Merger waves,entry-timing,and cross-border acquisition completion: A frictional lens perspective

We study the impact of deal announcement and entry-timing within a cross-border acquisition (CBA) wave on the likelihood of acquisition completion. Drawing upon the frictional lens perspective, we identify two types of frictional forces- wave-friction and partner-friction within merger waves. We follow a simulation-based methodology and identify three CBA waves for Indian acquirers between 1995 and 2015. Our findings suggest that acquisition announcement within a merger wave as compared to outside of a wave is negatively related to the likelihood of deal completion. Further, within a merger wave, we find an inverted U-shaped relationship between entry-timing and the likelihood of deal completion.     

Modular Wavelet–Extreme Learning Machine: a New Approach for Forecasting Daily Rainfall

Water Resources Management - A rainfall forecasting method based on coupling wavelet analysis and a novel artificial neural network technique called extreme learning machine (ELM) is proposed. In...     

Information technology and firm performance: mediation role of absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship in manufacturing SMEs

ABSTRACT

The success of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) depends on dynamic capabilities, as it provides opportunities to remain competitive and perform well in the dynamic business environment. Although several studies show the significant positive impacts of dynamic capabilities on firm performance, our knowledge of the underlying mechanism through which IT capabilities affect the firm performance is not yet clear. Applying the dynamic capability view, this study investigates the intervening role of absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship. The data of 417 respondents is collected from medium-sized manufacturing sector SMEs in Punjab, Pakistan. The research hypotheses have been analysed through the structural equation modelling method by using the Smart-PLS software. The research findings show that absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship partially mediates the relationship between IT capabilities and firm performance. Furthermore, the sequential path of IT technical skills, absorptive capacity, corporate entrepreneurship, and firm performance is highly significant as compared to other paths.     

An application of the theory of planned behaviour to understand compliance with daytime running headlights law among motorcycle riders

Abstract

Fatal motorcycle crashes are a persistent problem in Southeast Asia. In many respects, road safety experts have acknowledged conspicuity issue as one of the main causes of such accidents. To mitigate this deficiency, daytime running headlights (DRHs) law has been documented among the widely exercised countermeasures. The present study aimed to explore socio-psychological factors shaping intentions towards use of DRHs among Malaysian motorcyclists, because compliance level with this rule has remained constant since 1996 (80%). For this purpose, a model was constructed through the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to evaluate factors affecting motorcyclists’ intentions towards compliance with DRHs law. A series of statistical analyses were performed to explain the effect of these factors and to predict degree of compliance with this rule. The model applied on a sample of university students (N?=?398) demonstrated that the TPB components could significantly predict motorcycle riders’ behaviours and degree of compliance with DRHs law. Moreover, it would be of assistance to policy-makers to recognize groups of motorcyclists more likely to cause an increase in traffic accidents. In general, regular educational campaigns were recommended to raise awareness regarding consequences of not using DRHs and also to nurture factors influencing motorcyclists’ attitudes towards DRHs.     

Some general results for moments in bivariate distributions

The purpose of this paper is to present a closed formula to compute the moments of a general function from the knowledge of its bivariate survival function. The result is derived by utilizing an integration by parts formula for two variables, which is not readily available in the literature. Many of the existing results are obtained as special cases. Finally, two examples are presented to illustrate the results. In both the examples, mixed moments as well as moments for the series system and parallel system are obtained. The integration by parts formula in two variables, derived here, is of interest in its own right and we hope that it will be useful in other investigations. The integration by parts formula in two variables is derived as a special case of a general formula in n variables.     

