Capital Structure in The Nordics : An empirical cross-country analysis on determinants of capital structure in listed, non-financial firms from 2007 to 2022

We examine determinants of capital structure by analyzing the financing decisions of listed, non-financial firms in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland from 2007 to 2022. At an aggregate level, firm leverage is fairly similar across the Nordic countries, and many firm-specific factors appear to be similar. We find market-to-book value, liquidity, profitability, size, non-debt tax shields, tangibility, bankruptcy risk, corporate tax rate, and term spread to be the most reliable determinants of capital structure in the Nordics. However, due to variations in the composition of sectors and ownership structure, some significant cross-country differences remain.nhhma

Importquoten und Schutzzölle: Droht ein Handelskrieg zwischen der EU und den USA?

Die Entscheidung der USA im März dieses Jahres, der amerikanischen Stahlindustrie umfassenden Schutz zu gewähren, hat zu einer tief gehenden Verstimmung in den transatlantischen Handelsbeziehungen geführt. Die EU reagierte mit der Ankündigung eines WTO-Überprüfungsverfahren und mit Gegenmaßnahmen. Für Prof. Dr. Dieter Ameling, Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl, »könnte Präsident Bush (mit dieser Entscheidung) einen Flächenbrand entzündet haben«. Die Maßnahmen der EU-Kommission sind seiner Meinung zu befürworten. Im Gegensatz dazu betont Prof. Dr. Andreas Falke, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, »dass Schutzklauselverfahren legale WTO/GATT-Instrumente sind ... Die EU dagegen hat mit der Ankündigung von direkten Vergeltungsmaßnahmen bei Ausbleiben amerikanischer Kompensationen noch einmal die Schraube angezogen. ... Möglicherweise verstößt sie damit selbst gegen WTO-Regeln ...« Für Prof. Dr. Wolf Schäfer, Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg, steht außer Zweifel, dass die US-Stahlbranche ... sich seit Jahren hinter hohen Importzöllen, heimischen Subventionen und dem Chapter-11-Insolvenzverfahren (versteckt), anstatt sich auf einem offenen Markt dem internationalen Wettbewerb zu stellen. ... Die US-Stahlbranche wird nicht, wie die Bush-Administration im Einklang mit der US-International Trade Commission (ITC) konstatiert, von ausländischen Stahlproduzenten geschädigt, ihre Probleme sind vielmehr eindeutig hausgemacht. Laut Prof. Dr. Gustav Dieckheuer, Universität Münster, liegt es weder im Interesse der EU noch der USA, den Konflikt auf die Spitze zu treiben und einen Handelskrieg zu provozieren. Denn zumindest auf der wirtschaftspolitischen Entscheidungsebene ist man sich bewusst, dass zusätzliche Handelsstörungen die derzeit ohnehin instabile konjunkturelle Situation rasch weiter verschlechtern können

Importquoten und Schutzzölle: Droht ein Handelskrieg zwischen der EU und den USA?

