Shareholder Welfare in Minority Freeze-Out Bids: Are Legal Protections Sufficient? Evidence from the U.S. Market

Anlegerschutz, Kleinaktionär, Diskriminierung, Vereinigte Staaten, Investor protection, Small shareholders, Discrimination, United States

Why Do U.S. Firms Hold So Much More Cash Than They Used To?

The average cash to assets ratio for U.S. industrial firms increases by 129% from 1980 to 2004. Because of this increase in the average cash ratio, American firms at the end of the sample period can pay back their debt obligations with their cash holdings, so that the average firm has no leverage when leverage is measured by net debt. This change in cash ratios and net debt is the result of a secular trend rather than the outcome of the recent buildup in cash holdings of some large firms. It is concentrated among firms that do not pay dividends. The average cash ratio increases over the sample period because the cash flow of American firms has become riskier, these firms hold fewer inventories and accounts receivable, and the typical firm spends more on R&D. The precautionary motive for cash holdings appears to explain the increase in the average cash ratio.

Note and Comment

Freedom of Press and Use of the Mails - Strangely enough, the First Amendment to the Federal Constitution, although it guarantees against federal attack highly important and fundamental rights, has received very little authoritative interpretation by our courts. It remained for the Gr&t War and conditions following in its train to bring before that tribunal almost the first really important controversies relating to freedom of press and of speech. The case of U. S. ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Company, Plaintiff in Error, v. Postmaster-General Albert S. Burleson, decided March 7, 192i, is the- latest of a series of notable cases concerning this important matter. The case, however, adds little to the development bf the subject by the court in the preceding cases in this group, which have been reviewed in an article by Professor Goodrich, I9 MICHIGAN LAw REvIEw, pages 487-501

Inversion of the Diffraction Pattern from an Inhomogeneously Strained Crystal using an Iterative Algorithm

The displacement field in highly non uniformly strained crystals is obtained by addition of constraints to an iterative phase retrieval algorithm. These constraints include direct space density uniformity and also constraints to the sign and derivatives of the different components of the displacement field. This algorithm is applied to an experimental reciprocal space map measured using high resolution X-ray diffraction from an array of silicon lines and the obtained component of the displacement field is in very good agreement with the one calculated using a finite element model.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Strong-Segregation Theory of Bicontinuous Phases in Block Copolymers

We compute phase diagrams for $A_nB_m$ starblock copolymers in the strong-segregation regime as a function of volume fraction $\phi$, including bicontinuous phases related to minimal surfaces (G, D, and P surfaces) as candidate structures. We present the details of a general method to compute free energies in the strong segregation limit, and demonstrate that the gyroid G phase is the most nearly stable among the bicontinuous phases considered. We explore some effects of conformational asymmetry on the topology of the phase diagram.Comment: 14 pages, latex, 21 figures, to appear in Macromolecule

Note and Comment

Power of the US Supreme Court to Enforce Judgments Against States - In the year 1460, when the perogatives of sovereignty or at least of the Crown were asserted in England much more vigorously than they are today, the Counseill of the right high and mighty Prynce Richard Duc of York, brought into the Parliament Chambre a writyng conteignyng the clayme and title of the right, that the seid Duc pretended unto the Corones of Englond and of Fraunce, and Lordship of Trelond, and the same writyng delyvered to the Right Reverent Fader in God George Bishop of Excestre, Chaunceller of Englond, desiryng hym that the same writyng myght be opened to the Lordes Spirituelx and Temporelx assembled in this present Parlement, and that the seid Duc myght have brief and expedient answere thereof. Whereupon the lords, apparently embarrassed by this extraordinary manifestation of confidence in them, declared that the said writyng shuld be radde and herd, not to be answered without the Kyngs commaundement, for so moche as the mater is so high, and of soo grete wyght and poyse.\u27 Vhen four days later the petition was again urgently presented therupon incontynent all the seid Lordes Spirituelx and Temporelx went to the Kyngs high presence, and therunto opened and declared the seid mater, by the mouth of his said Chaunceller of Englond. The King was graciously pleased to command the lords that they should serche for to fynde in asmuch as in them was, all such thyngs as myght be objecte and leyde ayenst the cleyme and title of the seid Duc. And though the King\u27s command could scarcely be regarded as indicating a judicial inquiry, the lords in their extremity sent for the Kyngs Justices into the Parlement Chambre, to have their avis and Counsell in this behalf, * * * * sadly to take avisament therin, and to serche and fynde all such objections as myght be leyde ayenst the same, in fortefying of the Kynges right. Duke of York\u27s Claim to the Crown, 5 Rot. ParI., 375, I Wambaugh\u27s Cas. Const. Law, I

Nonattachment as a Mediator of the Mindfulness-Well-being Relationship: Comparing Emirati and Australian Students

