Whose firm is it anyway? Analyzing ownership effects on IPO performance

This study revisits current practice that ownership holding at IPO has a homogeneous impact on IPO performance. Using signalling theory, we develop and test a conceptual model explaining the relationships between the aggregated ownership structure and IPO price premium. We argue that aggregated ownership has a direct effect on issue price premium, and offer specific hypotheses on the effect of the shares sold during the offering by each type of owner on IPO performance. We use archival data from a sample of US firms that issued IPOs between 1996 and 2000 and find a significant direct effect of ownership configuration, namely, heterogeneity in effect of each ownership type on IPO performance as well as interaction effects between different ownership types. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Status of development,regulation and adoption of GM agriculture in Africa: Views and positions of stakeholder groups

The use of genetically modified (GM) crop technology in tackling food security problems and poverty reduction in Africa continues to generate debates over its benefits and safety. Only four countries, South Africa, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Egypt have commercialized GM crops in Africa but controversy surrounds current cultivation of GM maize in Egypt. Our study provides new perspectives on the status, development and regulation of GM crops through examining the views of 305 stakeholders in six African countries across four regions: South Africa, Kenya (East Africa), Egypt and Tunisia (North Africa), Ghana and Nigeria (West Africa), supplemented by interviews with relevant international organizations. The study revealed the challenges leading to the development of biosafety regulatory frameworks and the role of individual stakeholders in the facilitation of GM crops across African countries. This study also revealed that some countries may go through a Fiber–Feed–Food (F3) approach to adopt GM crops where Bt cotton will be adopted first followed by GM crops for livestock feed while undergoing all the necessary assessments before producing GM foods for human consumption. An overwhelming majority of stakeholders placed emphasis on risk analysis (risk assessment and management) in view of limited capacity, lack of scientific expertise and public concern, and encouraged a centralized approach to risk assessment similar to the European Union model of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).     

马克思"世界历史"理论研究的现实意义

近代以来，中国始终面临着两个重大课题：一个是如何实现国家独立，一个是如何实现现代化，对这两个重大课题的科学回答离不开对马克思“世界历史”理论的研究。认识到民族独立与现代化的一致性，以及认识到社会主义与经济全球化的一致性，是百多年来中国人民在探索发展道路进程中的两次理论自觉。社会形态的局部跨越与现代性的内在超越构成了中国发展道路的两个基本规定，中国特色社会主义道路需要在唯物史观的指导下，从经济全球化的历史趋向性中加以认识和把握。     

Japanese Consumption,External Disequilibrium and their Statistical Measurement

Georgescu-Roegen's work is usually divided into two categories, his earlier work on consumer and production theory and his later concern with entropy and bioeconomics beginning with his 1966 introductory essay to his collected theoretical papers published in the volume Analytical Economics. Most economists usually praise his earlier work on pure theory and ignore his later work which is highly critical of neoclassical economics. Those economists sympathetic to his later work usually take the position that he “saw the light” and gave up neoclassical theory some time in the 1960s to turn his attention to the issues of resource scarcity and social institutions. It is argued here that there is an unbroken path running from Georgescu's work in pure theory in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, through his writings on peasant economies in the 1960s, leading to his preoccupation with entropy and bioeconomics in the last 25 years of his life. That common thread is his preoccupation with “valuation.” The choices our species makes about resource use and the distribution of economic output depends upon our valuation framework. Georgescu-Roegen's work begins in the 1930s with a critical examination of the difficulties with the hedonistic valuation framework of neoclassical economics, moves in the 1960s to the conflict between social and hedonistic valuation, and culminates in the 1970s and 1980s with his examination of the conflict between individual, social, and environmental values. This paper traces the evolution of Georgescu-Roegen's thought about valuation and the environmental and social policy recommendations which arise out of his bioeconomic framework.     

Understanding Personal Web Usage in Organizations

Personal web usage, that is, non-work-related use of the Internet for personal purposes during work hours, is a pervasive behavior observed in the daily work environment. U.S. companies have implemented several countermeasures to cope with personal Web usage, but those measures have not successfully mitigated this behavior. Considering the significance of personal Web usage, we need to understand why personal Web usage is not alleviated in current organizations. The goal of this study is to present an empirical investigation of why employees continue personal Web usage based on an extended theory of planned behavior. We are particularly interested in how people's perceptions of moral dimensions contribute to personal Web usage, recognizing that our work environment becomes more Web-embedded. We conducted a field survey of 426 U.S. business professionals and analyzed the data by using partial least squares. As a result, we demonstrate that an individual's attitude, subjective norm, denial of responsibility, self-efficacy, personal computer availability, seclusion of office, and workload are significant factors affecting personal Web usage. Interestingly, current organizational preventive efforts (e.g., Web-based activity monitoring and filtering systems and policies) and moral obligation are not as significant as we originally expected. Key implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Editorial

An Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) was utilized to model the United States demand for domestic and imported tobaccos. The model, which includes equations for domestic flue-cured tobacco, domestic air-cured (burley) tobacco, oriental tobacco, and imported flue-cured and burley tobacco, incorporates the impact of economic factors as well as changes in consumer tastes. In this model homogeneity was rejected under certain conditions, but symmetry could not be rejected. These results suggest that imported flue-cured and burley tobacco, to a limited extent, is a substitute for domestic flue-cured tobacco and is a complement for domestic air-cured tobacco. The trend toward lower average nicotine content of domestic cigarettes is shown to have a detrimenta1 effect on the demand for domestic flue-cured tobacco, but a beneficial impact on domestic air-cured (burley), and imported oriental tobaccos.     

小(2)型水库除险加固设计经验探讨

文章结合广西小(2)型水库除险加固设计概况,总结了一些主要建筑物的典型设计方案,并针对设计过程中存在的问题,提出做好病险水库除险加固工作的建议。     

特制小夹板在小儿手指伤中的应用

特制小夹板外固定法是治疗小儿手指伤最有效的护理方法,其结合目前医学运动学原理,对骨伤部位间接固定。由于其操作简单、痛苦小、取材方便、经济实惠及便于医生调整等优点,在儿童手指伤中广泛应用。     

提升高职院校思想政治理论课教育实效性研究

本文通过分析当前高职院校思想政治理论课教育存在的问题,提出提升高职院校思想政治理论课教育的建议,以提高其课教育效果,做好高职院校这方面课教育工作。     

效用理论在飞行安全风险评估中的应用

为科学划分飞行安全风险等级,将效用理论引入飞行安全风险领域,利用效用函数,建立了飞行安全风险评估模型。在分析飞行安全风险的基础上,通过定义事故或危险事件损失效应,选取合适的效用函数进行飞行安全风险的度量。模型有效区分了类似飞行事故这样高损失、低概率事件与飞行事故征候这样低损失、高概率事件风险之间的差异,克服了期望值法的局限性。最后通过实例验证了该方法的科学性和有效性。