From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization

This study surveys the academic and professional literature examining the privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), with a focus on empirical studies. Privatisation has been instrumental in reducing state ownership in many countries and had a transforming effect on global stock markets, although the role of SOEs in many other countries is similar to what it was two decades ago. Countries have adopted large-scale privatisation programs primarily for two reasons: first, the conclusive evidence that privately-owned firms outperform SOEs and, second, the empirical evidence clearly shows that privatisation significantly (often dramatically) improves the operating and financial performance of divested firms. Governments can also raise significant revenues by selling SOEs. While the choice between privatisation via public share offering versus through asset sales is still imperfectly understood, factors such as firm size, government fiscal condition, and the state of national economic development are important influences. Further, those countries which have chosen the mass (voucher) privatisation route have done so largely out of necessity--and face ongoing efficiency problems as a result. Governments have great discretion in pricing the SOEs they sell, especially those being sold via public share offering, and they use this discretion to pursue political and economic ends. Finally, investors who purchase the shares of firms being privatised earn significantly positive excess returns both in the short-run (due to deliberate underpricing of share issues by the government) and over one, three, and five-year investment horizons.Capital, Investment, Employment, Financing policy, Ownership structure, Investment banking, Venture capital, Brokerage, Public economics, Sources of revenue, Public enterprises, Boundaries of public and private enterprise, Privatisation, Contracting out

Privatization and the Market for Corporate Control

We study the wealth effects of the mergers of privatized firms. Our sample entails 39 privatized firms that subsequently become targets of a takeover and 52 privatized firms that become bidders in mergers. Our results indicate that target firms experience a 12 percent increase in equity value at the announcement of a merger. The bidding firms experience a positive but insignificant change in equity value at merger announcement. The results indicate that mergers result in net wealth creation for privatized firms and are consistent with property rights/agency cost theory. The results also offer global, non-U.S. evidence that mergers create wealth.

Size and Impact of Privatisation – A Survey of Empirical Studies

Privatisierung, Theorie, Empirische Methode, Privatization, Theory, Empirical method

Regulation 13D and the Regulatory Process

Pursuant to its authority under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has promulgated Schedule 13D, which imposes certain disclosure requirements on persons within ten days of the date that they acquire more than five percent of the beneficial ownership of a public company. As this article goes to press Congress is on the verge of reducing the threshold acquisition percentage perhaps to two percent and shortening the window from ten days to two or even one day. As such, it seems an appropriate time to evaluate the welfare effects of these disclosure requirements

Privacy in crowdsourcing:a systematic review

The advent of crowdsourcing has brought with it multiple privacy challenges. For example, essential monitoring activities, while necessary and unavoidable, also potentially compromise contributor privacy. We conducted an extensive literature review of the research related to the privacy aspects of crowdsourcing. Our investigation revealed interesting gender differences and also differences in terms of individual perceptions. We conclude by suggesting a number of future research directions.</p

Plastic optical fibre sensor for spine bending monitoring

peer-reviewedThis paper presents a study on the application of plastic optical fibre for spine bending monitoring based on an intensity modulation. The bending angle is measured as the angle between the emitting and receiving fibres is changed. The measured light attenuation is compared with a theoretical evaluation and the differences between these values are discussed. It was found that the light attenuation for the light intensity agreed well (margin of error < 15%) with the theoretical value for the range between 180o (representing no bend) and 200o and it was significantly increased for the bending angle beyond that value due to the effect of fibre gap increment which resulted in a less reliable experimental estimation.PUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe

Recombinant human erythropoietin in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia and prevention of transfusion requirement associated with solid tumors: A randomized, controlled study

Background: Anemia is a common side effect of anticancer chemotherapy. Blood transfusion, previously the only available treatment for chemotherapy-induced anemia, may result insome clinical or subclinical adverse effects in the recipients. Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) provides a new treatment modality for chemotherapy-induced anemia. Patients and methods: To evaluate the effect of rhEPO onthe need for blood transfusions and on hemoglobin (Hb)concentrations, 227 patients with solid tumors and chemotherapy-induced anemia were enrolled in a randomized, controlled, clinical trial. Of 189 patients evaluable for efficacy, 101 received 5000 IU rhEPO daily s.c, while 88 patients received no treatment during the 12-week controlled phase of the study. Results: The results demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in the need for blood transfusions (28% vs. 42%, P = 0.028) and in the mean volume of packed red blood cells transfused (152 ml vs. 190 ml, p = 0.044) in patients treated with rhEPO compared to untreated controls. This effect was even more pronounced in patients receiving platinum-based chemotherapy (26% vs. 45%, % 0.038). During the controlled treatment phase, the median Hb values increased in the rhEPO patients while remaining unchanged in the control group. The response was seen in all tumor types. Conclusions: RhEPO administration at a dose of 5000 IU daily s.c. increases hemoglobin levels and reduces transfusionrequirements in chemotherapy-induced anemia, especially during platinum-based chemotherap

ℓ-space spectroscopy of the Cosmic Microwave Background with the BOOMERanG experiment

The BOOMERanG experiment has recently produced detailed maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background, where sub-horizon structures are resolved with good signal to noise ratio. A power spectrum (spherical harmonics) analysis of the maps detects three peaks, at multipoles ℓ = (213_(-13)^(+10)),(541_(-32)^(+20))(845_(-25)^(+12)). In this paper we discuss the data analysis and the implications of these results for cosmology

How do MNC R&amp;D laboratory roles affect employee international assignments?

Research and development (R&#38;D) employees are important human resources for multinational corporations (MNCs) as they are the driving force behind the advancement of innovative ideas and products. International assignments of these employees can be a unique way to upgrade their expertise; allowing them to effectively recombine their unique human resources to progress existing knowledge and advance new ones. This study aims to investigate the effect of the roles of R&#38;D laboratories in which these employees work on the international assignments they undertake. We categorise R&#38;D laboratory roles into those of the support laboratory, the locally integrated laboratory and the internationally interdependent laboratory. Based on the theory of resource recombinations, we hypothesise that R&#38;D employees in support laboratories are not likely to assume international assignments, whereas those in locally integrated and internationally interdependent laboratories are likely to assume international assignments. The empirical evidence, which draws from research conducted on 559 professionals in 66 MNC subsidiaries based in Greece, provides support to our hypotheses. The resource recombinations theory that extends the resource based view can effectively illuminate the international assignment field. Also, research may provide more emphasis on the close work context of R&#38;D scientists rather than analyse their demographic characteristics, the latter being the focus of scholarly practice hitherto