Impact of Japanese Mergers on Shareholder Wealth: An Analysis of Bidder and Target Companies

The market for corporate control in the second largest economy in the world behaves very different from that in the U.S. Using a sample of 91 mergers in the period 1982-2003 we document several distinctive features of this market in Japan. First, we show that in stark contrast to the pro-cyclical U.S. merger waves, mergers in Japan tend to be counter-cyclical, both with respect to the general economy as well as with respect to stock market valuations. Second, and again in contrast to the U.S. experience, we find that a significant fraction of Japanese mergers are orchestrated by the main banks; in such cases, mergers are not between two weak companies, but at least one of the merging companies is financially strong. Other distinctive features of Japanese mergers are the positive pre-announcement returns accruing to both bidders and targets, with bidders capturing approximately half the gains that accrue to target firms. We also find differential shareholder wealth effects in the bubble period (1982-1989), the early 1990s, and the post-financial regulation regime (1997-2003). Overall our results point to a market for corporate control that is distinctly less shareholder-centered than that in the U.S. and one where creditors play an important, perhaps dominant, role.mergers;Japanse mergers;corporate control;take-over

Participation arrangements in Ghent: 'searching for the underlying story: a dynamic approach'

There are two dominant but seemingly contradictory narratives about the reasons for the dynamics of local participation arrangements. On the one hand, we have the traditional perspective focusing on the link between psychological characteristics and participation on the one side and on the other side on the barriers to participation (Hooghe 1999; Verba, Scholzman & Brady 1995). On the other hand we have the studies that examine participation arrangements from a sociological point of view: they point out that institutions have an impact on the participation arrangements (see for example Lowndes et al. 2001, 2006). This paper wants to detect the relevant variables that influence participation arrangements over time. In how far are these two stories compatible at the Flemish local level? If not, which one is more correct? The paper starts by reviewing the international literature on local participation in order to detect a list of relevant influencing variables. By means of a historical longitudinal analysis in the Flemish city Ghent a number of participation arrangements are identified over six legislative periods. With participation arrangement we refer to the tools and trajectories initiated and implemented by local government in order to organize citizen participation On the basis of an extensive documentary analysis and on interviews we come a set of factors that are influencing the functioning of Flemish local participation arrangements. The importance of this kind of research is twofold. First, a dynamic and longitudinal analysis on local participation is rather innovating. Most researches have a rather static view. The impact of variables on one instrument is researched at a certain point in time. However, participation arrangements evolve over time and a dynamic approach is more fitting. Second, it may provide some insight in the factors stimulating people to participate. Understanding what drives people’s participation at the local level is an important issue, especially in the light of the declining levels of engagement as well as current political commitments to promote active citizenship (Lowndes et al. 2006)

Spatial Concentration of Opioid Overdose Deaths in Indianapolis: An Application of the Law of Crime Concentration at Place to a Public Health Epidemic

The law of crime concentration at place has become a criminological axiom and the foundation for one of the strongest evidence-based policing strategies to date. Using longitudinal data from three sources, emergency medical service calls, death toxicology reports from the Marion County (Indiana) Coroner’s Office, and police crime data, we provide four unique contributions to this literature. First, this study provides the first spatial concentration estimation of opioid-related deaths. Second, our findings support the spatial concentration of opioid deaths and the feasibility of this approach for public health incidents often outside the purview of traditional policing. Third, we find that opioid overdose death hot spots spatially overlap with areas of concentrated violence. Finally, we apply a recent method, corrected Gini coefficient, to best specify low-N incident concentrations and propose a novel method for improving upon a shortcoming of this approach. Implications for research and interventions are discussed

Intersexual conflict influences female reproductive success in a female-dispersing primate

