Do Corporate Control and Product Market Competition Lead to Stronger Productivity Growth? Evidence from Market-Oriented and Blockholder-Based Governance Regimes

This study investigates the impact of corporate governance and product market competition on total factor productivity growth for two large samples of German and UK firms. In poorly performing UK firms, the presence of strong outside blockholders lead to substantial increases in productivity. Contrarily, for German poorly performing and distressed firms, it is bank debt concentration which stimulates productivity growth. Whereas high bank debt concentration also supports productivity growth in German profitable firms, leverage is unrelated to productivity growth in UK firms. Weak product market competition in the UK has a negative impact on productivity growth of in both widely-held firms and concentrated firms with the exception of firms controlled insiders (directors). These seem able to generate productivity increases in firms subject to little market discipline. For profitable German firms, the relation between strong blockholder control and productivity growth is limited. Only control by banks, insurance firms and the government can somewhat reduce the negative effect of weak product market competition.corporate governance;productivity growth;ownership and control;product market competition;financial distress

Do Corporate Control and Product Market Competition Lead to Stronger Productivity Growth? Evidence from Market-Oriented and Blockholder-Based Governance Regimes

This study investigates the impact of corporate governance and product market competition on total factor productivity growth for two large samples of German and UK firms. In poorly performing UK firms, the presence of strong outside blockholders lead to substantial increases in productivity. Contrarily, for German poorly performing and distressed firms, it is bank debt concentration which stimulates productivity growth. Whereas high bank debt concentration also supports productivity growth in German profitable firms, leverage is unrelated to productivity growth in UK firms. Weak product market competition in the UK has a negative impact on productivity growth of in both widely-held firms and concentrated firms with the exception of firms controlled insiders (directors). These seem able to generate productivity increases in firms subject to little market discipline. For profitable German firms, the relation between strong blockholder control and productivity growth is limited. Only control by banks, insurance firms and the government can somewhat reduce the negative effect of weak product market competition.

Применение метода подвижных клеточных автоматов для оптимизации внутренней структуры эндопротеза тазобедренного сустава человека

На основе метода подвижных клеточных автоматов проведено изучение влияния конструкционных изменений эндопротеза тазобедренного сустава человека на деформационные и прочностные свойства, а также динамику генерации и развития повреждений в системе "сустав-эндопротез-бедренная кость". Структура протеза модифицировалась введением в шейку демпфирующих включений и нанесением покрытия на ножку имплантата. Показано, что наличие таких включений практически не изменяет прочность системы, но при этом ведет к заметному увеличению предельной деформации структуры "кость - протез", а также оказывает влияние на динамику зарождения и развития повреждений в костной ткани

A clock network for geodesy and fundamental science

Leveraging the unrivaled performance of optical clocks in applications in fundamental physics beyond the standard model, in geo-sciences, and in astronomy requires comparing the frequency of distant optical clocks truthfully. Meeting this requirement, we report on the first comparison and agreement of fully independent optical clocks separated by 700 km being only limited by the uncertainties of the clocks themselves. This is achieved by a phase-coherent optical frequency transfer via a 1415 km long telecom fiber link that enables substantially better precision than classical means of frequency transfer. The fractional precision in comparing the optical clocks of three parts in $10^{17}$ was reached after only 1000 s averaging time, which is already 10 times better and more than four orders of magnitude faster than with any other existing frequency transfer method. The capability of performing high resolution international clock comparisons paves the way for a redefinition of the unit of time and an all-optical dissemination of the SI-second.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Bond Strength of Gold Alloys Laser Welded to Cobalt-Chromium Alloy

The objective of this study was to investigate the joint properties between cast gold alloys and Co-Cr alloy laser-welded by Nd:YAG laser. Cast plates were fabricated from three types of gold alloys (Type IV, Type II and low-gold) and a Co-Cr alloy. Each gold alloy was laser-welded to Co-Cr using a dental laser-welding machine. Homogeneously-welded and non-welded control specimens were also prepared. Tensile testing was conducted and data were statistically analyzed using ANOVA. The homogeneously-welded groups showed inferior fracture load compared to corresponding control groups, except for Co-Cr. In the specimens welded heterogeneously to Co-Cr, Type IV was the greatest, followed by low-gold and Type II. There was no statistical difference (P<0.05) in fracture load between Type II control and that welded to Co-Cr. Higher elongations were obtained for Type II in all conditions, whereas the lowest elongation occurred for low-gold welded to Co-Cr. This study indicated that, of the three gold alloys tested, the Type IV gold alloy was the most suitable alloy for laser-welding to Co-Cr

Cyberdreams: visualizing music in extended reality

From the visual music films of the twentieth century to the Video Jockey (VJ) performances seen at the latest electronic dance music festivals, there is an extensive body of artistic work that seeks to visualize sound and music. The form that these visualizations take has been shaped significantly by the capabilities of available technologies; thus, we have seen a transition from paint to film; from hand-drawn animations to motion-graphics; and from analog to digital projection systems. In the twenty-first century, visualizations of music are now possible with extended reality (XR) technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented/mixed reality (AR/MR), and related forms of multi-projection environment such as fulldome. However, the successful design of visual music and VJ performances using XR technologies requires us to consider the compositional approaches that can be used by artists and designers. To investigate this area, this chapter will begin with an analysis of existing work that visualizes music using XR technologies. This will allow us to consider the spectrum of existing design approaches, and provide a commentary on the possibilities and limitations of the respective technologies. Following this, the chapter will provide an in-depth discussion of Weinel’s practice-led research, which extends from work exhibited at the Carbon Meets Silicon exhibitions held at Wrexham Glyndŵr University (2015, 2017), and includes AR paintings, VJ performances, and a VR application: Cyberdream VR. Through the discussion of these works, the chapter will demonstrate possible compositional principles for visualizing music across media ranging from paint to XR, enabling the realization of work that reinforces the conceptual meanings associated with music

Comparing ultrastable lasers at 7 × 10−17 fractional frequency instability through a 2220 km optical fibre network

Ultrastable lasers are essential tools in optical frequency metrology enabling unprecedented measurement precision that impacts on fields such as atomic timekeeping, tests of fundamental physics, and geodesy. To characterise an ultrastable laser it needs to be compared with a laser of similar performance, but a suitable system may not be available locally. Here, we report a comparison of two geographically separated lasers, over the longest ever reported metrological optical fibre link network, measuring 2220 km in length, at a state-of-the-art fractional-frequency instability of 7 × 10−17 for averaging times between 30 s and 200 s. The measurements also allow the short-term instability of the complete optical fibre link network to be directly observed without using a loop-back fibre. Based on the characterisation of the noise in the lasers and optical fibre link network over different timescales, we investigate the potential for disseminating ultrastable light to improve the performance of remote optical clocks