Insider Ownership and the Value of the Bucharest Stock Exchange Listed Companies: Convergence-of-Interest or Entrenchment Effect?

ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to provide empirical evidence regarding the effect of insider ownership on firm value which stems from the lack of such study for the case of Romania. By using a sample of companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, over the period 2007-2011, our results showed a negative effect of insider shareholdings on firm value. Likewise, the negative effect on firm value was confirmed for insider ownership one-year lagged. Thereby, unconcerned to the level of shareholdings, we ascertained the entrenchment effect, opposite to the goal of shareholders wealth maximization

An evaluation of E7 countries' sustainable energy investments: A decision-making approach with spherical fuzzy sets

The purpose of this study is to identify important strategies to increase sustainable energy investments in emerging economies. For this situation, first, four different indicators are selected according to the dimensions of the balanced scorecard technique. The weights of these items are computed by using Quantum Spherical fuzzy DEMATEL. In the second phase, emerging seven (E7) countries are ranked regarding the performance of sustainable energy investments. In this process, Quantum Spherical fuzzy TOPSIS is taken into consideration. The main contribution of this study is that prior factors can be defined for emerging economies to increase sustainable energy investments in a more effective way. Furthermore, a novel decision-making model is developed while integrating TOPSIS and DEMATEL with Quantum theory, Spherical fuzzy sets, facial expressions of the experts, and collaborative filtering. It is concluded that competition is the most significant factor for the performance of sustainable energy investments. In addition, the ranking results denote that China and Russia are the most successful emerging economies with respect to sustainable energy investments. It is strongly recommended that emerging countries should mainly consider benchmarking the capacity of energy hubs with the aim of increasing the capacity of ongoing energy plants

Consumption substitution and change of household indirect energy consumption in China between 1997 and 2012

With the rapid growth in the Chinese economy in recent decades, household incomes as well as consumption of goods and services have also steadily increased. This has resulted in growing demand for energy consumption across the economy. It has been suggested that consumption upgrades in tandem with substitutions might exert an impact on mitigating this growth. The input-output method was applied in this study to analyze variations in household indirect energy consumption between 1997 and 2012. The impact of consumption substitution on change was also determined using a two-tier structural decomposition analysis, in which the second-tier is a further decomposition based on first-tier results. The results show that the indirect energy use caused by household consumption makes up between 75% and 78% of total household energy demand and that this increased 161.2% over the study period. First-tier decomposition results reveal that this change was mostly caused by household consumption scale and energy intensity effects. Second-tier decomposition results reveal strong evidence for consumption substitution between energy-intensive industries and non-energy-intensive ones and that this can have an impact on reducing household indirect consumption. Household consumption therefore plays a prominent role in total energy consumption. Transforming to non-energy-intensive or services led consumption patterns should therefore be encouraged by the Chinese government in order to achieve conservation goals

Intraoperative transfusion practices in Europe

© 2016 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Journal of Anaesthesia.Background: Transfusion of allogeneic blood influences outcome after surgery. Despite widespread availability of transfusion guidelines, transfusion practices might vary among physicians, departments, hospitals and countries. Our aim was to determine the amount of packed red blood cells (pRBC) and blood products transfused intraoperatively, and to describe factors determining transfusion throughout Europe. Methods: We did a prospective observational cohort study enrolling 5803 patients in 126 European centres that received at least one pRBC unit intraoperatively, during a continuous three month period in 2013. Results: The overall intraoperative transfusion rate was 1.8%; 59% of transfusions were at least partially initiated as a result of a physiological transfusion trigger- mostly because of hypotension (55.4%) and/or tachycardia (30.7%). Haemoglobin (Hb)- based transfusion trigger alone initiated only 8.5% of transfusions. The Hb concentration [mean (sd)] just before transfusion was 8.1 (1.7) g dl-1 and increased to 9.8 (1.8) g dl-1 after transfusion. The mean number of intraoperatively transfused pRBC units was 2.5 (2.7) units (median 2). Conclusions: Although European Society of Anaesthesiology transfusion guidelines are moderately implemented in Europe with respect to Hb threshold for transfusion (7-9 g dl-1), there is still an urgent need for further educational efforts that focus on the number of pRBC units to be transfused at this threshold

Intraoperative transfusion practices and perioperative outcome in the European elderly: A secondary analysis of the observational ETPOS study

The demographic development suggests a dramatic growth in the number of elderly patients undergoing surgery in Europe. Most red blood cell transfusions (RBCT) are administered to older people, but little is known about perioperative transfusion practices in this population. In this secondary analysis of the prospective observational multicentre European Transfusion Practice and Outcome Study (ETPOS), we specifically evaluated intraoperative transfusion practices and the related outcomes of 3149 patients aged 65 years and older. Enrolled patients underwent elective surgery in 123 European hospitals, received at least one RBCT intraoperatively and were followed up for 30 days maximum. The mean haemoglobin value at the beginning of surgery was 108 (21) g/l, 84 (15) g/l before transfusion and 101 (16) g/l at the end of surgery. A median of 2 [1–2] units of RBCT were administered. Mostly, more than one transfusion trigger was present, with physiological triggers being preeminent. We revealed a descriptive association between each intraoperatively administered RBCT and mortality and discharge respectively, within the first 10 postoperative days but not thereafter. In our unadjusted model the hazard ratio (HR) for mortality was 1.11 (95% CI: 1.08–1.15) and the HR for discharge was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.74–0.83). After adjustment for several variables, such as age, preoperative haemoglobin and blood loss, the HR for mortality was 1.10 (95% CI: 1.05–1.15) and HR for discharge was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.78–0.87). Preoperative anaemia in European elderly surgical patients is undertreated. Various triggers seem to support the decision for RBCT. A closer monitoring of elderly patients receiving intraoperative RBCT for the first 10 postoperative days might be justifiable. Further research on the causal relationship between RBCT and outcomes and on optimal transfusion strategies in the elderly population is warranted. A thorough analysis of different time periods within the first 30 postoperative days is recommended