A Configurational Approach to Comparative Corporate Governance

We seek to bring to the core of the study of comparative corporate governance analysis the idea that within countries and industries, there exist multiple configurations of firm level characteristics and governance practices leading to effective corporate governance. In particular, we propose that configurations composed of different bundles of corporate governance practices are a useful tool to examine corporate governance models across and within countries (as well as potentially to analyze over time changes). While comparative research, identifying stylized national models of corporate governance, has been fruitful to help us think about the key institutional and shareholder rights determining governance differences and similarities across countries, we believe that given the financialization of the corporate economy, current globalization trends of investment, and rapid information technology advances, it is important to shift our conceptualization of governance models beyond the dichotomous world of common-law/outsider/shareholder-oriented system vs. civil law/insider/stakeholder oriented system. Our claim is based on the empirical observation that there exists a wide range of firms that either (1) fall in the "wrong" corporate governance category; (2) are a hybrid of these two categories; or (3) should be placed into an entirely new category such as firms in emerging markets or state-owned firms. In addition, as Aguilera and Jackson (2003) argue, firms, regardless of their legal family constraints, their labor and product markets, and the development of the financial markets from which they can draw, have significant degrees of freedom to chose whether to implement different levels of a given corporate governance practice. That is, firms might chose to fully endorse a practice or simply seek to comply with the minimum requirements without truly internalizing the governance practice. An illustrative example of the different degrees of internalization of governance practices is the existing variation in firms' definition of director independence or disclosure of compensation systems. We first discuss the conceptual idea of configurations or bundles of corporate governance practices underscoring the concept of equifinal paths to given firm outcomes as well as the complementarity and substitution in governance practices. We then move to the practice level of analysis to show how three governance characteristics (legal systems, ownership and boards of directors) cannot be conceptualized independently, as each of them is contingent on the strength and prevalence of other governance practices. In the last section, we illustrate how different configurations are likely to playout across industries and countries, taking as the departing practice, corporate ownership.

Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets

The turning to the XXI century has been marked by reforms in corporate governance practices around the world. Whether due to shocks caused by the economic crisis in East Asia, Russia and Latin America, or by financial scandals in the United States and Europe, the fact is that the way of doing business has changed in terms of demands for greater corporate transparency and accountability, shifts in control of ownership, empowerment of new types of owners and so on. Consequently, countries and firms have adapted their corporate governance policies and practices to this new governance environment. In this chapter, we discuss the foundation of corporate governance, that is, corporate ownership. In particular, we explore the current patterns of the ownership structure of publicly listed firms in six emerging countries. To do so, we have collected firm ownership data for listed firms in Brazil, Chile, South Korea, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland during the first decade of the XXI century, and we compare our data with existing ownership research of these countries in the late 1990s. We conclude that although concentration of corporate shareholdings continues to be a common denominator among these emerging countries, the processes and structures controlling firms across countries is remarkably different. For instance, the privatization process in the 1990s, in spite of having different motivations and goals in Latin American and Eastern Europe shaped much of the corporate ownership transformations. Our chapter offers a comparative analysis of the corporate ownership changes in emerging markets.

Bulk Band Structure of Bi2_2Te3_3

The bulk band structure of Bi$_2$Te$_3$ has been determined by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and compared to first-principles calculations. We have performed calculations using the local density approximation (LDA) of density functional theory and the one-shot $GW$ approximation within the all-electron full-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave (FLAPW) formalism, fully taking into account spin-orbit coupling. Quasiparticle effects produce significant changes in the band structure of \bite~when compared to LDA. Experimental and calculated results are compared in the spectral regions where distinct differences between the LDA and $GW$ results are present. Overall a superior agreement with $GW$ is found, highlighting the importance of many-body effects in the band structure of this family of topological insulators.Comment: 8 pages, 5 Figure

VARIAÇÃO NO CAMPO SEMÂNTICO “PESOS E MEDIDAS”: UM ESTUDO DO LÉXICO CATARINENSE

Este artigo apresenta um estudo sobre o léxico dos “pesos e medidas” na região de Xanxerê (SC) e municípios dos entornos. Tem como objetivo investigar a variação lexical no campo semântico a partir de dados de 48 (quarenta e oito) informantes, coletados por meio de um questionário, e tendo como base os aspectos evolutivos (diacrônicos) da língua; os elementos geográficos (diatópicos), como o rural e o urbano; e características sociais dos informantes, como faixa etária (variação diageracional), escolaridade (variação diastrática) e sexo (variação diassexual).  Como alicerce teórico, foram adotados os preceitos da Dialetologia Pluridimensional (RADTKE & THUN, 1996; THUN, 1998, THUN, 2010) ou Geossociolinguística (RAZKY, 2004, 2010). Os resultados mostraram que o ambiente onde os entrevistados vivem e a idade são os fatores mais determinantes durante a escolha por certas formas lexicais relacionadas aos pesos e medidas, e que a escolaridade e o sexo são apenas fatores coadjuvantes no processo. This article presents a study on the lexicon of “weights and measures” in the Xanxerê region (SC) and surrounding municipalities. It aims to investigate the lexical variation in the semantic field based on data from 48 (forty-eight) informants, collected through a questionnaire, and based on the evolutionary (diachronic) aspects of the language, the geographic (diatopic) elements, such as the rural and the urban; informants\u27 social characteristics, such as age group (diagerational variation), education level (diastratic variation) and sex (diassexual variation). As a theoretical foundation, the precepts of Pluridimensional Dialectology (RADTKE & THUN, 1996; THUN, 1998, THUN, 2010) or Geosociolinguistics (RAZKY, 2004, 2010) were adopted. The results showed that the environment where users live and age are the most determining factors when choosing certain lexical forms related to weights and measures, and that schooling and sex are only supporting factors in the process

Migrantes indocumentados, direitos humanos e alteridade

As migrações intensificam trocas culturais, mas na situação de clandestinidade na qual imigrantes indocumentados permanecem haverá, no máximo, um multiculturalismo caracterizado pela convivência subalterna de culturas sem trocas e diálogos, o que favorece que lhes sejam impingidos o medo, a angústia e a responsabilidade por problemas estruturais. Defende-se nesta pesquisa que o reconhecimento do ius migrandi é o que possibilitará o contato com a alteridade de forma igualitária, sem que o outro encontre-se em situação de inferioridade em decorrência de seu status migratório, construindo-se um multiculturalismo progressista e transformando a prática dos direitos humanos num projeto cosmopolita pela hermenêutica diatópica.

OS EFEITOS DA INTERNALIZAÇÃO DOS TRATADOS INTERNACIONAIS DE PROTEÇÃO AOS DIREITOS HUMANOS NO BRASIL: UMA ANÁLISE A PARTIR DO CASO DO PACTO DE SAN JOSE DA COSTA RICA

O presente artigo pretende analisar os efeitos da internalização dos Tratados Internacionais de proteção aos direitos humanos no Brasil a partir do Pacto de San Jose da Costa Rica. A escolha do tema se deu em vista da influência que o Direito Internacional exerce nos ordenamentos internos, e ainda, da relevância que os Tratados Internacionais tem para os direitos humanos. No intuito de enfrentar o tema proposto, buscar-se-á inicialmente mostrar a situação dos direitos humanos no mundo e no Brasil. Na sequência, demonstrar-se-á a situação da recepção dos tratados internacionais sobre direitos humanos no ordenamento brasileiro de acordo com a Constituição de 1988 e ainda, os efeitos que a Emenda Constitucional 45 de 2004 trouxe para esse procedimento. Ao final, analisar-se-á o caso do Pacto de San Jose da Costa Rica para demonstrar os efeitos que a possibilidade de internalização dos tratados internacionais em direitos humanos, seja pela via ordinária ou pelo rito especial da EC 45/04 trazem para o ordenamento brasileiro, para então se concluir que a internalização dos tratados é mecanismo importante para os direitos humanos, no entanto, não pode ser como remédio último para a carência desses direitos no Brasil

KINEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF THE LOWER EXTREMITY’S BEHAVIOR IN SQUATS WITH THREE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DECLINATION

The squat is an exercise helpful in the sport’s environment (Escamilla, 2001). The use of a skid under the heels during its execution has become common. Many studies have approached biomechanics analyses from the squat’s movement (Kongsgaard et al, 2006). However, we didn’t find studies that analysis the use of a skid in the training. Thus, the aim of this initial study was to analyse the kinematic behavior of the lower extremity during the bilateral squat with a straight bar in three different levels of declination

Attitudes towards mental health: a comparative study between nursing freshmen and seniors

Trata-se de um estudo desenvolvido em duas partes, numa delas, foi traçado um perfil das atitudes frente ao doente e à doença mental de alunos ingressantes no Curso de Enfermagem, antes de terem contato com a instrução acadêmica e com as disciplinas relacionadas a essa área do conhecimento específico. Na outra, foi traçado o mesmo perfil de atitudes com alunos formandos, do mesmo curso, momentos antes de receberem o grau de enfermeiros.Teve por objetivo estudar comparativamente os perfis de atitudes dos dois grupos de alunos frente à doença mental e ao seu portador, com o intuito de verificar a influência da instrução acadêmica nesses aspectos e oferecer subsídios para o planejamento e o desenvolvimento das disciplinas citadas. Para isso, foi utilizada a escala de opiniões sobre a doença mental. Os resultados mostraram que os formandos apresentaram-se menos autoritários, benevolentes, restritivos e discriminadores, acreditando mais na semelhança do doente mental com uma pessoa normal. Pode-se concluir que os formandos apresentaram um perfil de atitudes mais positivo frente à doença mental e ao seu portador do que o dos ingressantes no Curso de Enfermagem, e que a referida instrução acadêmica influencia favoravelmente, na mudança do perfil de atitudes dos alunos.4This study has been developed in two parts. In one of them, a profile of attitudes in face of mentally-ill patients and mental illness presented by nursing Freshmen was drawn before they had had any contact with academic instruction from courses belonging to this area of specific knowledge. In the other, the same profile of attitudes presented by Seniors was drawn a few days before they received a Bachelor of Nursing Science Degree. The study aimed at comparatively studying the profiles of attitudes by these student groups in face of mental illness and its carriers with the purpose to verify the influence of academic instruction on these aspects as well as to provide subsidies for the planning and development of the aforementioned courses. To that end, the opinion scale on mental illness was used. The results showed that the seniors were less authoritarian, less benevolent, less restrictive and less discriminatory. They had a stronger belief that mentally-ill people were similar to normal people. It can be concluded that the Seniors present a more positive profile of attitudes in face of mental illness and its carriers than do the Freshmen in Nursing and that the academic instruction referred to favorably influences in the change of such profile of attitudes