Assessing a Multivariate Approach Based on Scalogram Analysis for Agricultural Drought Monitoring

Due to the complexity of agricultural drought, univariate indices may not be suitable for assessing its impacts comprehensively. The main objective of this study was to develop a new multivariate drought index using the Scalogram concepts, in which the input data weights and their cluster separation were performed based on the entropy theory and fuzzy k-means algorithm, respectively. The newly developed index, named as SCI index, integrates the four weighted individual quantitative indicators such as the difference between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (D_i), the moisture departure (d_i), the Soil Moisture index (SMI), and the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) to quantify agricultural drought in monthly and annual timescales in the various climate conditions of Golestan province, Iran. Next, the Composite Drought Index (CDI) was calculated for the selected stations by the same variables in the SCI index as an input. According to the results a good agreement and a high behavioral similarity for the identifying moisture conditions was found between SCI index and CDI index and even other well-known drought indices such as SPEI and SPDI. But the intensity with extremes of wet and dry conditions in the CDI significantly were more than the SCI index and other ones. Comparing results obtained by the Standardized Yield Index (SYI) for rainfed wheat with the SCI index showed that at most stations when a severe drought as happened in 2000–2001 and 2007–2008, severe crops losses also occurred. The flexible structure of SCI index provides a comprehensive approach to quantify agricultural drought and can be adapted to characterize other types of drought on a practical basis.     

A Framework for Ground Water Management Based on Bayesian Network and MCDM Techniques

Groundwater resources are steadily subjected to increasing water demands. The aquifers are considered as the most accessible source of fresh water. In recent years, they have been faced with severe water withdrawal in arid and semi-arid countries like Iran and thus some aquifers was considered as forbidden aquifers that it means the water withdrawal from these aquifers is unauthorized. Given a critical situation, groundwater resources management in the form of tools such as monitoring the level of the aquifers and developing the restoring scenarios is essential. Therefore, for this purpose, a framework has been developed based on prediction of groundwater level using Bayesian Networks (BNs) model. Furthermore, Multi Criteria Decision Making methods (MCDM) techniques proposed and employed for ranking of proposed groundwater management scenarios. This framework was evaluated for restoring the Birjand aquifer in Iran in different hydrological conditions. A probabilistic Dynamic BN was proposed for groundwater level prediction under uncertainties. After analyzing the obtained results, the applicable short term scenarios for groundwater management as well as appropriate economic, social and technical criteria were defined for decision making procedure. Then, using elicitation of decision makers’ opinions on the relative importance and performance of criteria, SAW, TOPSIS and PROMETHEE-II techniques were applied to rank the scenarios and the obtained results were aggregated by Borda method for final ranking of the scenarios. Lastly, the final results demonstrates the capability of the proposed framework for groundwater resources planning and management which can be employed for reducing the risk of aquifer level declining.     

Probabilistic Event Based Rainfall-Runoff Modeling Using Copula Functions

Multivariate probability analysis of hydrological elements using copula functions can significantly improve the modeling of complex phenomena by considering several dependent variables simultaneously. The main objectives of this study were to: (i) develop a stand-alone and event-based rainfall-runoff (RR) model using the common bivariate copula functions (i.e. the BCRR model); (ii) improve the structure of the developed copula-based RR model by using a trivariate version of fully-nested Archimedean copulas (i.e. the FCRR model); and (iii) compare the performance of the developed copula-based RR models in an Iranian watershed. Results showed that both of the developed models had acceptable performance. However, the FCRR model outperformed the BCRR model and provided more reliable estimations, especially for lower joint probabilities. For example, when joint probabilities were increased from 0.5 to 0.8 for the peak discharge (q_p) variable, the reliability criteria value increased from 0.0039 to 0.8000 in the FCRR model, but only from 0.0010 to 0.6400 in the BCRR model. This is likely because the FCRR considers more than one rainfall predictor, while the BCRR considers only one.

     

Application of a Coordination Model for a Large Number of Stakeholders with a New Game Theory Model

Water Resources Management - Water allocation is an important issue for systems with multiple stakeholders. Individual and collective decisions are very important for such systems. Thus, a new...     

Stability Analysis of Stakeholders’ Cooperation in Inter-Basin Water Transfer Projects: a Case Study

Water Resources Management - This study investigates the conflict resolution among different stakeholders in a water transfer project. The portion of the Beheshtabad Water Transfer Project in Iran...