INCENTIVE INCOMPATIBILITY IN CO-OPERATIVE AGRIBUSINESS FIRMS IN CANADA: DOES SUPPLY MANAGEMENT MATTER?

Agribusiness,

Image Anaysis for Predicting Body Weight in Humans

Systems and methods for determining body weight predictions and human conditions are disclosed. A body weight may be predicted by capturing at least one image of a human, and determining, from the image, a body weight prediction of the human by processing the at least one image with a data processor. The body weight prediction may further be based on an age-based weight factor. A model such as a neural network model may be used to predict body weight

Reprogrammable field programmable gate array with integrated system for mitigating effects of single event upsets

An integrated system mitigates the effects of a single event upset (SEU) on a reprogrammable field programmable gate array (RFPGA). The system includes (i) a RFPGA having an internal configuration memory, and (ii) a memory for storing a configuration associated with the RFPGA. Logic circuitry programmed into the RFPGA and coupled to the memory reloads a portion of the configuration from the memory into the RFPGA's internal configuration memory at predetermined times. Additional SEU mitigation can be provided by logic circuitry on the RFPGA that monitors and maintains synchronized operation of the RFPGA's digital clock managers

Systems and methods for detecting a failure event in a field programmable gate array

An embodiment generally relates to a method of self-detecting an error in a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The method includes writing a signature value into a signature memory in the FPGA and determining a conclusion of a configuration refresh operation in the FPGA. The method also includes reading an outcome value from the signature memory

An efficient shooting algorithm for Evans function calculations in large systems

In Evans function computations of the spectra of asymptotically constant-coefficient linear operators, a basic issue is the efficient and numerically stable computation of subspaces evolving according to the associated eigenvalue ODE. For small systems, a fast, shooting algorithm may be obtained by representing subspaces as single exterior products \cite{AS,Br.1,Br.2,BrZ,BDG}. For large systems, however, the dimension of the exterior-product space quickly becomes prohibitive, growing as $\binom{n}{k}$, where $n$ is the dimension of the system written as a first-order ODE and $k$ (typically $\sim n/2$) is the dimension of the subspace. We resolve this difficulty by the introduction of a simple polar coordinate algorithm representing ``pure'' (monomial) products as scalar multiples of orthonormal bases, for which the angular equation is a numerically optimized version of the continuous orthogonalization method of Drury--Davey \cite{Da,Dr} and the radial equation is evaluable by quadrature. Notably, the polar-coordinate method preserves the important property of analyticity with respect to parameters.Comment: 21 pp., two figure

The Effect of Timely Loan Loss Recognition in the Banking System on Firms’ Debt Structure

In this paper, we examine how the system under which banks record loan losses, specifically, the timeliness of loan loss recognition, affects borrowers’ debt structure. Using data from 55 countries, we find that more timely loan loss recognition reduces firms’ reliance on bank debt relative to public debt. This result reflects an equilibrium in which firms in an economy rely less on bank debt when there are greater lending constraints and more borrower monitoring in a more timely loan loss accounting regime. Consistent with such a regime resulting in tighter loan conditions, we find an even lower use of bank debt in countries with stringent bank supervision and among financially constrained and opaque firms. Overall, our study offers new insight into the real effects of banks’ accounting on firms’ debt structure when firms can choose alternative debt providers

Product Market Effects of Customer Referencing

Customer referencing refers to the phenomenon that a firm intentionally reveals its connections to customers to raise its own reputation. In this paper, we rely on textual data about customer referencing in financial reports to examine the association between customer referencing and firms’ future product market performance. We first document that a substantial number of firms voluntarily reference customers in financial reports. We find that these firms have a better future performance, consistent with the notion that the customers being referenced certify product quality and enhance a firm’s reputation. We also find that the positive association is stronger for firms with a low reputation and those that are risky or facing high product market competition. These results further affirm the product quality certification and reputation enhancement roles of customer referencing. Our study provides new insight into how certification via inter-organizational relationships can be an intangible marketing asset

Lending Corruption and Bank Loan Contracting: Cross-Country Evidence

Lending corruption is an important agency problem for banks. Using data from the World Bank Business Environmental Survey, we find that in countries with more corruption, banks give more favorable loan terms to borrowers. This relation is stronger when firms are under more financing constraints, consistent with corruption being important to obtaining favorable loan terms when the supply of debt capital is tighter. In line with the expectation that monitoring constrains agency problems, this relation is weaker in countries with higher foreign ownership of banks or where Protestantism is the primary religion. In the syndicated loan market, participant banks are inclined to lend less in countries where lending corruption is more prevalent. Firms in countries with greater corruption prefer private bank debt over public bonds and are more leveraged. Banks in countries with more lending corruption have poor loan quality, worse earnings performance, and are more susceptible to trouble during a financial crisis. Overall, our findings suggest that corruption greases the wheels for borrowers but is detrimental to bank shareholders