Collectivism and the Costs of High Leverage

Prior literature shows that high leverage is associated with losses in market share due to unfavorable actions by customers and competitors. Building on this literature, we investigate the effect of collectivism on the product market performance of highly leveraged firms. Using a sample of 46 countries over the 1989–2016 period, we find significantly lower costs of high leverage for countries with higher collectivism scores. Moreover, we find that the impact of collectivism on high leverage costs is more pronounced for firms with high product specialization and with financially healthy rivals. In additional analysis, we find that collectivism helps highly leveraged firms retain employees and obtain trade credit from suppliers. Our findings thus suggest that a country’s culture affects corporate financial outcomes by influencing the actions of firm stakeholders

Does Corporate Social Responsibility Reduce the Costs of High Leverage? Evidence from Capital Structure and Product Market Interactions

Research on capital structure and product market interactions shows that high leverage is associated with substantial losses in market share due to unfavorable actions by customers and competitors. We examine whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects firms’ interactions with customers and competitors, and whether it can reduce the costs of high leverage. We find that CSR reduces losses in market share when firms are highly leveraged. By reducing adverse behavior by customers and competitors, CSR helps highly leveraged firms keep customers and guard against rivals’ predation. Our results support the stakeholder value maximization view of CSR

Comparison of genetic diversity and growth traits among Fangzheng silver crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) gynogenetic clones

The silver crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio), a gynogenetic teleost, is a promising model for the study of evolutionary genetics in vertebrates. We identified ten gynogenetic clones (FZ-I~FZ-X) from triploid silver crucian carp, collected from Fangzheng County in Heilongjiang Province, China, using microsatellite markers. The genetic diversity of these gynogenetic clones was analyzed using 52 microsatellite markers. A total of 413 alleles were detected and the length of fragments ranged from 96 to 340 bp. The number of alleles per locus varied from 2~19 (mean=7.9423). The observed heterozygosity at polymorphic loci ranged from 0.10~1.00 (mean=0.80). The average allele count per gynogenetic clone ranged from 1.9423~2.1923. The ratio of the polymorphic locus was from 71.15% (VII) to 84.61% (IX) per clone. The number of genotypes ranged from 2~10 per locus. Ten genotypes were observed by analyzing each of 14 microsatellites. As a result, each gynogenetic clone could be accurately identified. In addition, the growth traits, including body weight, length, and height, among five gynogenetic clones were compared. There was a significant difference among gynogenetic clones. Clone FZ-V exhibited the best growth traits, with the largest body weight (53.17±5.24 g), length (11.38±0.37 cm) and height (4.69±0.18 cm). Our results provide basic data for the identification of silver crucian carp gynogenetic clones and can be used as a guide genetic breeding programs

Morphologies of AGN host galaxies using HST/ACS in the CDFS-GOODS field

Using HST/ACS images in four bands F435W, F606W, F775W and F850LP, we identify optical counterparts to the X-ray sources in the Chandra Deep Field South in the GOODS South field. A detailed study has been made of these sources to study their morphological types. We use methods like decomposition of galaxy luminosity profiles, color maps and visual inspection of 192 galaxies which are identified as possible optical counterparts of Chandra X-ray sources in the CDFS-GOODS field. We find that most moderate luminosity AGN hosts are bulge dominated in the redshift range (z \approx 0.4-1.3), but not merging/interacting galaxies. This implies probable fueling of the moderate luminosity AGN by mechanisms other than those merger driven.Comment: pdflatex, accepted in ApSS. revisions in tex

Hierarchical nickel-based metal-organic framework/graphene oxide incorporated graphene nanoplatelet electrode with exceptional cycling stability for coin cell and pouch cell supercapacitors

The utilization of the electrode materials for supercapacitor based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has gained much attraction from researchers, due to their remarkable surface area, tunable pore size, and numerous redox sites. The construction of a hierarchical Ni-MOF/graphene oxide (GO) incorporated graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) exhibited the unique synergistic interaction between two different graphitic carbon structures towards the weak electrical conductivity and stability of pristine MOFs. The introduction of GO and GNP on MOF not only improves the conductivity and stability but also enhances the interfacial interaction and transport kinetics for both electrons and ions between supercapacitor electrodes. Herein, a hierarchical Ni-MOF/GO/GNP electrode fabricated by a facile approach is mounted in a symmetrical coin cell and pouch cell, by using 2.0 M potassium acetate as the electrolyte, to prepare supercapacitors. The constructed coin cell and pouch cell supercapacitor of Ni-MOF/GO3/GNP manifest outstanding electrochemical performance with specific capacitances of 102.24 and 70.41 F/g at the current density of 1 A/g, respectively. The extraordinary capacitance retentions of 85.6% and 82.5% are achieved for both cells, respectively, after more than 20,000 cycles. This exceptional outcome is ascribed to the favorable electrochemical kinetics of Ni-MOF/GO3/GNP that largely improves the structural stability of the hybrid material

A Measurement of Psi(2S) Resonance Parameters

Cross sections for e+e- to hadons, pi+pi- J/Psi, and mu+mu- have been measured in the vicinity of the Psi(2S) resonance using the BESII detector operated at the BEPC. The Psi(2S) total width; partial widths to hadrons, pi+pi- J/Psi, muons; and corresponding branching fractions have been determined to be Gamma(total)= (264+-27) keV; Gamma(hadron)= (258+-26) keV, Gamma(mu)= (2.44+-0.21) keV, and Gamma(pi+pi- J/Psi)= (85+-8.7) keV; and Br(hadron)= (97.79+-0.15)%, Br(pi+pi- J/Psi)= (32+-1.4)%, Br(mu)= (0.93+-0.08)%, respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Partial Wave Analysis of J/ψ→γ(K+K−π+π−)J/\psi \to \gamma (K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-)

BES data on $J/\psi \to \gamma (K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-)$ are presented. The $K^*\bar K^*$ contribution peaks strongly near threshold. It is fitted with a broad $0^{-+}$ resonance with mass $M = 1800 \pm 100$ MeV, width $\Gamma = 500 \pm 200$ MeV. A broad $2^{++}$ resonance peaking at 2020 MeV is also required with width $\sim 500$ MeV. There is further evidence for a $2^{-+}$ component peaking at 2.55 GeV. The non-$K^*\bar K^*$ contribution is close to phase space; it peaks at 2.6 GeV and is very different from $K^{*}\bar{K^{*}}$.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, Submitted to PL

Electronic Structures of Cu/S Co-doped/Anatase TiO 2 by First-principles

ABSTRACT The structural parameters, band structures and density of states of anatase TiO2 co-doped with Cu and S were calculated by first-principles based on the density functional theory. The results indicate that the volumes of the co-doped TiO2 increase due to the lattice distortion. The calculated X-ray diffraction pattern shows that the crystal phase of TiO2 is still kept as anatase after Cu and S co-doping. The band gap of TiO2 broadened when S substitutes for Ti or O along with Cu substitutes for Ti. The calculated partial density of states shows that the impurity energy levels mainly come from the Cu 3d and S 3p orbital. The calculated results may provide some theoretical foundations for the photocatalytic activity enhancement of TiO2 co-doped with Cu and S

Hyperspectral Sensing Techniques Applied to Bio-masses Characterization: The Olive Husk Case

Olive husk (OH) quality, in respect of constituting particles characteristics (olive stones and pulp residues as result after pressing), represents an important issue. OH particles size class distribution and composition play, in fact, an important role for OH utilization as: organic amendment, bio-mass, food ingredient, plastic filler, abrasive, raw material in the cosmetic sector, dietary animal supplementation, etc. . OH is characterised by a strong variability according to olive characteristics and olive oil production process. Actually it does not exist any strategy able to quantify OH chemical-physical attributes versus its correct utilisation adopting simple, efficient and low costs analytical tools. Furthermore the possibility to perform its continuous monitoring, without any samples collection and analysis at laboratory scale, could strongly enhance OH utilization, with a great economic and environmental benefits. In this paper an analytical approach, based on HyperSpectral Imaging (HSI) is presented. HSI allows to perform, also on-line, a full quantification of OH characteristics in order to qualify this product for its further re-use, with particular reference as bio-mass. HSI was applied to different samples of OH, characterized by different moisture, different residual pulp content and different size class distributions. Results are presented and critically evaluated. © 2011 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing