Dividend Policy in Regulated Network Industries: Evidence from the EU

We study the dividend policy of firms in regulated network industries, focusing on the impact of different regulatory regimes and government control. We link payout and smoothing decisions to different regulatory mechanisms (cost-based vs. incentive regulation) and state vs. private ownership. We test our predictions on a panel of listed European electric utilities, accounting for potential endogeneity of the choice of regulatory and ownership patterns. We find that incentive-regulated firms smooth their dividends less than cost-based regulated firms and that they report higher target payout ratios. Consistent with the interest group theory of regulation, we find that incentive regulation schemes are less likely when the state is still an important shareholder in the sector. Additionally, our results show that government control undermines the efficiency-enhancing effects of incentive regulation on dividend policy, e.g. lower smoothing is only due to private firms

Transport across the vacuolar membrane in CAM plants

Close metabolic parallels exist between the processes of CO2 assimilation in C4 plants and in CAM plants. In both types of plant, a C4 cycle starts with the fixation of CO2 (as HCO3 −) by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and concludes with the release or CO2 by decarboxylation of a C4 dicarboxylate anion (malate or aspartate). This C4 cycle is an ancillary pathway, in the sense that it does not mediate the net fixation of atmospheric CO2. It simply passes on this CO2, at greatly elevated concentration, to ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RUBISCO) for assimilation through the standard C3 photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle