Investment opportunity set, product mix, and the relationship between bank CEO compensation and risk-taking

The product mix changes that have occurred in banking organizations during the 1990s provide a natural experiment for investigating how firms adjust their executive compensation contracts as their mix of businesses changes. Deregulation and new technology have eroded banking organizations’ comparative advantages and have made it easier for nonbank competitors to enter banking organizations’ lending and deposit-taking businesses. In response, banking organizations have shifted their sale mix toward noninterest income by engaging in municipal revenue bond underwriting, commercial paper underwriting, discount brokering, managing and advising open- and close-ended mutual funds, underwriting mortgage-backed securities, selling and underwriting various forms of insurance products, selling annuities, and other investment banking activities via Section 20 subsidiaries. These mix changes could affect firms’ risk and the structure of CEO compensation. The authors find that as the average banking organization tilts its product mix toward fee-based activities and away from traditional activities, equity-based compensation increases. They also find that more risky banks have significantly higher levels of equity-based compensation, as do banks with more investment opportunities. But, more levered banks do not have higher levels of equity-based CEO compensation. Finally, the authors observe that equity-based compensation is more important after the Riegle-Neal Act of 1994.

Deregulation and the relationship between bank CEO compensation and risk taking

The deregulation of the banking industry during the 1990s provides a natural (public policy) experiment for investigating how firms adjust their executive compensation contracts as the environment in which they operate becomes relatively more competitive. Using the Riegle-Neal Act of 1994 as a focal point, we investigate how banks changed the equity-based component of bank CEO compensation contracts. We also examine the relationships between equity- based compensation and risk, capital structure, and investment opportunity set. Consistent with theoretical predictions, we find that after deregulation, the equity- based component of bank CEO compensation increases significantly on average for the industry. Additionally, we find that more risky banks have significantly higher levels of equity-based compensation, as do banks with more investment opportunities. But, more levered banks do not have higher levels of equity-based CEO compensation. Finally, we observe that most of these relationships become more powerful in our post- deregulation period.Corporate governance ; Bank supervision

Ionized interstellar froth in irregular galaxies

The warm interstellar medium of galaxies is a complicated place. It is often full of holes, neutral and ionized loops and shells, and diffuse ionized gas. Deep H alpha images of Magellanic-type irregular galaxies also reveal complex spatial structures consisting of loops and filaments in the interstellar gas outside of the boundaries of traditional HII regions. Researchers refer to these ionized structures as froth. Such structures could mark paths over which newly produced heavy elements are dispersed in irregular galaxies, and they could be the signatures of a feedback process related to star formation. In order to investigate the physical nature of the froth, researchers obtained narrow-band images and high and low dispersion spectra from Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) and deep blue-passband plates from the Canada-France-Hawaii Observatory (CFHO)

Measuring star formation rates in blue galaxies

The problems associated with measurements of star formation rates in galaxies are briefly reviewed, and specific models are presented for determinations of current star formation rates from H alpha and Far Infrared (FIR) luminosities. The models are applied to a sample of optically blue irregular galaxies, and the results are discussed in terms of star forming histories. It appears likely that typical irregular galaxies are forming stars at nearly constant rates, although a few examples of systems with enhanced star forming activity are found among HII regions and luminous irregular galaxies

The Ancient Celtic Way of Being and Doing Church for the Post-Modern West

Dr. George Hunter III brings his insight and scholarship to bear on the subject of “The Ancient Celtic Way of Being and Doing Church for the Post-Modern West.” This fascinating article about the growth of the church among Celtic peoples of 5th Century AD is sure to be discussed at length in the coming years

What is Your Main Business?

In chapter one of his forthcoming book, Christianity’s Main Business, George Hunter recalls the question that Peter Drucker advised leaders of all types of organizations (including churches) to ask, repeatedly, “What is our main business?” Hunter distinguishes between what church leaders typically say (and believe) is their main business, and their actual main business as revealed by their data—from budgets, to time expenditure, to interview data. He then unpacks the “top ten” themes he found driving most local churches. Hunter contends that Christianity’s mission to the world was supposed to be Christianity’s main business, and, drawing from N. T. Wright, this is dramatized in the meta-narrative common to all four of the canonical Gospels

A Response to Dr. Russell

A response to Russell\u27s (1995) article 40 Years of Church Growth: A View from the Theological Tower

STUDIES RELATED TO COULOMBIC FISSIONS OF CHARGED DROPLETS AND HYGROSCOPIC BEHAVIOR OF MIXED PARTICLES

This dissertation describes two independent studies related to charged aerosols. The first study examines the role of electrical conductivity on the amounts of charge and mass emitted during the break-up of charged droplets via Coulombic fission. The second study examines the hygroscopic behavior of mixed particles. The results from both studies are presented here in detail along with an in-depth discussion of pertinent literature and applications in modern technologies. Charged droplets break-up via a process termed Coulombic fission when their charge density reaches a certain level during which they emit a portion of their charge and mass in the form of progeny microdroplets. Although Rayleigh theory can be used to predict the charge level at which break-ups occur, no equivocal theory exists to predict the amounts of charge or mass emitted or the characteristics of the progenies. Previous investigations have indicated that the electrical conductivity of a charged droplet may determine how much charge and mass are emitted during its break-up via Coulombic fission. To further examine this supposition, charged droplets having known electrical conductivities were observed through multiple break-ups while individually levitated in an electrodynamic balance. The amounts of charge and mass emitted during break-ups were determined using a light scattering technique and changes in the DC null point levitation potentials of the charged droplets. Here, electrical conductivity was found to increase and decrease the amounts of charge and mass emitted, respectively, while having no effect on the charge level at which break-ups occurred. The findings of this investigation have significant bearing in nanoparticle generation and electrospray applications. The hygroscopic behavior of atmospherically relevant inorganic salts is essential to the chemical and radiative processes that occur in Earth’s atmosphere. Furthermore, studies have shown that an immense variety of chemical species exist in the atmosphere which inherently mix to form complex heterogeneous particles with differing morphologies. However, how such materials and particle morphologies affect the hygroscopic behavior of atmospherically relevant inorganic salts remains mostly unknown. Therefore, the effects of water insoluble materials, such as black carbon, on the hygroscopic behavior of inorganic salts were examined. Here, water insoluble solids were found to increase the crystallization relative humidities of atmospherically relevant inorganic salts when internally mixed. Water insoluble liquids however, were found to have no effect on the hygroscopic behavior of atmospherically relevant inorganic salts. The findings of this investigation have significant bearing in atmospheric modeling

Evangelizing Pre-Christian People: A Thematic Perspective

To reach pre-Christian people today, a church must create a culture of authentic conversation. This article represents a chapter of George C. Hunter\u27s forthcoming book, The Apostolic Congregation: Church Growth Reconcetved for a New Generation (Abingdon, August 2009)