Performance Pay, Delegation, and Multitasking under Uncertainty and Innovativeness An Empirical Investigation

The existing empirical evidence is somewhat inconclusive with respect to a number of the key predictions of the agency model. Although the reach of agency theory is considerably wider, the dominant portion of work has been taken up with examining the nature of the trade-off between risk and incentives, and the implications thereof for contractual design. More specifically, some researchers have recently noted that the predicted trade-off between risk and incentives turns out to be rather weak, and perhaps non-existent, when confronted with the available empirical evidence. In this paper, we examine the risk-incentives trade-off and related predictions from agency theory on the basis of data from a data set encompassing close to 1000 Danish firms. We find that the relation between the use of performance pay in these firms and the environmental uncertainty they confront which is one way to test the risk/incentives tradeoff is indeed weak and in many cases even perverse. We then suggest, in line with other recent contributions to the literature, that this may be caused by the widespread use of delegation. One effect of delegation is that it breaks the simple relation between risks and incentives. We examine the suggestion that that those firms that are more prone to use delegation of decision rights in their internal organization are facing an uncertain environment to a larger extent than the rest of the population. We argue that this constitutes an indirect confirmation of the hypothesis. We also examine the multi-tasking agency hypothesis that as risk increases, the flexibility of agents is restricted. We fail to find support for this hypothesis. It is suggested that the reason for this finding is also related to delegation.Uncertainty, pay-for-performance, delegation, innovation, competition

Lyman alpha Resonant Scattering in Young Galaxies - Predictions from Cosmological Simulations

We present results obtained with a 3D, Ly alpha radiative transfer code, applied to a fully cosmological galaxy formation simulation. The developed Monte Carlo code is capable of treating an arbitrary distribution of source Ly alpha emission, neutral hydrogen density, temperature, and peculiar velocity of the interstellar medium. We investigate the influence of resonant scattering on the appearance and properties of young galaxies by applying the code to a simulated "Lyman Break Galaxy" at redshift z = 3.6, and of star formation rate 22 M_sun/yr and total Ly alpha luminosity 2.0 X 10^43 erg/s. It is found that resonant scattering of Ly alpha radiation can explain that young galaxies frequently are observed to be more extended on the sky in Ly alpha than in the optical. Moreover, it is shown that, for the system investigated, due to the anisotropic escape of the photons, the appearent maximum surface brightness can differ by a factor of ~15, and the total derived luminosity by a factor of ~4, depending on the orientation of the system relative to the observer.Comment: Letter updated to match version published in Ap

Honour and respect in Danish prisons: Contesting ‘cognitive distortions’ in cognitive-behavioural programmes

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Using empirical data from prison-based cognitive-behavioural programmes, this article considers how prisoners’ subcultural capital shapes their responses to demands for ‘cognitive self-change’. We argue that accounts of ‘respect’ in the prior literature fail to capture how prisoners react to these programmes, and that a discussion of honour (and what we term ‘respect plus’) needs to be incorporated. The empirical material derives from four different cognitive-behavioural programme setups in three Danish prisons and semi-structured interviews with participants and course instructors. By attempting to create accountable and rational actors, who ‘self-manage’, the therapeutic ethos neglects participants’ life experiences and subcultural capital. Open expressions of moral values by prisoners (such as displays of honour and respect) are considered to be cognitive distortions which are dismissed by instructors, while alternative and ‘correct’ thinking styles are prescribed. Our findings advance understandings of the meanings of honour and respect in prisons in general and in cognitive-behavioural programmes in particular.This work was supported by the Danish Council for Independent Research | Social Sciences grant number 12-125308 for the research project Education in Social Skills and Emotional Training

Deep rest-frame far-UV spectroscopy of the giant Lyman-alpha emitter 'Himiko'

We present deep 10h VLT/XSHOOTER spectroscopy for an extraordinarily luminous and extended Lya emitter at z=6.595 referred to as Himiko and first discussed by Ouchi et al. (2009), with the purpose of constraining the mechanisms powering its strong emission. Complementary to the spectrum, we discuss NIR imaging data from the CANDELS survey. We find neither for HeII nor any metal line a significant excess, with 3 sigma upper limits of 6.8, 3.1, and 5.8x10^{-18} erg/s/cm^2 for CIV $\lambda$1549, HeII $\lambda$1640, CIII] $\lambda$1909, respectively, assuming apertures with 200 km/s widths and offset by -250 km/s w.r.t to the peak Lya redshift. These limits provide strong evidence that an AGN is not a major contribution to Himiko's Lya flux. Strong conclusions about the presence of PopIII star-formation or gravitational cooling radiation are not possible based on the obtained HeII upper limit. Our Lya spectrum confirms both spatial extent and flux (8.8+/-0.5x10^{-17} erg/s/cm^2) of previous measurements. In addition, we can unambiguously exclude any remaining chance of it being a lower redshift interloper by significantly detecting a continuum redwards of Lya, while being undetected bluewards

Stabilizing the surface morphology of Si1–x–yGexCy/Si heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy through the use of a silicon-carbide source

Si1–x–yGexCy/Si superlattices were grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy using silicon carbide as a source of C. Samples consisting of alternating layers of nominally 25 nm Si1–x–yGexCy and 35 nm Si for 10 periods were characterized by high-resolution x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry to determine strain, thickness, and composition. C resonance backscattering and secondary ion mass spectrometries were used to measure the total C concentration in the Si1–x–yGexCy layers, allowing for an accurate determination of the substitutional C fraction to be made as a function of growth rate for fixed Ge and substitutional C compositions. For C concentrations close to 1%, high-quality layers were obtained without the use of Sb-surfactant mediation. These samples were found to be structurally perfect to a level consistent with cross-sectional TEM (< 10^7 defects/cm^2) and showed considerably improved homogeneity as compared with similar structures grown using graphite as the source for C. For higher Ge and C concentrations, Sb-surfactant mediation was found to be required to stabilize the surface morphology. The maximum value of substitutional C concentration, above which excessive generation of stacking fault defects caused polycrystalline and/or amorphous growth, was found to be approximately 2.4% in samples containing between 25 and 30% Ge. The fraction of substitutional C was found to decrease from roughly 60% by a factor of 0.86 as the Si1–x–yGexCy growth rate increased from 0.1 to 1.0 nm/s

The confined-deconfined interface tension, wetting, and the spectrum of the transfer matrix

The reduced tension $\sigma_{cd}$ of the interface between the confined and the deconfined phase of $SU(3)$ pure gauge theory is determined from numerical simulations of the first transfer matrix eigenvalues. At $T_c = 1/L_t$ we find $\sigma_{cd} = 0.139(4) T_c^2$ for $L_t = 2$. The interfaces show universal behavior because the deconfined-deconfined interfaces are completely wet by the confined phase. The critical exponents of complete wetting follow from the analytic interface solutions of a $\Z(3)$-symmetric $\Phi^4$ model in three dimensions. We find numerical evidence that the confined-deconfined interface is rough.Comment: Talk presented at the International Conference on Lattice Field Theory, Lattice 92, to be published in the proceedings, 4 pages, 4 figures, figures 2,3,4 appended as postscript files, figure 1 not available as a postscript file but identical with figure 2 of Nucl. Phys. B372 (1992) 703, special style file espcrc2.sty required (available from hep-lat), BUTP-92/4

'It's like a Sentence before the Sentence' - Exploring the Pains and Possibilities of Waiting for Imprisonment

AbstractThis article explores the implications of the ‘imprisonment queue’ in Norway. Based on interview data (N = 200), we show that while interviewees waiting to serve their sentences enjoy certain benefits such as being able to prepare for or negotiate the terms of their imprisonment, they also suffer from uncertainty and powerlessness. The suspension of their lives while they wait hinders them in pursuing their ground projects, things that really matter to them. This peculiar phenomenon has not received attention from prison scholars generally, as well as scholars writing on Nordic Exceptionalism specifically. This article addresses that gap and poses questions about the relative mildness of the short Norwegian sentences, and more broadly, about what constitutes punishment.</jats:p

A Multicanonical Algorithm and the Surface Free Energy in SU(3) Pure Gauge Theory

We present a multicanonical algorithm for the SU(3) pure gauge theory at the deconfinement phase transition. We measure the tunneling times for lattices of size L^3x2 for L=8,10, and 12. In contrast to the canonical algorithm the tunneling time increases only moderately with L. Finally, we determine the interfacial free energy applying the multicanonical algorithm.Comment: 6 pages, HLRZ-92-3

Electronic properties of Si/Si1–x–yGexCy heterojunctions

We have used admittance spectroscopy and deep-level transient spectroscopy to characterize electronic properties of Si/Si1–x–yGexCy heterostructures. Band offsets measured by admittance spectroscopy for compressively strained Si/Si1–x–yGexCy heterojunctions indicate that incorporation of C into Si1–x–yGexCy lowers both the valence- and conduction-band edges compared to those in Si1–xGex by an average of 107 ± 6 meV/% C and 75 ± 6 meV/% C, respectively. Combining these measurements indicates that the band alignment is type I for the compositions we have studied, and that these results are consistent with previously reported results on the energy band gap of Si1–x–yGexCy and with measurements of conduction band offsets in Si/Si1–yCy heterojunctions. Several electron traps were observed using deep-level transient spectroscopy on two n-type heterostructures. Despite the presence of a significant amount of nonsubstitutional C (0.29–1.6 at. %), none of the peaks appear attributable to previously reported interstitial C levels. Possible sources for these levels are discussed