Die Entscheidung der USA im März dieses Jahres, der amerikanischen Stahlindustrie umfassenden Schutz zu gewähren, hat zu einer tief gehenden Verstimmung in den transatlantischen Handelsbeziehungen geführt. Die EU reagierte mit der Ankündigung eines WTO-Überprüfungsverfahren und mit Gegenmaßnahmen. Für Prof. Dr. Dieter Ameling, Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl, »könnte Präsident Bush (mit dieser Entscheidung) einen Flächenbrand entzündet haben«. Die Maßnahmen der EU-Kommission sind seiner Meinung zu befürworten. Im Gegensatz dazu betont Prof. Dr. Andreas Falke, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, »dass Schutzklauselverfahren legale WTO/GATT-Instrumente sind ... Die EU dagegen hat mit der Ankündigung von direkten Vergeltungsmaßnahmen bei Ausbleiben amerikanischer Kompensationen noch einmal die Schraube angezogen. ... Möglicherweise verstößt sie damit selbst gegen WTO-Regeln ...« Für Prof. Dr. Wolf Schäfer, Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg, steht außer Zweifel, dass die US-Stahlbranche ... sich seit Jahren hinter hohen Importzöllen, heimischen Subventionen und dem Chapter-11-Insolvenzverfahren (versteckt), anstatt sich auf einem offenen Markt dem internationalen Wettbewerb zu stellen. ... Die US-Stahlbranche wird nicht, wie die Bush-Administration im Einklang mit der US-International Trade Commission (ITC) konstatiert, von ausländischen Stahlproduzenten geschädigt, ihre Probleme sind vielmehr eindeutig hausgemacht. Laut Prof. Dr. Gustav Dieckheuer, Universität Münster, liegt es weder im Interesse der EU noch der USA, den Konflikt auf die Spitze zu treiben und einen Handelskrieg zu provozieren. Denn zumindest auf der wirtschaftspolitischen Entscheidungsebene ist man sich bewusst, dass zusätzliche Handelsstörungen die derzeit ohnehin instabile konjunkturelle Situation rasch weiter verschlechtern können.Protektionismus, Außenhandelsbeschränkung, Zoll, Vereinigte Staaten

The influence of values in sustainable consumption among millennials

Due to climate change and global warming, sustainable consumption—as one possible solution to these challenges—is becoming more and more relevant. One generation that is affected the most by these developments are the millennials. While more and more baby boomers are retiring, millennials are now transitioning from being in training to being full-time employed, which marks a big change in their lives and makes understanding their values and consumption behaviour more important for marketers. The goal of our study is to clarify which values influence the building of attitude of millennials, if this influence differs according to employment status, and how attitude affects purchase intention concerning sustainable goods. Building to the list of values by Kahle (1983), the theory of planned behaviour, and perceived consumer effectiveness, we construct a framework to understand how values and employment status of millennials interact with their purchasing intention. Our results show that, among others, the values, that play a role during purchase intention forming, differ depending on the employment status. We also find that millennials place high importance on being in control when purchasing sustainable goods. Advertising and product managers can use our results to better understand and target the audience of their products as they construct their marketing efforts with the values of the audience in mind. In particular, messages that comply with the notion of being in control should be considered in every communication channel. This way, they may increase the share of sustainable consumers

An inert continuous microreactor for the isolation and analysis of a single microbial cell

Studying biological phenomena of individual cells is enabled by matching the scales of microbes and cultivation devices. We present a versatile, chemically inert microfluidic lab-on-a-chip (LOC) device for biological and chemical analyses of isolated microorganisms. It is based on the Envirostat concept and guarantees constant environmental conditions. A new manufacturing process for direct fusion bonding chips with functional microelectrodes for selective and gentle cell manipulation via negative dielectrophoresis (nDEP) was generated. The resulting LOC system offered a defined surface chemistry and exceptional operational stability, maintaining its structural integrity even after harsh chemical treatment. The microelectrode structures remained fully functional after thermal bonding and were proven to be efficient for single-cell trapping via nDEP. The microfluidic network consisted solely of glass, which led to enhanced chip reusability and minimized interaction of the material with chemical and biological compounds. We validated the LOC for single-cell studies with the amino acid secreting bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum. Intracellular l-lysine production dynamics of individual bacteria were monitored based on a genetically encoded fluorescent nanosensor. The results demonstrate the applicability of the presented LOC for pioneering chemical and biological studies, where robustness and chemically inert surfaces are crucial parameters for approaching fundamental biological questions at a single-cell level

