Why Do Firms Raise Foreign Currency Denominated Debt? Evidence from Finland

This study examines the determinants of the decision to raise currency debt. The results suggest that hedging figures importantly in the currency–of–denomination decision: firms in which exports constitute a significant fraction of net sales are more likely to raise currency debt. However, firms also tend to borrow in periods when the nominal interest rate for the loan currency, relative to other currencies, is lower than usual. This is consistent with the currency debt issue decision being affected by speculative motives. Large firms, with a wider access to the international capital markets, are more likely to borrow in foreign currencies than small firms.     

THE DIVERSITY GAP IN THE PUBLIC–PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP INDUSTRY: AN EXAMINATION OF WOMEN AND VISIBLE MINORITIES IN SENIOR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Despite intense focus on leadership diversity in industries such as high technology, business, the media and academia, to date the infrastructure sector has not received the same level of scrutiny. This paper develops a theoretical framework to explain why leadership diversity matters in the management of complex infrastructure projects delivered through public – private partnerships, and then empirically identifies the diversity gap in senior leadership in the PPP industry worldwide. The study is based on an examination of over 2,800 public and private sector executives, board members and politicians responsible for PPPs in over 90 countries. The results show that women and racial minorities are significantly underrepresented in senior leadership roles, a pattern that is deeply entrenched and consistent globally. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for the infrastructure industry, and explores how a lack of leadership diversity can influence project management outcomes.     

Cost-benefits of incorporating levosimendan into cardiac surgery practice: German base case

Objective:

To evaluate the cost-benefit of using levosimendan compared with dobutamine, in the perioperative treatment of patients undergoing cardiac surgery who require inotropic support.

Methods:

A two-part Markov model was designed to simulate health-state transitions of patients undergoing cardiac surgery, and estimate the short- and long-term health benefits of treatment. Hospital length of stay (LOS), mortality, medication, and adverse events were key clinical- and cost-inputs. Cost-benefits were evaluated in terms of costs and bed stays within the German healthcare system. Drug prices were calculated from the German Drug Directory (€/2014) and published literature, with a 3% annual discount rate applied. The base case analysis was for a 1-year time horizon.

Results:

The use of levosimendan vs dobutamine was associated with cost savings of €4787 per patient from the German hospital perspective due to reduced adverse events and shorter hospital LOS, leading to increased bed capacity and hospital revenue.

Limitations:

A pharmacoeconomic calculation for the specific situation of the German healthcare system that is based on international clinical trial carries a substantial risk of disregarding potentially relevant but unknown confounding factors (i.e., ICU-staffing, co-medications, standard-ICU care vs fast-tracking, etc.) that may either attenuate or increase the outcome pharmacoeconomic effects of a drug; however, since these conditions would also apply for patients treated with comparators, their net effects may not necessarily influence the conclusions.

Conclusions:

The use of levosimendan in patients undergoing cardiac surgery who require inotropic support appears to be cost-saving. The results of the analysis provide a strong rationale to run local clinical studies with pharmacoeconomic end-points which would allow a much more precise computation of the benefits of levosimendan.     

Harm-advocating online content and subjective well-being: a cross-national study of new risks faced by youth

Harm-advocating online content includes pro-eating disorder, pro-self-harm, pro-suicide, and the positive portrayal of the deaths of real people (snuff or death sites). This material is often user-generated and easily accessible for an average online user, therefore offering a potential source of risk for many Internet users. This cross-sectional study examined the association between exposure to harm-advocating online content and users’ subjective well-being (SWB) among American (n = 1032) and Finnish (n = 555) young people aged 15–30. Exposure to different types of online harm-advocating content was prevalent in both countries. Lower SWB was associated with exposure to this material even when controlling for social networking site (SNS) activity and online and offline victimization. In the US sample, seeing death sites was not associated with SWB, but seeing other harm-advocating sites was. In both countries, those with high SNS activity were more likely to be exposed to online harm-advocating material. These results from two advanced information societies underline the importance of recognizing the existence of harmful online communities. These communities are grounded on social interaction that might involve risks for the well-being of adolescents and young adults.     

