The Structure of Debt and Active Equity Investors: The Case of the Buyout Specialist

This paper examines the role buyout specialists play in structuring the debt used to finance the LBO and in monitoring management in the post-LBO firm. We find that when buyout specialists control the majority of the post-LBO equity, the LBO transaction is likely to be financed with less short-term and/or senior debt and less likely to experience financial distress. We also find that buyout specialists have greater board representation on smaller boards, suggesting that they actively monitor managers, and that for these transactions, using debt with tighter terms does not significantly increase the firm\u27s performance. In contrast, in all other transactions using such debt does significantly increase the firm\u27s performance. These findings suggest that active monitoring by a buyout specialist substitutes for tighter debt terms in monitoring and motivating managers of LBOs

Defining and Measuring High Technology in Georgia

This report defines and measures the high technology sector in Georgia

Jobs and Income Growth of Top Earners and the Causes of Changing Income Inequality: Evidence from U.S. Tax Return Data

This paper presents summary statistics on the occupations of taxpayers in the top percentile of the national income distribution and fractiles thereof, as well as the patterns of real income growth between 1979 and 2005 for top earners in each occupation, based on information reported on U.S. individual income tax returns. The data demonstrate that executives, managers, supervisors, and financial professionals account for about 60 percent of the top 0.1 percent of income earners in recent years, and can account for 70 percent of the increase in the share of national income going to the top 0.1 percent of the income distribution between 1979 and 2005. During 1979-2005 there was substantial heterogeneity in growth rates of income for top earners across occupations, and significant divergence in incomes within occupations among people in the top 1 percent. We consider the implications for various competing explanations for the substantial changes in income inequality that have occurred in the U.S. in recent times. We then use panel data on U.S. tax returns spanning the years 1987 through 2005, to estimate the elasticity of gross income with respect to net-of-tax share (that is, one minus the marginal tax rate). Information on occupation allows us to control for other influences on income in a flexible way using interactions among occupation, position in the income distribution, stock prices, housing prices, and the business cycle. We also allow for income shifting across years in response to anticipated tax changes, for the long-run effect of a tax reform to differ from the short-run effects, for heterogeneous mean-reversion across incomes, and for heterogeneous elasticities across income classes. In a specification that does all this, we estimate a significant elasticity of 0.7 among taxpayers in the top 0.1 percent of the income distribution. Outside of the top 0.1 percent of the income distribution, we find no conclusive evidence of a positive elasticity of income with respect to net-of-tax shares. We find that the estimate for the top 0.1 percent is not robust to controlling for a spline in lagged income that is very flexible at the upper reaches of the income distribution, suggesting that the method used to allow for income dynamics is very important. Allowing for income shifting across years in response to anticipated tax changes has important consequences for the estimates.income distribution, behavioral response to taxation

Winning and losing in the creative industries: an analysis of creative graduates' career opportunities across creative disciplines

Following earlier work looking at overall career difficulties and low economic rewards faced by graduates in creative disciplines, the paper takes a closer look into the different career patterns and economic performance of “Bohemian” graduates across different creative disciplines. While it is widely acknowledged in the literature that careers in the creative field tend to be unstructured, often relying on part-time work and low wages, our knowledge of how these characteristics differ across the creative industries and occupational sectors is very limited. The paper explores the different trajectory and career patterns experienced by graduates in different creative disciplinary fields and their ability to enter creative occupations. Data from the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) are presented, articulating a complex picture of the reality of finding a creative occupation for creative graduates. While students of some disciplines struggle to find full-time work in the creative economy, for others full-time occupation is the norm. Geography plays a crucial role also in offering graduates opportunities in creative occupations and higher salaries. The findings are contextualised in the New Labour cultural policy framework and conclusions are drawn on whether the creative industries policy construct has hidden a very problematic reality of winners and losers in the creative economy

Towards 2000: A Tougher Future for Australian Business?

