The Rise and Fall of the European New Markets: On the Short and Long-Run Performance of High-Tech Initial Public Offerings

initial public offerings;underpricing;long-run underperformance;stock exchange regulation;listing rules

Contested rules and shifting boundaries: International standard setting in accounting

The paper investigates the emergence and development, since the Second World War, of a transnational field of governance for accounting and financial reporting. Recent decades have seen a proliferation of activities and initiatives to make financial reporting standards comparable across national borders. This process of transnational or international standards setting is shown to be a highly political process where actors with different backgrounds enter the game with specific interests, perceptions, strategies and resources. In fact, it shows how contest and conflict can become driving forces of international standardization if organized within a widely accepted procedural framework. -- In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird das Spannungsfeld der Entstehung und Entwicklung von internationalen Standards für die Wirtschaftsprüfung und Rechnungslegung seit dem 2. Weltkrieg untersucht. In den letzten Jahrzehnten ist eine Zunahme von Aktivitäten und Initiativen zur grenzüberschreitenden Harmonisierung von Rechnungslegungsstandards zu beobachten. Die Schaffung von transnationalen bzw. internationalen Standards erweist sich als hochpolitischer Prozess, in den Akteure aus unterschiedlichen Bereichen ihre spezifischen Interessen, Wahrnehmungen, Strategien und Ressourcen einbringen. Tatsächlich verdeutlichen diese Vorgänge, dass Konkurrenz und Konflikt als treibende Kräfte für die internationale Standardsetzung dienen können, sofern der Verfahrensrahmen allgemein anerkannt ist.

Splitting of the Dipole and Spin-Dipole Resonances

Cross sections for the 90,92,94Zr(p,n) reactions were measured at energies of 79.2 and 119.4 MeV. A phenomenological model was developed to describe the variation with bombarding energy of the position of the L=1 peak observed in these and other (p,n) reactions. The model yields the splitting between the giant dipole and giant spin dipole resonances. Values of these splittings are obtained for isotopes of Zr and Sn and for 208Pb.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Voluntary adoption of non-local GAAP in the European Union: a study of determinants

This study examines the determinants of voluntary adoption of non-local accounting principles for financial reporting (non-local GAAP) by non-financial companies listed and domiciled in the European Union. We restrict ourselves to the two most predominant internationally accepted sets of accounting standards: International Accounting Standards (IAS) and United States generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP). The maintained hypothesis is that firms will switch from local to non-local GAAP if the benefits outweigh the costs. This study provides insight in the characteristics of firms that experience positive net-benefits from non-local GAAP adoption. Considering that mandatory adoption of IAS is envisaged for listed EU companies from 2005 on, the results are of potential interest to EU and national financial reporting regulators.We have used various sources to identify EU companies that use non-local GAAP. The 1999 annual reports of all these companies were examined. We find that 133 non-financial companies in the EU voluntarily adopted non-local GAAP in 1999. This suggests that the net-benefits of using non-local GAAP are positive for only a small minority of EU companies.Companies that do voluntarily use non-local GAAP are more likely to be listed on a US exchange, the EASDAQ exchange in Brussels, and have more geographically dispersed operations. Furthermore, they are more likely to be domiciled in a country with lower quality financial reporting and where IAS is explicitly allowed as an alternative to local GAAP.accounting and auditing ;

International comparison of sectoral energy- and labour-productivity performance; stylised facts and decomposition of trends

This paper simultaneously explores trends in energy- and labour productivity for 14 OECD countries and 13 sectors over the period 1970-1997. A principal aim of this paper is to trace back macroeconomic productivity developments to developments at the level of individual sectors, in order to correct trends in technology-driven productivity improvements for the impact of structural effects. First, we document trends in macroeconomic energy- and labour productivity performance, examining the role of the Manufacturing, Services, Transport and Agricultural sector. Second, we take a closer look at the role of 10 Manufacturing sectors in driving aggregate Manufacturing energy- and labour-productivity performance. A cross-country decomposition analysis reveals that in some countries structural changes contributed considerably to aggregate energy-productivity growth while in other countries they partly offset energy-efficiency improvements. In contrast, structural changes only play a minor role in explaining aggregate labour-productivity developments. We identify for each country the percentage contribution of each sector to aggregate structural and efficiency changes. Furthermore, we find labour productivity growth to be higher on average than energy productivity growth. Over time, this bias towards labour productivity growth is increasing in the Transport, Agriculture and aggregate Manufacturing sectors, while it is decreasing in Services and most Manufacturing sectors.

