Corporate Capital Budgeting Decisions and Information Sharing

Firms must overcome agency and information asymmetry problems to make efficient corporate capital budgeting decisions; this is particularly true for firms with multiple units dispersed across geographic locations. Internal communication and coordination may therefore be crucial in reducing information asymmetry and achieving efficient resource allocation. We examine the relationship between corporate capital budgeting decisions and the degree of internal information sharing using a dataset of 342 U.S. firms from 1993 to 2002. Information sharing is measured by the internal linkages observed in firms’ research and development (R&D) activities worldwide. The efficiency of a firm’s capital budgeting decisions is measured by the deviation of the firm’s estimated marginal q from the theoretical tax-adjusted benchmark. We observe a significant relationship between value-enhancing capital budgeting decisions and stronger internal linkages. Specifically, corporate over-investment is significantly reduced with better information sharing across units. All results are robust to firm- and industry–level controls.

A new technology for manufacturing scheduling derived from space system operations

A new technology for producing finite capacity schedules has been developed in response to complex requirements for operating space systems such as the Space Shuttle, the Space Station, and the Deep Space Network for telecommunications. This technology has proven its effectiveness in manufacturing environments where popular scheduling techniques associated with Materials Resources Planning (MRPII) and with factory simulation are not adequate for shop-floor work planning and control. The technology has three components. The first is a set of data structures that accommodate an extremely general description of a factory's resources, its manufacturing activities, and the constraints imposed by the environment. The second component is a language and set of software utilities that enable a rapid synthesis of functional capabilities. The third component is an algorithmic architecture called the Five Ruleset Model which accommodates the unique needs of each factory. Using the new technology, systems can model activities that generate, consume, and/or obligate resources. This allows work-in-process (WIP) to be generated and used; it permits constraints to be imposed or intermediate as well as finished goods inventories. It is also possible to match as closely as possible both the current factory state and future conditions such as promise dates. Schedule revisions can be accommodated without impacting the entire production schedule. Applications have been successful in both discrete and process manufacturing environments. The availability of a high-quality finite capacity production planning capability enhances the data management capabilities of MRP II systems. These schedules can be integrated with shop-floor data collection systems and accounting systems. Using the new technology, semi-custom systems can be developed at costs that are comparable to products that do not have equivalent functional capabilities and/or extensibility

Orbits and origins of the young stars in the central parsec of the galaxy

We present new proper motions from the 10 m Keck telescopes for a puzzling population of massive, young stars located within a parsec of the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center. Our proper motion measurements have uncertainties of only 0.07 mas yr^(−1) (3 km s^(−1) ), which is ≳7 times better than previous proper motion measurements for these stars, and enables us to measure accelerations as low as 0.2 mas yr^(−2) (7 km s^(−1) yr^(−1) ). These measurements, along with stellar line-of-sight velocities from the literature, constrain the true orbit of each individual star and allow us to directly test the hypothesis that the massive stars reside in two stellar disks as has been previously proposed. Analysis of the stellar orbits reveals only one disk of young stars using a method that is capable of detecting disks containing at least 7 stars. The detected disk contains 50% (38 of 73) of the young stars, is inclined by ~115° from the plane of the sky, and is oriented at a position angle of ∼100° East of North. The on-disk and off-disk populations have similar K-band luminosity functions and radial distributions that decrease at larger radii as ∝ r^(−2). The disk has an out-of-the-disk velocity dispersion of 28±6 km s^(−1) , which corresponds to a half-opening angle of 7°±2° , and several candidate disk members have eccentricities greater than 0.2. Our findings suggest that the young stars may have formed in situ but in a more complex geometry than a simple thin circular disk

Giving across Borders: Philanthropy or Business as Usual?

A large literature has examined the antecedents and consequences of charitable giving by corporations, but the results have been mostly inconclusive. One reason for the mixed empirical findings is that, when measured at the firm level, both the factors associated with charitable giving and the actual level of giving can be driven by the same set of unobserved firm characteristics. This study overcomes that problem by leveraging institutional differences across countries and focusing on within-firm variations in charitable giving. In particular, we examine whether overseas giving by U.S. firms is affected by local institutional environments and by firms’ local business interests, given firm characteristics. We find that multinational enterprises (MNEs) are more likely to donate to charities in a country plagued by an ineffective and corrupt government, suggesting that MNEs use charitable giving to navigate opaque business environments. Furthermore, we find that corporations are more likely to make cross-border donations when they are new entrants to the host country—hence having stronger need to reduce information asymmetry—and when their operations require stronger connections with local stakeholders. Our results are consistent with the view that MNEs engaged in corporate philanthropy are doing good for the purpose of doing well

Compliance With the Worker Protection Standard

Farmers and others that use pesticides for agricultural crop production are required to comply with the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) that is part of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. Iowa State University\u27s Extension Service has provided training and information about WPS through private pesticide applicator training programs since the winter of 1993. Iowa State University Extension has provided other sources of information to farmers including radio programs, articles in popular farm magazines and presentations to farmer groups. Also, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has provided funding for distribution of thousands of WPS publications to farmers

Corporate Capital Budgeting Decisions and Information Sharing

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87115/1/j.1530-9134.2011.00312.x.pd

Fungicides: Safety and restrictions

Reading through a pesticide label will give you most of the needed information concerning safety for both yourself and others while spraying field crops. Below is a synopsis of some of the dangers and restrictions for some common fungicides. For details on a specific fungicide, please follow the label\u27s directions for mixing and application along with the instructions for safe use

A near-IR variability study of the Galactic black hole: a red noise source with no detected periodicity

We present the results of near-infrared (2 and 3 microns) monitoring of Sgr A*-IR with 1 min time sampling using the natural and laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS AO) system at the Keck II telescope. Sgr A*-IR was observed continuously for up to three hours on each of seven nights, between 2005 July and 2007 August. Sgr A*-IR is detected at all times and is continuously variable, with a median observed 2 micron flux density of 0.192 mJy, corresponding to 16.3 magnitude at K'. These observations allow us to investigate Nyquist sampled periods ranging from about 2 minutes to an hour. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the variability of Sgr A* in this data set is consistent with models based on correlated noise with power spectra having frequency dependent power law slopes between 2.0 to 3.0, consistent with those reported for AGN light curves. Of particular interest are periods of ~20 min, corresponding to a quasi-periodic signal claimed based upon previous near-infrared observations and interpreted as the orbit of a 'hot spot' at or near the last stable orbit of a spinning black hole. We find no significant periodicity at any time scale probed in these new observations for periodic signals. This study is sensitive to periodic signals with amplitudes greater than 20% of the maximum amplitude of the underlying red noise component for light curves with duration greater than ~2 hours at a 98% confidence limit.Comment: 37 pages, 2 tables, 17 figures, accepted by Ap

Worker Protection Standard Update

The Worker Protection Standard is a Federal regulation designed to protect agricultural workers (people involved in the production of agricultural plants) and pesticide handlers (people involved in mixing, loading or applying pesticides or doing other tasks involving direct contact with pesticides.) The Standard will impact farms, agricultural dealerships, nurseries, forests and greenhouses who hire employees to do tasks related to agricultural plant production. The Worker Protection Standard goes into effect on April 15, 1994. After this date, applicators that use a pesticide which refers to the Worker Protection Standard on its label, must comply with requirements under the Worker Protection Standard. The employer is responsible for seeing that their employees comply with this new regulation. The following information is a brief overview of the Worker Protection Standard. The complete details of the Standard are presented in the Federal Register or in the How to Comply manual, PAT-12, available from ISU Extension Distribution