Big data analytics and enterprises: a bibliometric synthesis of the literature

ABSTRACT

Understanding the developmental trajectories of big data analytics in the corporate context is highly relevant for information systems research and practice. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of applications of big data analytics in enterprises. The sample for this study contained a total of 1727 articles from the Scopus database. The sample was analyzed with techniques such as bibliographic coupling, citation analysis, co-word analysis, and co-authorship analysis. Findings from the co-citation analysis identified four major thematic areas in the extant literature. The evolution of these thematic areas was documented with dynamic co-citation analysis.     

Currency substitution,financial innovations and money demand: a note

This note presents some Finnish evidence on the importance of currency substitution and financial innovations for money demand. It is also shown that conventional demend for money specifications which do not take these factors into account are clearly misspecified and produced unreasonable results. The problem is particularly acute for narrow concepts of money.     

Knowledge balance sheets in Austrian universities: The implementation,use, and re-shaping of measurement and management practices

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of how a mandatory external (mostly) non-financial reporting process, labelled Knowledge Balance Sheets (KBS), is interpreted and used by different stakeholders in the Austrian university system. We are also interested in how the content and structure of the report transforms over time, how the possible link to the internal management control agenda is made, and how it reshapes organizational routines. The paper applies a critical approach where mostly non-financial, intellectual capital-related measurement, management, and reporting processes and structures are being questioned and discussed from different perspectives.This study is based on a qualitative case study approach where a number of semi-structured interviews have been conducted in various Austrian universities at different management levels over a period of approximately one year. In addition, interviews have been held with other stakeholders of universities (e.g., representatives from the ministry) and with members of the working group dealing with the KBS at the supra-university level. An inductively oriented methodology was chosen to obtain a deeper understanding of the current (management) interpretation and use of the KBS, both externally and internally. This paper aims to investigate the practice of KBS in order to build new knowledge relating to both externally oriented reporting and internally oriented management control.The findings indicate that as a reporting-tool, the KBS is embedded in a broader framework of governance and accountability regarding public universities, and interlinks the following different reporting-formats: (1) the KBS itself, (2) the performance report, and (3) the financial statement of accounts. Rectors, deans, and management accountants have highlighted different parts of the framework as important and problematic. However, it is obvious that governing via externally oriented reports and rules of accountability also has relevance to internal management decision and control agendas.Furthermore, there is an on-going debate about measuring, benchmarking, and standardizing qualities within and between universities. Scientific professionals generally question the viability of only one standardized reporting format for scientific outcomes, while the administrative staff usually promotes the necessity of such a report – for example, with respect to benchmarking routines. By analysing the practices triggered by KBS reporting, we contribute to the discussion of how performance (measures and targets) can be represented, interpreted, and acted upon within public organizations in general and within public universities in particular.     

Analysing long memory and asymmetries

The paper presents evidence on nonlinearities in Finnish financial time series. The analysis concentrates on the so-called long-memory property which is examined using, various alternative test procedures. This analysis makes use of relatively long monthly Finnish time series which cover the period 1922–1996. The results give some evidence on long memory but one cannot say that the results would overwhelmingly support the existence of long memory in Finnish time series. There are, however, considerable differences between variables and the results are quite sensitive in terms of the treatment of short memory which also applies to different ways of prefiltering the data. Clearly more work is required to obtain more affirmative results in this respect. One way, of doing that is to apply asymmetric time models to find the source of nonlinearity. When that is done with the Finnish data some weak evidence on asymmetry is obtained.     

Changing requirements and mental workload factors in mobile multi‐locational work

Working in multiple locations creates continuously changing physical, virtual and social settings for mobile employees. This paper shows, by exploring locally and globally moving employees, that changing environments arouse varying perceptions of both well‐being and stress. The identification of mental workload factors is necessary both for working in and managing mobile, multi‐locational work.