Solar-like oscillations in KIC11395018 and KIC11234888 from 8 months of Kepler data

We analyze the photometric short-cadence data obtained with the Kepler Mission during the first eight months of observations of two solar-type stars of spectral types G and F: KIC 11395018 and KIC 11234888 respectively, the latter having a lower signal-to-noise ratio compared to the former. We estimate global parameters of the acoustic (p) modes such as the average large and small frequency separations, the frequency of the maximum of the p-mode envelope and the average linewidth of the acoustic modes. We were able to identify and to measure 22 p-mode frequencies for the first star and 16 for the second one even though the signal-to-noise ratios of these stars are rather low. We also derive some information about the stellar rotation periods from the analyses of the low-frequency parts of the power spectral densities. A model-independent estimation of the mean density, mass and radius are obtained using the scaling laws. We emphasize the importance of continued observations for the stars with low signal-to-noise ratio for an improved characterization of the oscillation modes. Our results offer a preview of what will be possible for many stars with the long data sets obtained during the remainder of the mission.Comment: 39 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Revolving-field polygon technique for performance prediction of single-phase induction motors

This paper presents a new analytical technique for improving the performance prediction of single-phase induction motors, especially capacitor motors. The technique uses the split-phase motor electrical equivalent circuit analysis together with electrical and magnetic parameters whose variation is computed from the equivalent balanced polyphase motor, so that the same magnetic circuit analysis can be used for both. (The term split-phase is used to cover motors operating from a single-phase supply but with the phase windings split into two orthogonal windings, one of which may have a capacitor in series with it during running or starting.) The technique accounts for the elliptical envelope of the magnetizing field vector and results in improved precision, since the three-phase electromagnetic model is considered to be more precise than the normal split-phase motor analysis. An important result is the computation of vector polygons of flux density for each section of the magnetic circuit, providing a better basis for core loss prediction. The double-frequency torque ripple is also obtained from the stator magnetomotive force and flux-density polygons. Three different electrical equivalent circuit methods for the split-phase motor (based respectively on the cross-field theory, forward- and backward-revolving fields, and symmetrical components) are evaluated to determine the method best suited for incorporating the variation of the circuit parameters from the polyphase magnetic circuit analysis, and it is discussed how the core losses can be included in these circuits to obtain the best overall performance prediction

Recent developments in German corporate governance.

This paper provides an overview of the German corporate governance system. We review the governance role of large shareholders, creditors, the product market and the supervisory board. We also discuss the importance of mergers and acquisitions, the market in block trades, and the lack of a hostile takeover market. Given that Germany is often referred to as a bank-based economy, we pay particular attention to the role of the universal banks (Hausbanken). We show that the German system is characterised by a market for partial corporate control, large shareholders and bank/creditor monitoring, a two-tier (management and supervisory) board with co-determination between shareholders and employees on the supervisory board, a disciplinary product-market, and corporate governance regulation largely based on EU directives but with deep roots in the German codes and legal doctrine. Another important feature of the German system is its corporate governance efficiency criterion which is focused on the maximisation of stakeholder value rather than shareholder value. However, the German corporate governance system has experienced many important changes over the last decade. First, the relationship between ownership or control concentration and profitability has changed over time. Second, the pay-for-performance relation is influenced by large shareholder control: in firms with controlling blockholders and when a universal bank is simultaneously an equity- and debtholder, the pay-for-performance relation is lower than in widely-held firms or blockholder-controlled firms. Third, since 1995 several major regulatory initiatives (including voluntary codes) have increased transparency and accountability