In group-living mammals, individual efforts to maximize reproductive success result in conflicts and compromises between the sexes. Females utilize counterstrategies to minimize the costs of sexual coercion by males, but few studies have examined the effect of such behaviors on female reproductive success. Secondary dispersal by females is rare among group-living mammals, but in western gorillas, it is believed to be a mate choice strategy to minimize infanticide risk and infant mortality. Previous research suggested that females choose males that are good protectors. However, how much female reproductive success varies depending on male competitive ability and whether female secondary dispersal leads to reproductive costs or benefits has not been examined. We used data on 100 females and 229 infants in 36 breeding groups from a 20-year long-term study of wild western lowland gorillas to investigate whether male tenure duration and female transfer rate had an effect on interbirth interval, female birth rates, and offspring mortality. We found that offspring mortality was higher near the end of males’ tenures, even after excluding potential infanticide when those males died, suggesting that females suffer a reproductive cost by being with males nearing the end of their tenures. Females experience a delay in breeding when they dispersed, having a notable effect on birth rates of surviving offspring per female if females transfer multiple times in their lives. This study exemplifies that female counterstrategies to mitigate the effects of male-male competition and sexual coercion may not be sufficient to overcome the negative consequences of male behavior

Flows around sunspots and pores

We report on three sequences of high-resolution white-light and magnetogram observations obtained in the summer of 1989. The duration of sub-arcsecond seeing was three to four hours on each day. Study of the white-light and magnetogram data yields the following results: (1) For all but one of the sunspots we have observed, both dark fibrils and bright grains in the inner part of the penumbra of sunspots move toward the umbra with a speed of about 0.5 km s⁻¹. In the outer part of the penumbra, movement is away from the umbra. The one exception is a newly formed spot, which has inflow only in its penumbra. (2) Granular flows converge toward almost every pore, even before its formation. Pores are observed to form by the concentration of magnetic flux already existing in the photosphere. The pores (or small sunspots), in turn, then move and concentrate to form bigger sunspot. (3) We followed an emerging flux region (EFR) from 29 to 31 July, 1989 that was composed of a large number of bipoles with magnetic polarities mixed over a large area in the first day of its birth. As time went on, polarities sorted out: the leading polarity elements moved in one direction; the following, the opposite. During the process a large number of cancellations occurred, with some sub-flares and surges observed simultaneously. After about 24 hours, the positive and negative fluxes were essentially separated. (4) We find two kinds of photospheric dark alignments in the region of new flux emergence: (a) alignments connecting two poles of opposite magnetic polarity form the tops of rising flux tubes; (b) alignments corresponding to the magnetic flux of one polarity, which we call elongated pores

Rates of agonism among female primates: a cross-taxon perspective

Agonism is common in group-living animals, shaping dominance relationships and ultimately impacting individual tness. Rates of agonism vary considerably among taxa, however, and explaining this variation has been central in ecological models of female social relationships in primates. Early iterations of these models posited a link to diet, with more frequent agonism predicted in frugivorous species due to the presumed greater contestability of fruits relative to other food types. Although some more recent studies have suggested that dietary categories may be poor predictors of contest competition among primates, to date there have been no broad, cross-taxa comparisons of rates of female–female agonism in relation to diet. This study tests whether dietary variables do indeed pre- dict rates of female agonism and further investigates the role of group size (i.e., number of competitors) and substrate use (i.e., degree of arboreality) on the frequency of agonism. Data from 44 wild, unprovisioned groups, including 3 strepsirhine species, 3 platyrrhines, 5 colobines, 10 cercopithecines, and 2 hominoids were analyzed using phylogenetically controlled and uncontrolled methods. Results indicate that diet does not predict agonistic rates, with trends actually being in the opposite direction than predicted for all taxa except cercopithecines. In contrast, agonistic rates are positively associated with group size and possibly degree of terrestriality. Competitor density and perhaps the risk of ghting, thus, appear more important than general diet in predicting agonism among female primates. We discuss the implications of these results for socio-ecological hypotheses

'Location, Location, Location' : effects of neighborhood and house attributes on Burglars’ target selection