ObjectivesFew studies have explored mindfulness and nonattachment in Arab populations. This study extends our understanding of mindfulness and nonattachment to Arab students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) based on the 20-item Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the 7-item Nonattachment Scale (NAS-7). This study investigated the model fit of each measure, in conjunction with examining the measurement invariance of both measures across Emirati and Australian samples. Next, this study investigated the mediating role of nonattachment.MethodsUniversity students from the UAE (N = 452) and Australia (N = 731) completed self-report measures of mindfulness, nonattachment, positive and negative affect, and depression, stress, and anxiety.ResultsFor the FFMQ, a four-factor model—excluding the facet Observe but with the addition of covariance between two items from the facet Describe—provided adequate fit in both samples. The NAS-7 provided adequate fit in the Australian sample but not the UAE. While the FFMQ model was invariant across samples, the NAS-7 was non-invariant, thus preventing sample comparison. Overall, nonattachment partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and well-being with differences across samples.ConclusionsFindings support the use of a four-factor model of the FFMQ in Emirati samples and attest to its robustness and suitability as a measure for cross-cultural comparisons. Findings also support a partial mediating role for nonattachment and attest to the intricacies of the Emirati culture

A simulation model of intraherd transmission of foot and mouth disease with reference to disease spread before and after clinical diagnosis

Abstract. Intraherd transmission of foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) was examined using a simulation model for a hypothetical 1,000-cow dairy, assuming clinical diagnosis was made when at least 1% (10 cows) or 5% (50 cows) had clinical signs of FMD, 1 index case cow, and transition state distributions for the latent, subclinically infectious, and clinically infectious periods of FMD calculated from published data. Estimates assumed for the number of animal-to-animal contacts (k) adequate for transmission ranged from 0.6 to 9.0 per hour (13.7-216.0 per day). A total of 40,000 iterations (5,000 for each scenario, assessing 4 adequate contact rates and 2 detection criteria) were run. The model predicted that FMD would not be diagnosed in the herd until 10.0-13.5 days after the index case cow had become infected, at which time between 65% and 97% of the cows (646-967 cows) to nearly 100% (978-996 cows) would already have become infected with the virus, if the number of cows showing clinical signs of FMD at the time of diagnosis were 10 or 50, respectively. At the time of diagnosis, the simulated number of infectious cattle varied substantially from 82-472 to 476-537 cows, depending on adequate contact rate and whether the diagnosis was made when 10 or 50 animals were showing clinical signs, respectively. The simulated number of infectious cows increased rapidly during the first few days after diagnosis. In the scenario where at least 10 cows showing clinical signs was necessary before a clinical diagnosis was made, each day after diagnosis, the number of infectious animals increased by nearly 100 to more than 200 cases per day up to day 5, assuming 0.57-9.0 animal-to-animal contacts per hour, respectively. Results obtained when it was assumed that at least 50 clinical cases were present at the time of diagnosis showed smaller relative increases because nearly one-half of the herd was projected to be infected at the time of diagnosis. From these results, it is clear that once an individual in a herd becomes infected with FMDV, herd infectivity is not static, rather it accelerates as would be expected as long as there are sufficient susceptible animals to sustain the increasing transmission rate, after which time the rate at which new infections occurs will diminish. Results indicate that biosecurity strategies aimed at minimizing both intraherd and interherd contact will be critical in minimizing the spread of FMD before the initial diagnosis is made. In addition, simulations suggest that very early clinical diagnosis of FMD and effective isolation or depopulation and disposal will be critical in limiting the number of infectious animals capable of transmitting the virus to other herds and thus in timely control of an epidemic. Early diagnosis will rely on early virus detection from animals in the preclinical phase of infection, rather than waiting for clinical signs to manifest in sufficient numbers to be noticed and to warrant investigation. Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most economically important livestock diseases in the world. In recent years, large-scale epidemics have been observed in Taiwan in 1997, 11 the UK in 2001

A rheological mechanism of penetrative wear

A model is proposed which explains the penetrative wear of a soft material by a harder one. Three distinct modes of penetration are present depending on the applied load. During the most severe penetration plate-like wear debris is ejected at the leading edge of the slider. A series of slip line fields is presented to approximate this debris formation process. Plastic constraint is seen to be an important factor in wear particle formation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22217/1/0000650.pd

Small and large polarons in nickelates, manganites, and cuprates

By comparing the optical conductivities of La_{1.67}Sr_{0.33}NiO_{4} (LSNO), Sr_{1.5}La_{0.5}MnO_4 (SLMO), Nd_2CuO_{4-y} (NCO), and Nd_{1.96}Ce_{0.04}CuO_{4} (NCCO), we have identified a peculiar behavior of polarons in this cuprate family. While in LSNO and SLMO small polarons localize into ordered structures below a transition temperature, in those cuprates the polarons appear to be large, and at low T their binding energy decreases. This reflects into an increase of the polaron radius, which may trigger coherent transport.Comment: File latex, 15 p. incl. 4 Figs. epsf, to appear on the Journal of Superconductivity - Proc. "Stripes 1996" - Roma Dec 199