"Tying the Manager's Hands": How Firms can make Credible Commitments that make Opportunistic Managerial Intervention Less Likely

We discuss and empirically examine a firm-level equivalent of the ancient problem of "tying the King s hands", namely how to maximize managerial intervention for "good cause", while avoiding intervention for "bad cause". Managers may opportunistically intervene when such intervention produces private benefits. Overall firm performance is harmed as a result, because opportunistic managerial intervention harms employee motivation. The central point of the paper is that various mechanisms and factors, such as managers staking their personal reputation, employees controlling important assets, strong trade unions, corporate culture, etc. may function as constraints on managerial proclivities to opportunistically intervene. Thus, firms can make credible commitments that check managerial proclivities to opportunistically intervene. We derive 5 hypotheses from these ideas, and test them, using path-analysis, on a rich dataset, based on 329 firms in the Spanish food and electric/electronic industries.managerial opportunism; credible commitments; organizational design; transaction cost eco

Preliminary study of tug-glider freight systems utilizing a Boeing 747 as the tug

Performance of the tug-glider system was severely limited by ground run. In most cases studied, additional engines were necessary. Except at short ranges for which additional payload were carried in the tow plane, the productivity of the basic aircraft was degraded by a reduction in cruise speed necessitated by the glider drag. Excessive aspect ratios did not improve system performance because of the increase in glider wing weight. Powered gliders using a tow plane only for takeoff and climb had the potential for a major reduction in fuel consumption. Uncertainty of restrictive regulatory action and the apparently increased airborne investment per unit productivity are obstacles to commercial development

DSK1, a novel kinesin-related protein from the diatom Cylindrotheca fusiformis that is involved in anaphase spindle elongation.

We have identified an 80-kD protein that is involved in mitotic spindle elongation in the diatom Cylindrotheca fusiformis. DSK1 (Diatom Spindle Kinesin 1) was isolated using a peptide antibody raised against a conserved region in the motor domain of the kinesin superfamily. By sequence homology, DSK1 belongs to the central motor family of kinesin-related proteins. Immunoblots using an antibody raised against a non-conserved region of DSK1 show that DSK1 is greatly enriched in mitotic spindle preparations. Anti-DSK1 stains in diatom central spindle with a bias toward the midzone, and staining is retained in the spindle midzone during spindle elongation in vitro. Furthermore, preincubation with anti-DSK1 blocks function in an in vitro spindle elongation assay. This inhibition of spindle elongation can be rescued by preincubating concurrently with the fusion protein against which anti-DSK1 was raised. We conclude that DSK1 is involved in spindle elongation and is likely to be responsible for pushing hal-spindles apart in the spindle midzone

Room Decorating and Furnishing in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century

Moving from the development of the house this paper looks at the furnishing and decorating of rooms in the.first half of the nineteenth century. Résumé Après avoir traité l'évolution de la maison, cet article étudie l'ameublement et la décoration des pièces au cours de la première moitié du XIXe siècle

One-liners

One-liner

Can the UNAIDS modes of transmission model be improved? A comparison of the original and revised model projections using data from a setting in west Africa.

OBJECTIVE: The UNAIDS modes of transmission model (MoT) is a user-friendly model, developed to predict the distribution of new HIV infections among different subgroups. The model has been used in 29 countries to guide interventions. However, there is the risk that the simplifications inherent in the MoT produce misleading findings. Using input data from Nigeria, we compare projections from the MoT with those from a revised model that incorporates additional heterogeneity. METHODS: We revised the MoT to explicitly incorporate brothel and street-based sex-work, transactional sex, and HIV-discordant couples. Both models were parameterized using behavioural and epidemiological data from Cross River State, Nigeria. Model projections were compared, and the robustness of the revised model projections to different model assumptions, was investigated. RESULTS: The original MoT predicts 21% of new infections occur in most-at-risk-populations (MARPs), compared with 45% (40-75%, 95% Crl) once additional heterogeneity and updated parameterization is incorporated. Discordant couples, a subgroup previously not explicitly modelled, are predicted to contribute a third of new HIV infections. In addition, the new findings suggest that women engaging in transactional sex may be an important but previously less recognized risk group, with 16% of infections occurring in this subgroup. CONCLUSION: The MoT is an accessible model that can inform intervention priorities. However, the current model may be potentially misleading, with our comparisons in Nigeria suggesting that the model lacks resolution, making it challenging for the user to correctly interpret the nature of the epidemic. Our findings highlight the need for a formal review of the MoT