Corporate Hierarchies and the Size of Nations: Theory and Evidence

Corporate organization varies within a country and across countries with country size. The paper starts by establishing some facts about corporate organization based on unique data of 660 Austrian and German corporations. The larger country (Germany) has larger firms with flatter more decentral corporate hierarchies compared to the smaller country (Austria). Firms in the larger country change their organization less fast than firms in the smaller country. Over time firms have been introducing less hierarchical organizations by delegating power to lower levels of the corporation. We develop a theory which explains these facts and which links these features to the trade environment that countries and firms face. We introduce firms with internal hierarchies in a Krugman (1980) model of trade. We show that international trade and the toughness of competition in international markets induce a power struggle in firms which eventually leads to decentralized corporate hierarchies. We offer econometric evidence which is consistent with the models predictions

Spectroscopy of Li-9(Lambda) by electroproduction

Background: In the absence of accurate data on the free two-body hyperon-nucleon interaction, the spectra of hypernuclei provides information on the details of the effective hyperon-nucleon interaction. Purpose: To obtain a high-resolution binding-energy spectrum for the Be-9(e, e\u27 K+) Li-9(Lambda) reaction. Method: Electroproduction of the hypernucleus Li-9(Lambda) has been studied for the first time with sub-MeV energy resolution in Hall A at Jefferson Lab on a Be-9 target. In order to increase the counting rate and to provide unambiguous kaon identification, two superconducting septum magnets and a ring imaging Cherenkov detector were added to the Hall A standard equipment. Results: The cross section to low-lying states of Li-9(Lambda) is concentrated within 3 MeV of the ground state and can be fit with four peaks. The positions of the doublets agree with theory while a disagreement could exist with respect to the relative strengths of the peaks in the doublets. The Lambda separation energy, B-Lambda, of 8.36 +/- 0.08 (stat.) +/- 0.08 (syst.) MeV was measured, in agreement with an earlier experiment

Ions Accelerated by Sounder-Plasma Interaction as Observed by Mars Express

The ion sensor of the Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms (ASPERA-3) experiment detects accelerated ions during pulses of radio emissions from the powerful topside sounder: the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) onboard Mars Express. Accelerated ions (O+2, O+, and lighter ions) are observed in an energy range up to 800 eV when MARSIS transmits at a frequency close to the plasma frequency. Individual observations consist of almost monoenergetic ion beams aligned with the MARSIS antenna or lying in the plane perpendicular to the antenna. The observed ion beams are often accompanied by a small decrease in the electron flux observed by the electron sensor of Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms 3. Observations indicate that the voltage applied to the antenna causes charging of the spacecraft to several hundreds of volts by the electrons of the ambient plasma. Positively charged ions are accelerated when the spacecraft discharges

A video life-world approach to consultation practice: The relevance of a socio-phenomenological approach

This article discusses the [development and] use of a video life-world schema to explore alternative orientations to the shared health consultation. It is anticipated that this schema can be used by practitioners and consumers alike to understand the dynamics of videoed health consultations, the role of the participants within it and the potential to consciously alter the outcome by altering behaviour during the process of interaction. The study examines health consultation participation and develops an interpretative method of analysis that includes image elicitation (via videos), phenomenology (to identify the components of the analytic framework), narrative (to depict the stories of interactions) and a reflexive mode (to develop shared meaning through a conceptual framework for analysis). The analytic framework is derived from a life-world conception of human mutual shared interaction which is presented here as a novel approach to understanding patient-centred care. The video materials used in this study were derived from consultations in a Walk-in Centre (WiC) in East London. The conceptual framework produced through the process of video analysis is comprised of different combinations of movement, knowledge and emotional conversations that are used to classify objective or engaged WiC health care interactions. The videoed interactions organise along an active or passive, facilitative or directive typical situation continuum illustrating different kinds of textual approaches to practice that are in tension or harmony. The schema demonstrates how practitioners and consumers interact to produce these outcomes and indicates the potential for both consumers and practitioners to be educated to develop practice dynamics that support patient-centred care and impact on health outcomes

The blind monks and the elephant : contrasting narratives of financial crisis

Three persuasive narratives of the US subprime crisis are explored with reference both to theory and to emergency acts of public policy undertaken. First the role of pecuniary externalities that amplify any shocks to the quality of risk-assets held by Investment Banks and others. Second is adverse selection in marketing these assets; and third the role of financial panic in making investment-banking disaster-prone. How relevant these differing perspectives proved is attested by the nature of state support and by subsequent findings in courts of law. As Chair of the US Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen argued that vulnerabilities within the US financial system in the mid-2000s were “numerous and familiar from past financial panics”. That the varied threats to stability featuring in these narratives should be complements and not substitutes is of more than technical interest: it helps to explain why the US financial system was so exposed to radical failure

Evidence for the Decay Sigma+ -> p mu+ mu-

We report the first evidence for the decay Sigma+ -> p mu+ mu- from data taken by the HyperCP experiment(E871) at Fermilab. Based on three observed events, the branching ratio is B(Sigma+ -> p,mu+,mu-) = [8.6 +6.6,-5.4(stat) +/-5.5(syst)] x 10**-8. The narrow range of dimuon masses may indicate that the decay proceeds via a neutral intermediate state, Sigma+ -> p P0, P0 -> mu+ mu-, with a P0 mass of 214.3 +/- 0.5 MeV/c**2 and branching ratio B(Sigma+ -> p P0; P0 -> mu+ mu-) = [3.1 +2.4,-1.(stat) +/-1.5(syst)] x 10**-8.Comment: As published in PR

Search for the Lepton-Number-Violating Decay Ξ−→pμ−μ−\Xi^- \to p \mu^- \mu^-

A sensitive search for the lepton-number-violating decay $\Xi^-\to p \mu^-\mu^-$ has been performed using a sample of $\sim10^9$ $\Xi^-$ hyperons produced in 800 GeV/$c$ $p$-Cu collisions. We obtain $\mathcal{B}(\Xi^-\to p \mu^-\mu^-)< 4.0\times 10^{-8}$ at 90% confidence, improving on the best previous limit by four orders of magnitude.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Observation of Parity Violation in the Omega-minus -> Lambda + K-minus Decay

The alpha decay parameter in the process Omega-minus -> Lambda + K-minus has been measured from a sample of 4.50 million unpolarized Omega-minus decays recorded by the HyperCP (E871) experiment at Fermilab and found to be [1.78 +/- 0.19(stat) +/- 0.16(syst)]{\times}10^{-2}. This is the first unambiguous evidence for a nonzero alpha decay parameter, and hence parity violation, in the Omega-minus -> Lambda + K-minus decay.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure