Are financial analysts of IPO firms under pressure: the European evidence

Long run returns of IPO firms’ recommendations in Europe reveal possible conflicts of interest and pressures faced by financial analysts over the 1991-2005 period. Nevertheless, recent European legislations about investment research have led to better long run performance of IPO firms’ recommendations issued by affiliated analysts over the 2001-2005 period. Findings reveal that market participants do not fully incorporate the perceived value of recommendations. Indeed, difference between affiliated and unaffiliated analysts’ recommendations is statistically significant over one, three or five year horizon. The timing of recommendations specifies that investors pay more attention to affiliated analysts’ recommendations made later in the aftermarket. This result could suggest that the later is the recommendation made in the IPO aftermarket the weaker is the pressure faced by affiliated analysts.Initial Public Offering; conflicts of interest; financial analysts; long run performance

The impact of boundary organizations on decision-making under uncertainty: a multi-agent simulation

Modern environmental issues imply that decision-makers take into account possibly conflicting information from distinct domains, such as science and economics. Boundary organizations, institutions that cross the gap between two different domains, are able to act beyond the boundaries while remaining accountable to each side. The goal is to simulate boundary organizations to assess their impact on the diffusion of experts' opinions. The hypothesis tested is whether the existence of a boundary organization eases the decision-making process by reducing the number of opinions expressed. The methodology relies on a multi-agent system based on a model of continuous opinion dynamics extended over two dimensions. Agents are described by credibility and conviction: the credibility represents how much other agents may be influenced by an agent, and the conviction represents the resistance of an agent to changing its position. Two kinds of agents are left free to interact, modifying their position through one-to-one exchanges. Agents called borgs are introduced: open to trans-disciplinary discussion, they are able to exchange on both dimensions. The results show that the range of expressed opinions is significantly reduced, even at low levels of experts involved in the boundary organization.

BOUNDARY ORGANIZATIONS: AN EFFICIENT STRUCTURE FOR MANAGING KNOWLEDGE IN DECISION-MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY

Modern environmental issues imply that decision-makers take into account opinions from experts of different spheres. Boundary organizations are institutions able to cross the gap between different areas of expertise and to act beyond the boundaries while remaining accountable to each side: by encouraging a flow of useful information, they permit an exchange to take place while maintaining the authority of each side, in order to provide a better knowledge and understanding of a situation characterized by uncertainty. Though never formally proved, this hypothesis is widely accepted based on the observation of existing boundary organizations. Through a multi-agent simulation, it is possible to assess their impact on the diffusion of opinions among experts. This virtual interaction of heterogeneous agents based on a model of continuous opinion dynamics over two dimensions, shows that boundary organizations have a significant quantitative impact on the diversity of opinions expressed and the number of experts agreeing to each emerging position.boundary organization, opinion, knowledge diffusion, multi-agent system, Agribusiness, Labor and Human Capital, Public Economics,

Taxonomic revision and phylogeny of the Ophiocoma brevipes group (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea) : with description of a new subgenus (Breviturma) and a new species

The taxonomy of the genus Ophiocoma was last revised by Devaney in 1970. Recent discoveries of new species and re-instatement of previously synonymized names suggest that we still do not fully understand the species limits in this genus. A recent biodiversity survey of the SW Indian Ocean shallow reefs strongly suggested an unrecognised species in the genus, closely related to O. brevipes/O. dentata. This study examined both the molecular phylogenetic relationships and the morphological characteristics of several species in the genus in order to characterise the unrecognised species. The focal species clusters with O. brevipes, O. dentata, O. doederleini within a monophyletic clade supported by molecular data for the first time. The name Breviturma subgen. nov. is proposed for this clade, previously known as brevipes group. Type material of nominal species that have been synonymized with O. dentata was examined and re-assessed. Ophiocoma marmorata proved not conspecific with O. dentata. A rarely used character, dorsal disc granule density, was tested and showed differences between the examined species at similar sizes. In combination with colour pattern, disc granule density, arm spine sequence and maximum disc size, the new species was delimited morphologically and described as Ophiocoma krohi sp. nov

Diagnostic assistance to improve acute burn referral and triage : assessment of routine clinical tools at specialised burn centres and potential for digital health development at point of care

