposal by the insurance industry, and the resistance of the unions. In doing so, it considers the implications of this cross‐class alliance, not least in terms of a possible missed opportunity to build a ‘developmental state’ in the UK, but also in terms of the country's increasingly inadequate and inequitable system of pension provision.     

Cultural differences in Germany and Australia

This article discusses examples of cultural differences between the German and Australian cultures, their implications in the marketing and business decision making function, and provides recommendations for successful business conduct between Germans and Australians. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

International human resource management in the 21st century: emerging themes and contemporary debates

This article introduces the special issue of Human Resource Management Journal on International Human Resource Management in the 21st Century. We begin by considering some of the key aspects of the changing landscape of international business and the key emergent issues for IHRM at the beginning of the 21st century. Key themes which we consider include: the changing nature of the global economic landscape, with a particular focus on India, China and Central and Eastern Europe; increasing global terrorism in the post‐9/11 world; the changing nature of careers; and, finally, changing patterns of global staffing. We then conclude by outlining the content of the special issue.     

雀巢不想把巢做大?

<正> 不流血的胜利 “如今不管你走到哪里,管理理论家和实践家都会告诉你,变革是有利的,并且是必须的。然而对于雀巢这个世界级的长寿企业而言,情况并非如此。相反,如果你能够慢速地发展,但确定持久地发展,那么就不需要流血的变革而赢得最后的胜利。” 不久之前,一位华尔街的记者问起雀巢的执行总裁彼得·布雷贝克(PeterBrabeck),坐在全球最大的食品公司老总的位置上,他对企业发展有什么看法。布     

Ethical Decision Making and the Employed Lawyer

This article addresses one of the more disturbing questions raised by the major financial failures of the recent past; namely, how it could be that professionals, highly trained both in ethics and technical disciplines, should apparently collude with management in corporate misbehaviour. The article builds on evidence suggesting that professionals in employment contexts find ways of adapting in order to minimise perceived or actual conflict between their professional and organizational obligations and that this, in turn, may affect the way in which they exercise professional judgment. It uses identity theory to propose that professionals may adopt modified identities when employed and that these identities may be expressed, in part, in the way in which they resolve ethical dilemmas. The article reports on the results of a qualitative study in which corporate counsel showed evidence of adopting these identities. The findings suggest that this line of research offers insight into a far more complex world of employed professionals than that traditionally hypothesised and that the popular approach of regulators and others to monitoring corporate governance by appointing professionals as gate-keepers within the organization is perhaps problematic.