Does Family Control Shape Corporate Capital Structure? An Empirical Analysisof Eurozone Firms

[EN] This study investigates the relationship between family control and corporatecapital structure considering the dynamic nature of the debt policy and the ownership structureof family firms. Our results show that the sensitivity of debt to fluctuations in cash flow isless pronounced in family firms and highlight that family control increases the speed ofadjustment toward target debt. Four dimensions of the family business model explain theseresults: deviations of voting from cash flow rights, the presence of a second blockholder in thecompany, involvement of family members in management, and the generation in charge ofthe business. The weaker negative impact of cash flow on debt is driven by family firms with nocontrol-enhancing mechanisms, companies with active family participation in management andfamily businesses that are still controlled by the first generation. By contrast, the more severeagency conflicts between owners and creditors in family firms with a second blockholder leadto more pronounced pecking order behaviour. Furthermore, the higher flexibility in corporatedecision-making of family firms managed by the family and under the influence of the firstgeneration explains why family companies are able to rebalance their capital structure faste

Do Family Firms Use Dividend Policy as a Governance Mechanism? Evidence from the Euro zone

[EN] Manuscript Type:EmpiricalResearch Question/Issue:This study investigates whether family firms use dividend policy as a corporate governancemechanism to overcome agency problems between the controlling family and minority investors. We further account fordeviations between ownership and control and consider the presence and identity of other large shareholders in familycompanies.Research Findings/Insights:Based on a sample of firms from nine Eurozone countries and using a panel data method, wefind that family firms distribute higher and more stable dividends to alleviate expropriation concerns of minority investors.However, the higher dividend payments are mainly explained by family firms with no separation between the largestowner’s voting and cash flow rights and those with non-family second blockholders.Theoretical/Academic Implications:We contribute to the literature by shedding light on how the family business modelaffects companies’ dividend preferences. Our research also highlights the importance of taking into account the identity oflarge shareholders, especially in a context in which concentrated ownership structures are commonplace. The reporteddifferences in dividend policies between family and non-family firms help to clarify the variant performances of familybusinesses found in previous studies.Practitioner/Policy Implications:Family firms should regard dividend policy as a governance tool that allows them toattract prospective investors and enlarge their shareholder base. Simultaneously, minority investors can benefit from familyfirms’ dividend decisions. Our evidence also suggests that European policy makers should lay the necessary foundations toprevent controlling families from adopting ownership structures that serve their own personal interests

Family control, expropriation, and investor protection: A panel data analysis of Western European corporations

[EN] We investigate whether the value impact of family control in Western European firms depends on country-level investor protection. To this aim, we account for ownership–value nonlinearities. Supporting that the risk of expropriation increases with high ownership concentration, we find an inverted U-shape relation between family control and firm value. Family firms incur a value discount when family equity holdings exceed approximately 50%. The nonlinear effect of family control is attributable to family firms from a strongly protective environment. When investor protection is weak, family control has a positive impact on firm value regardless of the ownership concentration leve

Family control and investment–cash flow sensitivity: Empirical evidence from the Euro zone

[EN] This paper considers the ownership structure of family firms to determine whether family control alleviates or exacerbates investment–cash flow sensitivity in the Euro zone. We find that family-controlled corporations have lower investment–cash flow sensitivities. Further, our results show that this reduced sensitivity is mainly attributable to family firms with no deviations between cash flow and voting rights and to family firms in which family members hold managerial positions. We also find that second largest shareholders affect family firms' sensitivity and are associated with either monitoring (non-family second blockholders) or collusion (family second blockholders). Overall, family control seems to mitigate investment inefficiencies that derive from capital market imperfections

Acueducto de Segovia: Comportamiento mecánico

Informe destinado a aportar luz sobre algunos aspectos de la mecánica del Acueducto de Segovia: tensiones y deformaciones derivadas de las variaciones térmicas diarias y estacionales y alteraciones de los campos de tensión derivados de las degradaciones típicas de las juntas. Se aportan entre otros resultados explicaciones a la frecuente existencia de fisuras en prolongación de las juntas, asi como evidencia sobre fenómenos mecánicos que coadyuvan en el proceso de desescamación de los sillares degradados

Comparative Monte Carlo analysis of InP- and GaN-based Gunn diodes

In this work, we report on Monte Carlo simulations to study the capability to generate Gunn oscillations of diodes based on InP and GaN with around 1 lm active region length. We compare the power spectral density of current sequences in diodes with and without notch for different lengths and two doping profiles. It is found that InP structures provide 400 GHz current oscillations for the fundamental harmonic in structures without notch and around 140 GHz in notched diodes. On the other hand, GaN diodes can operate up to 300 GHz for the fundamental harmonic, and when the notch is effective, a larger number of harmonics, reaching the Terahertz range, with higher spectral purity than in InP diodes are generated. Therefore, GaN-based diodes offer a high power alternative for sub-millimeter wave Gunn oscillations.European Commision (EC). Funding FP7/SP1/ICT. Project Code: 24384

Concentración de propiedad y valor de mercado en la empresa familiar : un enfoque de gobierno corporativo