Lignite planning, structural change and coal phase-out in Germany

Lignite planning in the Rhineland, central German and Lusatian coalfields is a core spatial development planning task at the federal state and regional levels. The Lignite Planning Information Group and Initiative (Informations- und Initiativkreis Braunkohlenplanung) was founded in 1994 at the ARL - Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association to provide a platform for expert discussion. Starting from experiences with the Rhineland and the structural upheavals in the new federal states in the early 1990s, it has since continuously addressed new technical and legal requirements involving resettlement, water balance issues, environmental assessments, the energy transition and the common good. Against the backdrop of rapid change and geopolitical events, the combination of structural change and the politically initiated phase-out of lignite-based power generation in a time frame between 'ideally 2030' and no later than the end of 2038 constitutes a challenge that will have to be met by the active players from the perspective of both federal state and regional planning and of regional development. This position paper takes stock of the situation across federal states and across coalfields and describes the required actions for lignite planning as a basis for reaching conclusions about a process with far-reaching national consequences. The various aspects of this process are subject to constant change and call for proactive strategies to exploit opportunities, tap potential, and effectively identify and avoid negative developments

Deadly diving? Physiological and behavioural management of decompression stress in diving mammals

© The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 279 (2012): 1041-1050, doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2088.Decompression sickness (DCS; ‘the bends’) is a disease associated with gas uptake at pressure. The basic pathology and cause are relatively well known to human divers. Breath-hold diving marine mammals were thought to be relatively immune to DCS owing to multiple anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptations that reduce nitrogen gas (N2) loading during dives. However, recent observations have shown that gas bubbles may form and tissue injury may occur in marine mammals under certain circumstances. Gas kinetic models based on measured time-depth profiles further suggest the potential occurrence of high blood and tissue N2 tensions. We review evidence for gas-bubble incidence in marine mammal tissues and discuss the theory behind gas loading and bubble formation. We suggest that diving mammals vary their physiological responses according to multiple stressors, and that the perspective on marine mammal diving physiology should change from simply minimizing N2 loading to management of the N2 load. This suggests several avenues for further study, ranging from the effects of gas bubbles at molecular, cellular and organ function levels, to comparative studies relating the presence/absence of gas bubbles to diving behaviour. Technological advances in imaging and remote instrumentation are likely to advance this field in coming years.This paper and the workshop it stemmed from were funded by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Mammal Centre

Corneal Alterations during Combined Therapy with Cyclodextrin/Allopregnanolone and Miglustat in a Knock-Out Mouse Model of NPC1 Disease

BACKGROUND: Niemann Pick disease type C1 is a neurodegenerative disease caused by mutations in the NPC1 gene, which result in accumulation of unesterified cholesterol and glycosphingolipids in the endosomal-lysosomal system as well as limiting membranes. We have previously shown the corneal involvement in NPC1 pathology in form of intracellular inclusions in epithelial cells and keratocytes. The purpose of the present study was to clarify if these inclusions regress during combined substrate reduction- and by-product therapy (SRT and BPT). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Starting at postnatal day 7 (P7) and thereafter, NPC1 knock-out mice (NPC1(-/-)) and wild type controls (NPC1(+/+)) were injected with cyclodextrin/allopregnanolone weekly. Additionally, a daily miglustat injection started at P10 until P23. Starting at P23 the mice were fed powdered chow with daily addition of miglustat. The sham group was injected with 0.9% NaCl at P7, thereafter daily starting at P10 until P23, and fed powdered chow starting at P23. For corneal examination, in vivo confocal laser-scanning microscopy (CLSM) was performed one day before experiment was terminated. Excised corneas were harvested for lipid analysis (HPLC/MS) and electron microscopy. In vivo CLSM demonstrated a regression of hyperreflective inclusions in all treated NPC1(-/-)mice. The findings varied between individual mice, demonstrating a regression, ranging from complete absence to pronounced depositions. The reflectivity of inclusions, however, was significantly lower when compared to untreated and sham-injected NPC1(-/-) mice. These confocal findings were confirmed by lipid analysis and electron microscopy. Another important CLSM finding revealed a distinct increase of mature dendritic cell number in corneas of all treated mice (NPC1(-/-) and NPC1(+/+)), including sham-treated ones. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The combined substrate reduction- and by-product therapy revealed beneficial effects on the cornea. In vivo CLSM is a non-invasive tool to monitor disease progression and treatment effects in NPC1 disorder