295 research outputs found
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 tĂ©rmicas diarias y estacionales y alteraciones de los campos de tensiĂłn derivados de las degradaciones tĂpicas de las juntas. Se aportan entre otros resultados explicaciones a la frecuente existencia de fisuras en prolongaciĂłn de las juntas, asi como evidencia sobre fenĂłmenos mecánicos que coadyuvan en el proceso de desescamaciĂłn 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
ConcentraciĂłn 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 relaciĂłn entre concentraciĂłn de propiedad y valor de mercado en el
caso particular de las compañĂas 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 empĂrica. Nuestros resultados revelan
que la propiedad familiar influye positivamente en el valor empresarial. No obstante, cuando la
concentraciĂłn de propiedad en manos de la familia es demasiado elevada, el valor de la compañĂa
disminuye; dando lugar a un relaciĂłn no lineal entre concentraciĂłn 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
Mortality prediction of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage using a deep learning model based on an initial brain CT scan
Background: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) entails high morbidity and mortality rates. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) are capable of generating highly accurate predictions from imaging data. Our objective was to predict mortality in SAH patients by processing initial CT scans using a CNN-based algorithm. Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicentric study of a consecutive cohort of patients with SAH. Demographic, clinical and radiological variables were analyzed. Preprocessed baseline CT scan images were used as the input for training using the AUCMEDI framework. Our model’s architecture leveraged a DenseNet121 structure, employing transfer learning principles. The output variable was mortality in the first three months. Results: Images from 219 patients were processed; 175 for training and validation and 44 for the model’s evaluation. Of the patients, 52% (115/219) were female and the median age was 58 (SD = 13.06) years. In total, 18.5% (39/219) had idiopathic SAH. The mortality rate was 28.5% (63/219). The model showed good accuracy at predicting mortality in SAH patients when exclusively using the images of the initial CT scan (accuracy = 74%, F1 = 75% and AUC = 82%). Conclusion: Modern image processing techniques based on AI and CNN make it possible to predict mortality in SAH patients with high accuracy using CT scan images as the only input. These models might be optimized by including more data and patients, resulting in better training, development and performance on tasks that are beyond the skills of conventional clinical knowledge
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 ÎĽm 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 ÎĽm 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
- …