The relationship between corporate governance and dividend payouts in Canada

This paper studies the relationship between corporate governance and dividend policy in Canada. We find that corporate governance is positively related to the size of the dividend paid for dividend paying companies. We do not, however, find support for a relationship between corporate governance and the propensity to pay a dividend

Resolving the ancestry of Austronesian-speaking populations

There are two very different interpretations of the prehistory of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), with genetic evidence invoked in support of both. The “out-of-Taiwan” model proposes a major Late Holocene expansion of Neolithic Austronesian speakers from Taiwan. An alternative, proposing that Late Glacial/postglacial sea-level rises triggered largely autochthonous dispersals, accounts for some otherwise enigmatic genetic patterns, but fails to explain the Austronesian language dispersal. Combining mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome and genome-wide data, we performed the most comprehensive analysis of the region to date, obtaining highly consistent results across all three systems and allowing us to reconcile the models. We infer a primarily common ancestry for Taiwan/ISEA populations established before the Neolithic, but also detected clear signals of two minor Late Holocene migrations, probably representing Neolithic input from both Mainland Southeast Asia and South China, via Taiwan. This latter may therefore have mediated the Austronesian language dispersal, implying small-scale migration and language shift rather than large-scale expansion

Crop Updates 2011 - Farming Systems

This session covers twelve papers from different authors: 1. Fallowing 50% of the farm each year – does it pay? Janette Drew and Rob Grima Department of Agriculture and Food 2. How crop sequences affect the productivity and resilience of cropping systems in two Western Australian environments, Bob French, Raj Malik, Mark Seymour, Department of Agriculture and Food 3. When is continuous wheat or barley sustainable? Christine Zaicou-Kunesch and Rob Grima Department of Agriculture and Food 4. Identifying constraints to bridging the yield gap, Glenn McDonald, Department of Agriculture and Food 5. Land constraints limiting wheat yields in the Bridging the Yield Gap project area, Brendan Nicholas and Dennis van Gool, Department of Agriculture and Food 6. Can livestock have a long-term role in no-till cropping systems? James Fisher1, Peter Tozer2, and Doug Abrecht3, 1Désirée Futures, York, WA, 2PRT Consulting, West Wyalong, NSW and 3Department of Agriculture and Food 7. Pros and cons of dry seeding to counter variable seasonal breaks, Michael Robertson1, Cameron Weeks2, Michael O’Connor1, Doug Abrecht3, Rob Grima3, Peter Newman3, 1CSIRO, 2PlanFarm, 3Department of Agriculture and Food 8. Defining economic optimum plant densities of open pollinated and hybrid canola in WA, Mark Seymour, Department of Agriculture and Food 9. Alternative uses for unproductive soils examined in the North Eastern Agricultural Region (NEAR), Mike Clarke and Andrew Blake, Department of Agriculture and Food MARKETS 10. What the world wants from Australian wheat, Gordon MacAulay, Principal Economist, BRI Australia, Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Sydney 11. Effect of lupin flour incorporation on the physical and sensory quality of pasta, Vijay Jayasena1,2 and Syed M. Nasar-Abbas1,2, 1Food Science and Technology, School of Public Health, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, 2Centre for Food and Genomic Medicine 12. Wheat quality requirements for Saudi Arabia: baking quality and blending potential of some Australian exporting grades, Larisa Cato1, Robert Loughman1 and Ken Quail2, 1Department of Agriculture and Food, 2BRI Australi

Annotated checklist of the moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) of Canada and Alaska

The first comprehensive checklist of the Lepidoptera of Canada and Alaska is presented. Taxonomic papers, historical regional checklists, and many collections were consulted to prepare the list. The known distributions of species are listed for the provinces and territories of Canada and the state of Alaska in the USA. The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is further divided into separate listings. A total of 5431 species belonging to 82 families are confirmed as occurring in Canada and Alaska, as well as 53 species that have been reported from the region but not yet verified, 19 species listed as interceptions or unsuccessful introductions, and 52 species listed as probably occurring in the region. A total of 318 species have been reported in error in historical works, and they are listed as well, clearly indicated as erroneous records. All erroneous records and uncertain listings are detailed with notes. All Nearctic subspecies and synonyms are included in the list, except for butterfly subspecies (and their synonyms) that do not occur in the region

On the Evolution of Collective Enforcement Institutions: Communities and Courts

Impersonal exchange has been a major driver of economic development. But transactors with no stake in maintaining an ongoing relationship have little incentive to honor deals. Therefore, all economies have developed institutions to support honest trade and realize the gains of impersonal exchange. We analyze the relative capacities of communities (or social networks) and courts to secure cooperation among heterogeneous, impersonal transactors. We find that communities and courts are complementary in the sense that they tend to support cooperation for different sets of transactions but that the existence of courts weakens the effectiveness of community enforcement. By relating the effectiveness of enforcement institutions to changes in the cost and risks of long-distance trade, driven in part by improvement in shipbuilding methods, our analysis also provides an explanation for the emergence of the medieval Law Merchant and its subsequent supersession by state courts.