The paper reports on the future business environment expected by top level Australian executives. It forecasts environmental changes to the year 2000 and updates projections reported in an earlier study. Specifically, top managers from 171 of Australia\u27s largest 500 corporations provide their views concerning world ecology, the economy, technology and political-social developments. Their perceptions are then linked to specific competitive strategies that are evoked by the long-range forecast which they expect

Should Marketing Managers Be Concerned about Attitudes towards Marketing and Consumerism in New Zealand: A Longitudinal View

New Zealand has gone through a radical metamorphosis since free market economics were introduced in the mid-1980s. Marketing managers are particularly interested in the views of consumers about issues dealing with marketing activities. Negative views could signal consumer backlash against free market activities. This study examines the views of consumers from 1986 to 2001 on a range of issues dealing with marketing and consumerism. The results clearly show that consumers are less negative about marketing and consumerism issues since 1986. It seems likely that New Zealand has evolved in terms of the consumerism life cycle over the last 15 years. Marketing managers should continue to remain proactive in their responses to consumer discontents. Implications for New Zealand and for other countries are addressed

Indigenous society and immigrants : tourism and retailing in Lijiang, China, a World Heritage city.

This paper examines the present state of commercial use of historical buildings, details of business categories, and descriptions of items on sale in the shops in the old town of Lijiang, China in order to investigate the problems of cultural-tourism development centered on World Heritage sites. In recent years, the usage of historical buildings built by the Naxis, the indigenous ethnic group of Lijiang, has drastically changed. At present, over 60% of shops are tourist-oriented souvenir shops and restaurants. Furthermore, over 50% of the shopkeepers are temporary residents, with a large majority renting rooms from indigenous owners. These findings suggest that the location of the minority's residence and its culture are rapidly changing as tourism develops. They also imply that a re-evaluation of policy is essential for the development of sustainable tourism

THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURAL PROCESSING AND FARM INPUT MANUFACTURING IN THE NORTH DAKOTA ECONOMY

The purpose of this report is to estimate the economic impact of farm input manufacturing and value-added agricultural processing in the North Dakota economy. Economic impacts for these agriculturally-linked sectors are in addition to those for direct agricultural (crops and livestock) production. This analysis will provide state-level estimates of key economic indicators including levels of business activity, retail trade, personal income, secondary employment and tax revenues associated with these agriculturally-linked sectors. A survey of the 76 farm input manufacturing and 160 agricultural processing firms in North Dakota was conducted to obtain expenditure patterns. In-state outlays by these firms were allocated to sectors of the economy and divided by their respective number of employees to obtain a per employee expenditure for each economic sector. Per worker expenditures for the farm input manufacturing sector were multiplied by that sector's total employment (2,418) to estimate the industry's total expenditures. Agricultural processing per worker outlays were also multiplied by total employment (7,104) to estimate the total expenditures for this sector. Total expenditures for farm input manufacturing were estimated to be $146.8 million in 2002, and total agricultural processing expenditures were$361.9 million. These expenditures were applied to the North Dakota Input-Output Model to estimate economic impacts. The North Dakota Input-Output Model is a tool for tabulating and describing the linkages or interdependencies between various industrial groups within an economy. This model uses interdependence coefficients, or multipliers, to measure the total level of economic activity generated in each sector from an additional dollar of expenditures in a given sector. Total business activity generated from the in-state expenditures amounted to $482.2 million for the farm input manufacturing firms and$1,201.4 million for agricultural processing firms, giving a total of $1,683.6 million. Retail sales for the farm input manufacturing and agricultural processing firms were$105.2 million and $243.2 million, respectively. Total retail sales were estimated to be$348.4 million for the two agriculturally-linked sectors. Another indicator of the economic impact, personal income, was estimated to be $174.3 million for farm input manufacturing,$380.9 million for agricultural processing, with a total of $555.2 million. In addition to the 9,522 direct workers employed by these firms, another 16,272 secondary (indirect and induced) jobs were created. State revenue was enhanced by$27.4 million as the result of sales and use, personal income, and corporate income tax collections resulting from the business activity for the farm input manufacturing and agricultural processing firms.economic impact, farm input manufacturing, value-add agricultural processing, economic indicators, Agribusiness,