Do corporate governance motives drive hedge funds and private equity activities?

We address the question of whether hedge fund and private equity investments in public firms are motivated by corporate governance improvements. As opposed to traditional financial investors both HF and PE are likely to have the incentives to alleviate agency conflicts. However, against the background of differences in their business models and organizational set ups, it remains an empirical question of whether they address the same or different agency conflicts. Studying HF and PE activities in a typical Continental European market like Germany promises to offer interesting insights about how HF and PE activities relate to the prevalence of family ownership, concentrated ownership structures and conflicts among majority and minority owners. We document empirical evidence that both HF and PE investments are driven by corporate governance improvements, but seem to address different types of agency conflicts. Whereas HF focus on firms with a lack of a controlling shareholder, in particular family shareholders, PE invest in firms which exhibit the potential to align manager-shareholder interests due to low managerial ownership. Both appear to address free cash flow problems differently. Aiming at dividend increases, HF tend use commitment devices that can be implemented over a short horizon. In contrast, PE are inclined to target firms which are particularly well-suited for a leverage increase because of low expected financial distress costs. This strategy requires a sufficiently long investment horizon. --private equity,hedge funds,corporate governance

An online fabric database to link fabric drape and end-use properties

The main obstacle for adaptation of fabric selection through the Internet is that there is no objective selection method that is suitable for fashion fabrics. The purpose of this research is to develop an objective evaluation method for selecting fabrics through an online fabric database. The relationship between fabric mechanical properties and fabric drape was investigated. One hundred eighty-five commercial fabrics from different manufacturers were tested using the Kawabata fabric evaluation system (KES-FB) and Cusick drape tester. Applying regression analysis, the parameters that were significantly correlated with drape coefficient (DC) were determined. The test results, fabric structural parameters, and contact information for fabric manufacturers, were included in the database. A web-site with a user interface allowing users to implement various types of searches was published on the Internet. Fuzzy linear clustering technique was used to predict fabric drape property. The accuracy for predicting fabric drape using this technique was 94%. This means the model using fuzzy linear clustering is an efficient method to predict fabric end-use properties. Additionally, a new method to measure drape coefficient using Photo Shop was developed by this author. Instead of weighing paper rings, shaded drape area was used to calculate the drape coefficient. With the new Photo Shop method, the cost, testing time and human error was reduced while the accuracy of the test result was increased

Determination of invaders and their invasiveness in annual grasslands and roadsides (Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, İzmir)

Bu çalışmada Aydın, Denizli, Muğla ve İzmir il sınırları içerisinde yayılış gösteren istilacı bitki türleri ve istila yetenekleri tek yıllık otlaklarda ve yol kenarlarında kantitatif olarak ayrı ayrı belirlenmiştir. Vejetasyon 1 m2’lik kare şeklinde çerçeve kullanılarak örneklenmiştir ve her örnek parselde bulunan bitki türleri ve örtüşleri göz kararı belirlenmiştir. Toplam 200 örnek parsel çalışması yapılmıştır. Verilerin değerlendirilmesi sonucunda tek yıllık otlaklarda yayılış gösteren 24 familyaya bağlı tür ve tür altı seviyede 151 takson belirlenmiştir. Bu taksonlardan büyük bir kısmı % 19 oranıyla Asteraceae ve Poaceae familyalarına aittir. Yol kenarlarından elde edilen verilerin değerlendirilmesi sonucunda yol kenarlarında yayılış gösteren 37 familyaya bağlı tür ve tür altı seviyede 266 takson belirlenmiştir. Bu taksonlardan büyük bir kısmı % 19 oranıyla Poaceae ve % 17 oranıyla Fabaceae familyalarına aittir. Bu çalışmada özellikle müdahale edilmiş otlaklardan elde edilen örnek parsellerde Asteraceae ve Fabaceae üyelerinin daha fazla gözlenmesi, bu familyanın sayıları hiç de azımsanmayacak ruderal stratejiyi benimsemiş üyelerinin müdahale edilmiş ortamlarda kolayca kolonize olmaları ve bu tip ortamları hızla istila edebilme özellikleriyle açıklanmıştır. Ayrıca bu araştırmadan elde edilen sonuçlar mevcut istila hipotezleriyle (Müdahale Hipotezi, Tür Zenginliği Hipotezi, Niş Boşluğu Hipotezi) ilişkilendirilerek yorumlanmıştırIn this study, invasive plant species and their invasiveness which occur along roadsides and annual grasslands in the province of Aydın, Denizli, Muğla and İzmir seperately quantified. Vegetation was sampled using 1 m2 quadrat frames and within each frame all herbaceous species were identified and abundance was quantified as percent cover based on ocular estimates. A total of 200 plots were sampled. In annual grasslands, as a result of analyses of survey study, a total of 151 plant species belong to 26 different families were found and Poaceae and Asteraceae were defined as the most common families with a frequency of 19%. Along roadsides, a total of 266 plant species belong to 37 different families were detected and Poaceae was defined as the most common family with a frequency of 19%, followed by Fabaceae with a frequency of 17%. According to the data of survey, members of Asteraceae and Fabaceae families were more observed in plots which are sampled in especially disturbed annual grasslands can explain with their traits about being able to easily colonize and invade in disturbed lands. Results obtained from this study associated with invasion hypothesis (The Disturbance Hypothesis, The Species Richness Hypothesis, The Empty Niche Hypothesis) and annotated