Background: Inappropriate referral of patients for specialised care leads to overburdened health systems and improper treatment of patients who are denied transfer due to a scarcity of resources. Burn injuries are a global health problem where specialised care is particularly important for severe cases while minor burns can be treated at point of care. Whether several solutions, existing or in development, could be used to improve the diagnosis, referral and triage of acute burns at admission to specialised burn centres remains to be evaluated. Aim: The overarching aim of this thesis is to determine the potential of diagnostic support tools for referral and triage of acute burns injuries. More specifically, sub-aims include the assessment of routine and digital health tools utilised in South Africa and Sweden: referral criteria, mortality prediction scores, image-based remote consultation and automated diagnosis. Methods: Studies I and II were two retrospective studies of patients admitted to the paediatric (I) and the adult (II) specialised burn centres of the Western Cape province in South Africa. Study I examined adherence to referral criteria at admission of 1165 patients. Logistic regression was performed to assess the associations between adherence to the referral criteria and patient management at the centre. Study II assessed mortality prediction at admission of 372 patients. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate associations between patient, injury and admission-related characteristics with mortality. The performance of an existing mortality prediction model (the ABSI score) was measured. Study III and IV were related to two image-based digital-health tools for remote diagnosis. In Study III, 26 burns experts provided a diagnosis in terms of burn size and depth for 51 images of acute burn cases using their smartphone or tablet. Diagnostic accuracy was measured with intraclass correlation coefficient. In Study IV, two deep-learning algorithms were developed using 1105 annotated acute burn images of cases collected in South Africa and Sweden. The first algorithm identifies a burn area from healthy skin, and the second classifies burn depth. Differences in performances by patient Fitzpatrick skin types were also measured. Results: Study I revealed a 93.4% adherence to the referral criteria at admission. Children older than two years (not fulfilling the age criterion) as well as those fulfilling the severity criterion were more likely to undergo surgery or stay longer than seven days at the centre. At the adult burn centre (Study II), mortality affected one in five patients and was associated with gender, burn size, and referral status after adjustments for all other variables. The ABSI score was a good estimate of mortality prediction. In Study III experts were able to accurately diagnose burn size, and to a lesser extent depth, using handheld devices. A wound identifier and a depth classifier algorithm could be developed with assessments of relatively high accuracy (Study IV). Differences were observed in performances by skin types of the patients. Conclusions: Altogether the findings inform on the use in clinical practice of four different tools that could improve the accuracy of the diagnosis, referral and triage of patients with acute burns. This would reduce inequities in access to care by improving access for both paediatric and adult patient populations in settings that are resource scarce, geographically distant or under high clinical pressure

Investigation of LANDSAT D Thematic Mapper geometric performance: Line to line and band to band registration

The geometric accuray of LANDSAT TM raw data of Toulouse (France) raw data of Mississippi, and preprocessed data of Mississippi was examined using a CDC computer. Analog images were restituted on the VIZIR SEP device. The methods used for line to line and band to band registration are based on automatic correlation techniques and are widely used in automated image to image registration at CNES. Causes of intraband and interband misregistration are identified and statistics are given for both line to line and band to band misregistration

Gender and family background as predictors of entrepreneurial drive in France

This study analyses the role played by gender and personal environment in the definition ans establishment of professional values and vision of entrepreneurship amongst Higher Education students in Francegender ; entrepreneurship ; personal environment

Strategic activities in support of young French SMEs

In this paper we closely study young French Small and Medium Enteprises (SMEs). We highlight the structure of this target firms and we build a typology of corresponding business models. The business models stemming from this typology are typical (to the greatest extent possible) and actionable. We are particularly intersted in indentifying groups of SMEs where gouvernement assistance would be particularly effective and strategically valuable for the national economy. One of our conclusins is that the typology is not based on a classical growth model that reflects progressive phases of developement in the life of a young firm. Furthermore, it is ineffective and wasteful to focus governement assistance efforts on firms based on their age. We identify groups of business models where assistance would be more effecient and strategically more effective.SME ; growth ; growth model ; typology

Cluster, politique d'innovation et dynamique territoriale : les enseignements de l'expérience chinoise

15 p.Dans cette communication, nous explorons la question des moyens et des méthodes mises en oeuvre par l'Etat Central chinois afin de positionner la nation parmi les leaders mondiaux de l'innovation. A cet effet, au côté de l'impulsion d'une ambitieuse politique de recherche scientifique, l'acteur public a décidé de retenir la voie de l'agglomération d'investissements directs étrangers au sein de clusters à haut contenu technologique. Aujourd'hui, la Chine représente ainsi le 1er pays mondial en nombre et en importance de clusters développés sur le territoire. Derrière la question de l'ampleur de ce phénomène en Chine, véritable cas d'école d'une politique ambitieuse de cluster pilotée par l'Etat Central, quelles sont réellement les portées et limites rencontrées dans l'affichage de cette politique volontariste de développement territorialisé d'activités à haut contenu technologique ? Notre recherche nous conduit alors à mettre en évidence des résultats contrastés de cette voie chinoise