[ES] Dada la importancia de las empresas familiares en todo el mundo, nuestro principal objetivo en este trabajo es investigar la relación entre concentración de propiedad y valor de mercado en el caso particular de las compañías familiares. Además, estudiamos si las empresas familiares obtienen mejores resultados que las no familiares. Para lograr este objetivo, adoptamos un enfoque de gobierno corporativo. La estimación de nuestros modelos mediante el método generalizado de los momentos proporciona nueva evidencia empírica. Nuestros resultados revelan que la propiedad familiar influye positivamente en el valor empresarial. No obstante, cuando la concentración de propiedad en manos de la familia es demasiado elevada, el valor de la compañía disminuye; dando lugar a un relación no lineal entre concentración de propiedad familiar y valor de mercado. Finalmente, demostramos que las empresas familiares obtienen mejores resultados que las no familiares, incluso cuando se tiene en cuenta la mencionada no linealidad. En general, los resultados obtenidos indican que el control familiar de las empresas puede ser beneficioso para los accionistas minoritarios [EN] Given the importance of family firms all over the world, our main objective in this paper is to investigate the relation between ownership concentration and the market value of the company in the particular case of family firms. Additionally, we study whether family firms outperform nonfamily corporations. To this aim, we adopt a corporate governance approach. The estimation of our models by using the generalized method of moments provides new empirical evidence. Our results show that family ownership impacts positively on firm value. Nevertheless, when ownership concentration in the hands of the family is too high, firm value decreases; thus giving rise to a nonlinear relation between family ownership concentration and firm value. Finally, we find that family firms perform better than non-family ones, even when nonlinearities are taken into account. Overall, our findings suggest that family control of corporations may be beneficial to minority shareholders

Colonic adenocarcinoma an underlying malignancy of dermatomyositis: case report

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are a heterogeneous group of chronic, autoimmune connective tissue disorders that affect muscles primarily. A few cases have reported the correlation between IIM and paraneoplastic manifestations, primarily dermatomyositis (DM). We described the case of a 47-year-old woman with dermatomyositis and the finding of a colonic adenocarcinoma, who presented alternating diarrhoea and hematochezia. The immunoassay for myositis-specific antibodies showed anti-Mi-2a, anti-MDA5, and anti-Ro52 antibodies, while the colonoscopy showed a one-centimetre mass in the sigmoid. Literature reviews have contemplated an underlying malignancy in patients with dermatomyositis, particularly in those with anti-Mi-2 antibodies and atypical features or unexplained symptoms. A correlation between DM and colonic adenocarcinoma has-been documented in a few reports, particularly in patients with unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms or weight loss. The mechanisms of the association of dermatomyositis and malignancies, especially colonic malignancies, are still unknown and need more research for better strategies

Numerical study of sub-millimeter Gunn oscillations in InP and GaN vertical diodes: Dependence on bias, doping, and length

In this work, we report on Monte Carlo simulations of InP and GaN vertical Gunn diodes to optimize their oscillation frequency and DC to AC conversion efficiency. We show that equivalent operating conditions are achieved by the direct application of a sinusoidal AC voltage superimposed to the DC bias and by the simulation of the intrinsic device coupled with the consistent solution of a parallel RLC resonant circuit connected in series. InP diodes with active region about 1 μm offer a conversion efficiency up to 5.5 % for frequencies around 225 GHz. By virtue of the larger saturation velocity, for a given diode length, oscillation frequencies in GaN diodes are higher than for InP structures. Current oscillations at frequencies as high as 675 GHz, with 0.1 % efficiency, are predicted at the sixth generation band in a 0.9 μm long GaN diode, corroborating the suitability of GaN to operate near the THz band. At the first generation band, structures with notch in general provide lower oscillation frequencies and efficiencies in comparison with the same structures without notch.However, a higher number of generation bands are originated in notched diodes, thus typically reaching larger frequencies. Self-heating effects reduce the performance, but in GaN diodes the efficiency is not significantly degraded.ROOTHz project (FP7-243845

Time-domain Monte Carlo simulation of GaN planar Gunn nanodiodes in resonant circuits

In this work we present a theoretical study based on time-domain Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of GaN-based Self-Switching Diodes (SSDs) oriented to the experimental achievement and control of the sub-THz Gunn-oscillations potentially provided by these devices. With this aim, an analysis of the frequency performance of SSDs connected to a resonant RLC parallel circuit, is reported here. V-shaped SSDs have been found to be more efficient, in terms of the DC to AC conversion efficiency η, than similar square-shape ones. Indeed, a value of η of at least 0.80%, can be achieved with appropriate RLC elements, even when considering heating effects. When the influence of parasitic elements such as the crosstalk capacitance Ctalk is evaluated, MC simulations have shown that the resonant circuit must contain a capacitance C higher than Ctalk in order to obtain experimentally useful values of η. This condition can be reached by integrating a sufficiently high number N of parallel SSDs in the fabricated devices. MC simulations have also shown that when several diodes are fabricated in parallel the oscillations of all the SSDs are not synchronized, but this problem is solved by the attachment of a resonant RLC tank