Re‐assessing the long‐term underperformance of UK Initial Public Offerings

Previous work has identified that IPOs underperform a market index, and the purpose of this paper is to examine the robustness of this finding. We re‐examine the evidence on the long‐term returns of IPOs in the UK using a new data set of firms over the period 1985–92, in which we compare abnormal performance based on a number of alternative methods including a calendar‐time approach. We find that, using an event‐time framework, there are substantial negative abnormal returns to an IPO after the first 3 years irrespective of the benchmark used. However, over the 5 years after an IPO, abnormal returns exhibit less dramatic underperformance, and the conclusion on negative abnormal returns depends on the benchmark applied. Further if these returns are measured in calendar time, we find that the (statistical) significance of underperformance is even less marked.     

Statistics by Gender: Measures to Reduce Gender Bias in Agricultural Surveys

Statistics by gender has been the concern of policy makers in the recent past years. The demand on data disaggregated by gender has led the survey statistician to collect data and tabulate statistics by gender. In this paper, some measures will be suggested to avoid and reduce gender bias for data collection and tabulation in agricultural surveys.     

浅析土建施工中存在的问题及解决对策

改革开放以来,在国家的号召下,我国的土建施工得到了快速发展,与此同时,土建施工工艺和技术也有较大发展,但是,施工质量问题也日益加重,越来越被人们所关注。本文针对土建施工中存在的问题进行了分析并提出了相应的预防措施。     

浅析施工现场存在的问题及管理措施

施工企业若想在日趋白热化的市场竞争中获得应得份额,就必须优化现场管理。同时,十几年来形成的基础、主体、竣工三部到位等级核定与巡回抽查相结合的工程质量监督运行方式,随着我国经济体制改革的深化和社会主义市场经济体制的逐步建立,也出现了诸多的矛盾和问题。所以,建立良好的质量监督体系关系着建筑施工企业发展的命脉。为此,从两方面揭示问题的普遍性和严重性,并提出了改进办法。     

Equity Rights Issues in Spain: Flotation Costs and Wealth Effects

This paper analyses the flotation costs and the share price reaction of equity offerings in Spain. The results report a positive relationship between relative flotation costs and the underwriting of an issue, and a negative relationship between such costs and ownership concentration. Fixed flotation costs and a negative relationship with the gross offer proceeds are also observed. On average, there is a negative share price reaction on the date of the 'previous communication' to the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores . The different sub-samples analysed according to the underwriting of the issue and the discount offered reveal no statistical differences.     

Information systems project management decision making: The influence of experience and risk propensity

Managing information systems (IS) projects is a notoriously difficult task. The project manager is a crucial player in a successful IS development project. This research examines how a project manager's prior experience and risk propensity influence his or her decision making. An experiment was conducted that showed that both experience and risk propensity have significant influence on the decisions made.     

Future S&T management policy issues—2025 global scenarios

This article presents four scenarios depicting science and technology (S&T) management dilemmas of the next two decades. The scenarios concern the balance between risk and promise, between the need to steer the directions of S&T, to minimize risk, and the need to maintain a free and unconstrained S&T agenda. These scenarios were constructed in the third year of the Millennium Project's study of this topic. The scenarios were formed in an interactive process with the project's international participants. The key policies that were found to be useful in all of the scenarios include (1) when considering the possibility of the misuse of weapons of mass destruction by terrorists, include the possibility of misuse by a single individual, acting alone; (2) establish mechanisms and techniques for making possible the explicit unintended consequences of scientific research and technology, including malicious uses; (3) for desirable technologies, where it may not be possible to avoid significant risks, develop mitigation strategies in parallel; (4) teach science ethics.     

关于加强国土资源资产监管问题的思考

文章结合党的十六届三中全会《决定》中关于“国有资产监管”和“建立健全自然资源资产等制度”方面的内容 ,阐述了充分认识加强国土资源资产监管的重大意义。在此基础上对国土资源资产监管涉及的问题做了进一步的论述 ,主要包括 :监管内容的科学界定、分级监管体系的建立、监管方式的选择及加快监管队伍建设的途径等。最后对如何开展国土资源资产监管研究工作提出了四条建议。     

The Seasoned‐Equity Issues of UK Firms: Market Reaction and Issuance Method Choice

Abstract:   This study examines the seasoned equity issues of companies traded on the London Stock Exchange. Recent regulatory changes have allowed UK firms more discretion in choice of issue approach, and this has led many firms to issue through placing in preference to a rights issue. Having first documented the trend towards increasing use of placings, we go on to identify an interesting subset of placings that are less likely to be anticipated by the market, and find a significant positive market reaction to such placings, which contrasts with the significant negative reaction we find for issues by rights. We also examine the choice of seasoned equity issuance method, focusing on the choice between placings versus rights issues. We develop a model to explain the choice of equity issue method that achieves a high level of predictive accuracy.     

Gender Mainstreaming and Corporate Social Responsibility: Reporting Workplace Issues

This paper investigates the potential and actual contribution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to gender equality in a framework of gender mainstreaming (GM). It introduces GM as combining technical systems (monitoring, reporting, evaluating) with political processes (women’s participation in decision-making) and considers the ways in which this is compatible with CSR agendas. It examines the inclusion of gender equality criteria within three related CSR tools: human capital management (HCM) reporting, CSR reporting guidelines, and socially responsible investment (SRI) criteria on employee and diversity issues. Although evidence is found of gender equality information being requested within several CSR related reporting frameworks, these requirements are mostly limited in scope, or remain optional elements. The nature and extent of relevant stakeholder opportunities are investigated to explain this unfulfilled potential.