Debt and Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies - Evidence from India

We analyze the role of debt in corporate governance with respect to a large emerging economy, India, where debt has been an important source of external finance. First, we examine the extent to which debt acts as a disciplining device in those corporations where potential for over investment is present. We undertake a comparative evaluation of group-affiliated and non-affiliated companies to see if the governance role of debt is sensitive to ownership and control structures. Second, we examine the role of institutional change in strengthening the disciplining effect or mitigating the expropriating effect of debt. In doing so, we estimate, simultaneously, the relation between Tobins Q and leverage using a large cross-section of listed manufacturing firms in India for three years, 1996, 2000, and 2003. Our analyses indicate that while in the early years of institutional change, debt did not have any disciplinary effect on either standalone or group affiliated firms, the disciplinary effect appeared in the later years as institutions become more market oriented. We also find limited evidence of debt being used as an expropriation mechanism in group firms that are more vulnerable to such expropriation. However, the disciplining effect of debt is found to persist even after controlling for such expropriation possibilities. In general, our results highlight the role of ownership structures and institutions in debt governance.Debt, ownership structure, Corporate governance, institutional change.

Multiple board appointments and firm performance in emerging economies: Evidence from India

The relation between multiple directorships, busy directors and firm performance has been researched predominantly in the context of developed economies, notably the US. This paper extends the existing literature on multiple directorships in two ways; first, by providing additional evidence on its effect on firm performance, but with respect to an emerging economy, India, and secondly, by suggesting an alternative measure of directorial "busyness" that is more general in its applicability compared to those that have been applied in the existing literature. Using a sample of 500 large firms from the Indian corporate sector for the year 2002-03, the paper finds multiple directorships by independent directors to correlate positively with firm value thereby supporting the "quality hypothesis" that busy directors are likely to be better directors, a result that is different from the existing evidence on busy directors. Multiple directorships by insider directors are, however, negatively related to firm performance. Estimation of group and non-group companies separately reveals that the quality effect of independent directors persists for the former but disappears for the latter. In general, the results suggest that the relation between "busy" directors and firm performance may depend on the institutional context and on the type of directorMultiple Directorships, Busy Directors, Firm Performance

Auditor and Audit Committee Independence in India

This article reviews the regulations and governance reforms carried out in India with respect to auditor and audit committee independence. In doing so it critically compares them with the regulations existing in the US. This is followed by a discussion of the existing research on the effectiveness of audit committees and audit independence in corporate governance. Recent trends in audit committee and auditor characteristics for a sample of large listed companies in the Indian corporate sector are then discussed. The article concludes by suggesting some governance reforms that may be considered to further strengthen auditor independence and the functioning of audit committees in India.Corporate governance, India, auditor independence, audit committee independence

Reaction of bis-lactone in rigid polycycles with alkyl lithiums. Synthesis of novel oxa-cace compounds

Reaction of bis-lactone embodied in the rigid tircyclo [5.2.1.02,6] decane 5 with MeLi and t-BuLi produced the novel oxa-cage compounds 9 and 11 instead of the expected ketones 6

Synthesis of methyl-6-methyl tricyclo[5.2.1.0<SUP>2,6</SUP>]decan-9-one-2-carboxylate: potential intermediate to isocomene and cuprenolide

A facile synthesis of methyl-6-methyl tricyclo [5.2.1.02,6]decan-9-one-2-carboxylate 7, a potential intermediate to isocomene 6 and cuprenolide 8 is described

Aero-thermal analysis of a laminar separation bubble subjected to varying free-stream turbulence: Large Eddy Simulation

A quantitative analysis illustrating salient features of a Laminar Separation Bubble (LSB), its transition forming coherent structures, and associated heat transfer has been performed on a flat plate for varying free stream turbulence (fst) between 1.2% to 10.3%. A well-resolved Large Eddy Simulation (LES) developed in-house is used for the purpose. Flow separation has been induced by imposing an adverse pressure gradient on the upper boundary of a Cartesian domain. Isotropic perturbations are introduced at the inlet to mimic grid turbulence. With an increase of fst, an upstream shift in the mean reattachment point has been observed while the onset of separation remains almost invariant, shrinking the bubble length significantly. The transition of the shear layer is triggered by the Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability for fst of less than 3.3%, while Klebanoff modes (Kmodes) dictate the flow transition at fst greater than 6.5%. Further, a mixed mode, i.e., both K-H and K-modes, contribute to the flow transition at a moderate level of fst, lying between 3.3% and 6.5%. Thus, the roll-up of the shear layer appears in the second half of the bubble shedding large-scale vortices that keep their identity far downstream at low fst levels. On the contrary, the streamwise streaks via K-modes prior to the separation are found to interact with the LSB, resulting in an earlier breakdown of the shear layer with abundant small-scale vortices downstream at the moderate to high fst levels. However, higher surface-normal heat flux is associated with large-scale energetic coherent vortices

SOME CHARACTERIZATIONS OF α-COSYMPLECTIC MANIFOLDS ADMITTING ∗-CONFORMAL RICCI SOLITIONS

The object of the present paper is to give some characterizations of α-cosymplectic manifolds admitting ∗-conformal Ricci solitons. Such manifolds with gradient ∗-conformal Ricci solitons have also been considere

Electron microscope based X-ray microanalysis on bioaccumulation of heavy metals and neural degeneration in mudskipper [Pseudapocryptes lanceolatus]

AbstractThe bioaccumulation of heavy metals and its probable cytological consequences in ciliated olfactory sensory receptor neuron (OSN) of two different groups of Pseudapocryptes lanceolatus has been studied using X-ray microanalysis in transmission electron microscopy (TEM-EDX) [i.e., Group I, collected near Kanchrapara (22.56°N 88.26°E) and Group II, collected near Tribeni (22.99°N 88.40°E) of West Bengal, India]. The ciliated OSN is a bipolar neuron and possesses a prolonged dendron with four to six cilia at the olfactory knob, perikaryon, and axon. Excess accumulation of copper (94.50%) and iron (83.81%) was noted under TEM-EDX in the cytoplasm of the olfactory knob as well as nucleoplasm of ciliated OSNs in P. lanceolatus (Group II). The degenerating ciliated OSNs show distinct features of lysis of the plasma membrane at the olfactory knob, disintegration of cytoskeletal structures in perinuclear cytoplasm and axoplasm, and fragmented chromatin fibers with granules (diameter, 20–30nm) in the nucleoplasm. Crowding of acetylcholinesterase-positive vesicles (diameter:, 30–40nm) at the terminal part of the axoplasm was related to accumulation of heavy metals in degenerating ciliated OSNs of P. lanceolatus (Group II). The recorded concentrations of heavy metals in the same organ among different groups of P. lanceolatus in varying geographical areas indicates the stress of concerned environmental health. This ultrastructural interpretation on the fish ciliated OSN is a prerequisite for monitoring environmental health as well as metallobiology of several neurodegenerative disorders in fish caused by bioaccumulation of heavy metals