Kommunikation von Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) auf Internetseiten von Öko-Unternehmen: Wie beurteilen Konsumenten die Glaubwürdigkeit der CSR-Kommunikation?

Only if consumers perceive organic products as credible, they are willing to pay a price premium. One measure to enhance the credibility of organic products is CSR. So far, there are no studies on how consumers evaluate the credibility of CSR communication of organic companies (OCs). Therefore, 21 think-aloud protocols were conducted, during which respondents searched for CSR information on websites of OCs. The protocols were analysed by qualitative content analysis and examined according to the two factors of credibility: expertise and trustworthiness. Overall, the evaluation of trustworthiness was more relevant to the consumers compared to the perceived company’s expertise in CSR. Aspects such as knowledge on organic standards of the consumers (forgoing of GMOs) and the provision of precise information on CSR activities influenced trustworthiness. By more specific CSR communication, OCs can increase their credibility, generate customer loyalty and differentiate themselves from conventional companies’ CSR

Wie reagieren Öko- und konventionelle Unternehmen der Lebensmittelbranche auf Kundenanfragen zu ihrem gesellschaftlich verantwortungsvollen Verhalten?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is gaining in importance for food companies since CSR increases customer loyalty. So far, there are no studies on how companies respond to customer requests addressing their CSR-activities and whether organic companies (OCs) respond differently compared to conventional companies (CCs). Therefore, 200 inquiries were sent to food companies (OCs and CCs) requesting for information on their specific CSR-activities. The company responses were analysed by evaluative qualitative content analysis.Overall 67% of the companies responded to the inquiries. The results indicate slight differences in the professionality and the indication of comprehensible information between OCs and CCs. One third of all companies communicated only a low implementation level of CSR or no activities at all. OCs communicated a higher implementation level for environmentally friendly activities and their waste manage expectations and to legitimate the price premium for organic products, OCs have to implement and communicate more responsible activities in all CSR-dimensions (e.g. employee and procurement concerns) compared to CCs

Strategieanalyse des deutschen Naturkostfachhandels

Der deutsche Naturkostfachhandel verzeichnete seit einigen Geschäftsquartalen ein stagnierendes oder rückläufiges Wachstum, während der konventionelle Lebensmitteleinzelhandel seine Rolle als führender Anbieter von ökologischen Lebensmitteln weiter ausbaute. Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags war es, die aktuelle Strategie des Naturkostfachhandels zu analysieren und Empfehlungen für seine zukünftige Ausrichtung abzuleiten. Dazu wurden 15 qualitative Interviews mit Experten des deutschen Öko-Marktes nach der Delphi-Methode durchgeführt. Die Experten identifizierten vor allem Schwächen des Naturkostfachhandels, eine klare strategische Positionierung fehle aus ihrer Sicht. Anstatt sich auf eine Niedrigpreis zentrierte Politik zu konzentrieren, sollte der Naturkostfachhandel eine Qualitätsstrategie verfolgen, ein originelles, werthaltiges Sortiment anbieten und kompetente und motivierte Mitarbeiter beschäftigen. Insbesondere Themen wie regionale Bezugsquellen müssen stärker in Angriff genommen werden. Zusätzlich müssen die Werte und die praktischen Leistungen des Naturkostfachhandels Öko-Konsumenten wirkungsvoll vermittelt werden, um langfristig wieder stärker vom Wachstum des Öko-Markts profitieren zu können