Objectives To empirically test whether offenders consider environmental features at multiple spatial scales when selecting a target and examine the simultaneous effect of neighborhood-level and residence-level attributes on residential burglars' choice of residence to burglarize. Methods We combine data on 679 burglaries by 577 burglars committed between 2005 and 2014 with data on approximately 138,000 residences in 193 residential neighborhoods in Ghent, Belgium. Using a discrete spatial choice approach, we estimate the combined effect of neighborhood-level and residence-level attributes on burglars' target choice in a conditional logit model. Results Burglars prefer burglarizing residences in neighborhoods with lower residential density. Burglars also favor burglarizing detached residences, residences in single-unit buildings, and renter-occupied residences. Furthermore, burglars are more likely to target residences in neighborhoods that they previously and recently targeted for burglary, and residences nearby their home. We find significant cross-level interactions between neighborhood and residence attributes in burglary target selection. Conclusions Both area-level and target-level attributes are found to affect burglars' target choices. Our results offer support for theoretical accounts of burglary target selection that characterize it as being informed both by attributes of individual properties and attributes of the environment as well as combinations thereof. This spatial decision-making model implies that environmental information at multiple and increasingly finer scales of spatial resolution informs crime site selection

Magnetic flux emergence in granular convection: Radiative MHD simulations and observational signatures

We study the emergence of magnetic flux from the near-surface layers of the solar convection zone into the photosphere. To model magnetic flux emergence, we carried out a set of numerical radiative magnetohydrodynamics simulations. Our simulations take into account the effects of compressibility, energy exchange via radiative transfer, and partial ionization in the equation of state. All these physical ingredients are essential for a proper treatment of the problem. Furthermore, the inclusion of radiative transfer allows us to directly compare the simulation results with actual observations of emerging flux. We find that the interaction between the magnetic flux tube and the external flow field has an important influence on the emergent morphology of the magnetic field. Depending on the initial properties of the flux tube (e.g. field strength, twist, entropy etc.), the emergence process can also modify the local granulation pattern. The emergence of magnetic flux tubes with a flux of $10^{19}$ Mx disturbs the granulation and leads to the transient appearance of a dark lane, which is coincident with upflowing material. These results are consistent with observed properties of emerging magnetic flux.Comment: To appear in A&

Time Constraints Limit Group Sizes and Distribution in Red and Black-and-White Colobus Monkeys

Researchers have shown that, in frugivorous primates, a major constraint on group size is intra group feeding competition. The relationship is less obvious in folivorous primates. We investigated whether colobine group sizes are constrained by time limitations as a result of their low energy diet and ruminant-like digestive system. We used climate as an easy to obtain proxy for the productivity of a habitat. Using the relationships between climate, group size, and time budget components for populations of Colobus and Piliocolobus at different research sites, we created 2 taxon-specific models. In both genera, feeding time increased with group size or biomass. The models for Colobus and Piliocolobus correctly predicted the presence or absence of the genera at, respectively, 86% of 148 and 84% of 156 African primate sites. Median predicted group sizes where the respective genera were present are 19 for Colobus and 53 for Piliocolobus. We show that the differences between the 2 genera are due mainly to intrinsic differences in the way each taxon’s digestive physiology interacts with climatic variables to influence resting time requirements. The models may help us explore their responses to climatic change in both the past and the future

The Socially Situated Dynamics of Children’s Learning Processes in Classrooms:What Do We Learn from a Complex Dynamic Systems Approach?

This article concentrates on the question what kind of model-conceptual and statistical -can serve as a good working model for the study of learning and teaching processes qua processes. We claim that a good way of answering this question is to begin by observing a teaching and learning process as, where, and when it occurs. In addition, a conceptual model of intertwined learning-teaching processes is discussed, and dynamic modeling as an approach to theory formation about teaching-learning processes. The focus lies on the evolution term, the timescale of interaction processes, state space as a perspective on teacher-student interaction dynamics, and the principle of agency. Finally, an empirical approach to studying teaching-learning processes is illustrated by means of a case study, focusing on the use of cluster analyses techniques. In the Conclusion and Discussion section, further perspectives on theory building and empirical research are discussed