Eco-logical education for the long emergency

In its inadvertent creation of multiple ecological crises including climate change, humanity as a whole appears caught in a lemmings loop, racing toward a probable future identified as The Long Emergency. One might think that even the possibility of this future scenario should be sufficient to effect a revolution in education. Yet overall there appears to be insufficient depth of respons-ability in this regard, of taking heed of ecological educational discourse. The paper advocates a deeply ecological education through identifying the significance of ecoliteracy as involving a critical contrast between two worldviews (modernism and a prospective ecological worldview). The paper advances futures of ecological thinking through a deep interpretation of ecology and related terms including ecosystem and eco-logics. The complex integrative character of conceptual ecology is foregrounded and extended through associating it with transdisciplinarity, integralism and critical realism under the overarching orientation of Boyer's scholarship of integration.     

UNIVERSAL BANKS ARE NOT THE ANSWER TO AMERICA'S CORPORATE GOVERNANCE "PROBLEM": A LOOK AT GERMANY, JAPAN, AND THE U.S.

This article objects to a recent tendency of legal and economic scholars to "romanticize" the corporate governance role of German universal banks and Japanese main banks. There are potential conflicts between banks' interests as lenders and as shareholders that are likely to make banks less-than-ideal monitors for outside shareholders. Citing evidence that Japanese corporate borrowers pay above-market interest rates for their bank financing, Macey and Miller interpret the high interest rates as "rents" earned by Japanese banks on their loan portfolios in exchange for (1) insulating incumbent management of borrower firms from hostile takeover and (2) accepting suboptimal returns on their equity holdings.
The main problems with the German and Japanese systems stem from their failure to produce well-developed capital markets. Concentrated and stable shareholdings reduce the order flow in the market, thereby depriving the market of liquidity. And the lack of capital market liquidity– combined with the intense loyalty of the banks towards incumbent management–removes the ability of outside shareholders to make a credible threat of takeover if managerial performance is substandard.
The problem with American corporate governance–if indeed there is one–is not that hostile takeovers are bad, but that there are not enough of them due to regulatory restrictions and misguided legal policies. While U.S. law should be amended to give banks and other debtholders more power over borrowers in the case of financial distress, encouraging U.S. banks to become large stockholders is not likely to improve corporate efficiency. Strengthening the "voice" of American equity holders by eliminating restrictions on the market for corporate control would be the most effective step in improving firm performance.     

Textual classification of SEC comment letters

This study examines the impact of SEC comment letters on future financial reporting outcomes and earnings credibility. Naïve Bayesian classification identifies comment letters associated with future restatements and write-downs. An investor attention-based quantitative measure of importance, using EDGAR downloads, also predicts these outcomes. Disclosure-event abnormal returns, revenue recognition comments, and the number of letters in a conversation appear to be useful quantitative metrics for classifying importance in certain settings. This study also documents trends in comment letter topics over time and identifies topics associated with the textual and quantitative classifications of importance, providing insights into the factors that draw investor attention and that relate to future restatements and write-downs. Innocuous comment letters are associated with improvements in earnings credibility following comment letter reviews.

     

The Practical Application of Discounted Cash Flow to Plant Purchase Using an Integrated Suite of Computer Programs

This paper describes the problems of using DCF techniques for machine tool evaluation. It is shown that many of the technical and financial assumptions traditionally made are erroneous. However, the use of specially devised computer programs allows these problems to be overcome, with the result that the output from the program reveals how previous authors, by using incorrect methodologies, have seriously understated the financial benefits of investing in advanced technology. The paper discusses the difficulties normally experienced when trying to apply DCF principles, and it is shown how these difficulties are alleviated by the use of a correctly structured program.     

LVH: consequences associated with cardiac remodeling

With increased hemodynamic stress, the heart must adjust to meet the greater demands placed upon it. This adjustment frequently involves an alteration or remodeling in its structure or geometry, which augments its performance and helps to maintain adequate function under changing conditions. One of the most important forms of remodeling that the heart may undergo is an increase in muscle mass in response to a pressure or volume overload or myocardial injury. This increase in muscle mass is known as left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). LVH is of great importance from a risk selection perspective for two reasons: it is common, and it is associated with a significant increase in both morbidity and mortality risk. Thus, it is critical that both underwriters and medical directors be aware of this form of remodeling, its causes, diagnosis and consequences.     

The interaction of shock waves in cylindrical structures

An experimental investigation into the validity and use of the hydraulic jump analogy for studying the interaction of shock waves in air with cylindrical structures.