Excess Spin and the Dynamics of Antiferromagnetic Ferritin

Temperature-dependent magnetization measurements on a series of synthetic ferritin proteins containing from 100 to 3000 Fe(III) ions are used to determine the uncompensated moment of these antiferromagnetic particles. The results are compared with recent theories of macroscopic quantum coherence which explicitly include the effect of this excess moment. The scaling of the excess moment with protein size is consistent with a simple model of finite size effects and sublattice noncompensation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postsript figures, 1 table. Submitted to PR

Ekmeklik Buğdayda Genotip, Ekim Zamanı ve Tohum Fungusiti Ön Uygulamalarının Kök ve Kök Boğazı Çürüklüğü ve Tane Verimi Üzerine Etkileri

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of sowing time,cultivar and seed fungicide applications on root and crown rot diseaseand grain yield of bread wheat with different earliness traits (Esperia,mid-early; Genesi, late and Anapo, early) in the experiment station ofthe Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, TekirdağNamık Kemal University. Four different fungicides pre-treatments(prothioconazole + tebuconazole, carboxin + thiram, prochloraz +tiriticonazole and control) were applied to the seeds of the varietiesbefore sowing in three different times, on 1 November, 15 Novemberand 30 November 2016. The experiment was designed as a split-splitplot with 3 replications. The results of the variance analysis showedthat the effect of applying different seed fungicide pre-treatment rootand crown rot of bread wheat varieties was statistically significant.While the lowest root and crown rot with 2.67 % was obtained fromthe second sowing time, the highest root and crown rot wasdetermined with a value of 3.64% for the earliest sowing on 01November. Among the four different fungicide pre-treatments, thehighest root and crown rot (5.59%) was obtained in the controlapplication, while the lowest root and crown rot was obtained inprothioconazole + tebuconazole, carboxin + thiram and prochloraz +triticonazole, with 1.96%, 2.10% and 2.19% root and crown rot,respectively. These data indicate that early sowing may increase rootand crown rot severity.Bu çalışma, Tekirdağ Namık Kemal Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Tarla Bitkileri Bölümü deneme alanında ekim zamanı, çeşit ve tohum ilacı uygulamalarının buğdayda kök ve kök boğazı çürüklüğü hastalıkları ile buğday dane verimine etkilerini araştırmak amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Araştırmada vejetasyon süreleri farklı olan 3 adet ekmeklik buğday çeşidi (Esperia:orta erkenci, Genesi: geççi ve Anapo: erkenci) kullanılmıştır. Ekimden önce bu çeşitlerin tohumlarına dört farklı fungisit (prothioconazole + tebuconazole, karboxin + thiram, prochloraz + tiriticonazole ve kontrol) uygulanarak 1 Kasım, 15 Kasım ve 30 Kasım 2016 olmak üzere 3 farklı zamanda ekimler yapılmıştır. Deneme, Tekirdağ Namık Kemal Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Tarla Bitkileri Bölümü deneme alanlarında, bölünen bölünmüş parseller deneme desenine göre 3 tekrarlamalı olarak düzenlenmiştir. Çalışmada, varyans analizi sonuçlarına göre farklı tohum fungusiti uygulamalarının ekmeklik buğday çeşitlerinin kök ve kök çürüklüğü üzerine etkisi istatistiki olarak önemli bulunmuştur. Farklı ekim zamanlarında en düşü kök ve kök boğazı çürüklüğü %2.67 ile ikinci ekim zamanında elde edilirken, en yüksek kök ve kök boğazı çürüklüğü %3.64 ile en erken ekim olan 01 Kasım ekiminde belirlenmiştir. Dört farklı tohum fungusit uygulamasında en yüksek kök boğazı çürüklüğü (%5.59) kontrol uygulamasından elde edilirken, en düşük kök boğazı çürüklüğü %1.96, %2.10 ve %2.19 ile sırasıyla aynı istatistiki grupta yer alan prothioconazole + tebuconazole, karboxin + thiram ve prochloraz + triticonazole ön uygulamalarından elde edilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler, erken ekim zamanının kök ve kök boğazı çürüklüğünün şiddetini arttırdığını göstermektedir. Y 1https://orcid.org/ 2https://orcid.org/, 3https://orcid.org