The Role of Self-Regulation in Corporate Governance

This paper assesses the effectiveness of self-regulation to promote investor interests. TheNetherlands provides an excellent opportunity to gather such evidence for two reasons. First,characteristics of the Dutch corporate governance structure have made it the recent focus ofattention by the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and countries (e.g., Korea)when deliberating issues of corporate governance. Second, during the period 1996-1998, aprivate sector initiative was undertaken to promote change in the balance of power betweenmanagement and investors. Not surprisingly, the United States Securities and ExchangeCommission has closely followed the Dutch "experiment" in self-regulation. We begin byidentifying corporate governance characteristics that are linked to firm value. We thencompare corporate governance characteristics and the relation between firm value and thesecharacteristics before and after the private sector initiative. We find that therecommendations of the private sector initiative had no substantive effect on corporategovernance characteristics or their relationship with firm value. Using event study techniqueswe document the market's skepticism about the successful evolution of corporate governancepractices in the Netherlands through self-regulation. The one exception to this generalconclusion is the market for new listings. Overall, our results confirm the importance ofshareholder voting rights, and who controls these rights, when considering the design of asuccessful self-regulation process.corporate governance;law and economics;financial economics;International economics

The Role of Self-Regulation in Corporate Governance: Evidence from the Netherlands

The purpose of this paper is to gather evidence on the success of market forces in promoting investor interests through self-regulation.Corporate governance is a complex mechanism design problem that is both economic and legal/political based.As such there is great interest in whether (and when) market forces alone are sufficient to prompt change, and whether (and when) additional legal/political actions are required to write and enforce contracts between the owners and managers of capital.The Netherlands provides an excellent opportunity to gather such information.In 1996, a private sector Committee was formed to initiate debate and change in the balance of power between a company's management and investors.In 1997, the Committee issued its recommendations and one year later the Committee initiated a project to assess the impact of the report.We identify the corporate governance variables that are linked to firm value and assess the impact of the committee's recommendations on the identified variables.Finally, we use event study techniques to assess investors reactions to the various events associated with the evolution of corporate governance practices in the Netherlands during this period.international economics;financial economics;law and economics;corporate governance

Small Schools and the Issue of Scale

Wasley and Fine write this essay to respond to the oft-heard claim that small schools are not a systemic reform strategy. They argue, instead, that there is now a broad professional and community consensus for small schools; major policy moves within urban, suburban, and rural communities are being advanced to create and maintain small schools, and substantial social science evidence documents the efficiency and equity potential of small schools

Introduction: A Principaled Approach

This introduction highlights the collaboration between Bank Street College and the New York City Board of Education who developed an approach to preparing principals that has proved highly effective. Wasley and Rizzo briefly describe the program\u27s history and its evolution, and concludes by analyzing why it has worked so well and what they would do to further strengthen the approach

Music regulators in two string quartets: a comparison of communicative behaviors between low- and high-stress performance conditions

In ensemble performances, group members use particular bodily behaviors as a sort of “language” to supplement the lack of verbal communication. This article focuses on music regulators, which are defined as signs to other group members for coordinating performance. The following two music regulators are considered: body gestures for articulating attacks (a set of movements externally directed that are used to signal entrances in performance) and eye contact. These regulators are recurring observable behaviors that play an important role in non-verbal communication among ensemble members. To understand how they are used by chamber musicians, video recordings of two string quartet performances (Quartet A performing Bartók and Quartet B performing Haydn) were analyzed under two conditions: a low stress performance (LSP), undertaken in a rehearsal setting, and a high stress performance (HSP) during a public recital. The results provide evidence for more emphasis in gestures for articulating attacks (i.e., the perceived strength of a performed attack-type body gesture) during HSP than LSP. Conversely, no significant differences were found for the frequency of eye contact between HSP and LSP. Moreover, there was variability in eye contact during HSP and LSP, showing that these behaviors are less standardized and may change according to idiosyncratic performance conditions. Educational implications are discussed for improving interpersonal communication skills during ensemble performance

The Role of Self-Regulation in Corporate Governance

This paper assesses the effectiveness of self-regulation to promote investor interests. The Netherlands provides an excellent opportunity to gather such evidence for two reasons. First, characteristics of the Dutch corporate governance structure have made it the recent focus of attention by the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and countries (e.g., Korea) when deliberating issues of corporate governance. Second, during the period 1996-1998, a private sector initiative was undertaken to promote change in the balance of power between management and investors. Not surprisingly, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has closely followed the Dutch "experiment" in self-regulation. We begin by identifying corporate governance characteristics that are linked to firm value. We then compare corporate governance characteristics and the relation between firm value and these characteristics before and after the private sector initiative. We find that the recommendations of the private sector initiative had no substantive effect on corporate governance characteristics or their relationship with firm value. Using event study techniques we document the market's skepticism about the successful evolution of corporate governance practices in the Netherlands through self-regulation. The one exception to this general conclusion is the market for new listings. Overall, our results confirm the importance of shareholder voting rights, and who controls these rights, when considering the design of a successful self-regulation process

Experiences of diagnosis, stigma, culpability, and disclosure in male patients with hepatitis C virus: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

The current study aimed to explore the lived experience of patients with hepatitis C virus infection. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven male participants living with hepatitis C virus and were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two master themes were identified: (1) diagnosis and the search for meaning and (2) impact of stigma on disclosure. Participants reported fears of contaminating others, feelings of stigma and concerns of disclosing the condition to others. Response to diagnosis, stigma and disclosure among the participants appeared to be interrelated and directly related to locus of blame for virus contraction. More specifically, hepatitis C virus transmission via medical routes led to an externalisation of culpability and an openness to disclosure. Transmission of hepatitis C virus as a direct result of intravenous drug use led to internalised blame and a fear of disclosure. The inter- and intra-personal consequences of hepatitis C virus explored in the current study have potential implications for tailoring future psychological therapy and psychoeducation to the specific needs of the hepatitis C virus population