522 research outputs found
Robust transport planning: conceptualising the citp and iptn plan under deep uncertainty
The transport planning profession is becoming increasingly aware of how uncertain the
future is. The level of uncertainty in transport planning and decision-making has intensified
â as it has in a number of spheres of policy â in the face of climate change, political and
economic instability, technological innovation, and changing consumer preferences
(Lyons, 2016). COVID-19 has accelerated many innovative and disruptive transitions,
expanding the set of plausible futures and compounding the âdeepâ uncertainty that we
have about planning for a future that is decades, and many crises, away from the present
(UN-Habitat, 2020). Conventional transport planning practices conceal uncertainty by
relying heavily on historic cause-effect relationships, and result in misplaced confidence in
our predictive abilities (Marsden & McDonald, 2019). This presentation outlines the
development of the Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan (CITP) and Integrated
Public Transport Network (IPTN) plan in the City of Cape Town using new transport
planning practices that try to grapple with the deep uncertainty weâre facing in long-term
transport planning in South Africa. The new approach brings together new techniques from
the climate adaptation, Decision-Making under Deep Uncertainty (DMDU), and
sustainability transitions research fields into transport planning. This development process
has resulted from a unique knowledge co-production arrangement between academia and
local government that was started in 2017. The lessons from developing this new transport
planning approach together, which still meets the established CITP and IPTN plan
requirements, will be relevant to those cities across South Africa, and many others in the
Global South, who are looking to embed more resilience in their transport planning system
in the post-covid era.Papers presented at the 40th International Southern African Transport Conference on 04 -08 July 202
An examination of the relationship of governance structure and performance: Evidence from banking companies in Bangladesh
Corporate governance has become increasingly important in developed and developing countries just after a series of corporate scandals and failures in a number of countries. Corporate governance structure is often viewed as a means of corporate success despite prior studies reveal mixed, somewhere conflicting and ambiguous, and somewhere no relationship between governance structure and performance. This study empirically investigates the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and financial performance of listed banking companies in Bangladesh by using two multiple regression models. The study reveals that a good number of companies do not comply with the regulatory requirements indicating remarkable shortfall in corporate governance practice. The companies are run by the professional managers having no duality and no ownership interest for which they are compensated by high remuneration to curb agency conflict. Apart from some inconsistent relationship between some corporate variables, the corporate governance mechanisms do not appear to have significant relationship with financial performances. The findings reveal an insignificant negative impact or somewhere no impact of independent directors and non-independent non-executive directors on the level of performance that strongly support the concept that the managers are essentially worthy of trust and earn returns for the owners as claimed by stewardship theory. The study provides support for the view that while much emphasis on corporate governance mechanisms is necessary to safeguard the interest of stakeholders; corporate governance on its own, as a set of codes or standards for corporate conformance, cannot make a company successful. Companies need to balance corporate governance mechanisms with performance by adopting strategic decision and risk management with the efficient utilization of the organizationâs resources
Why do large shareholders adopt a short-term versus a long-term investment horizon in different firms?
I ask why the same large shareholders have different investment horizons. Using data for 1998â2013, I examine four fundamental firm policies for their potential influence on blockholdersâ investments with different time horizons. The panel ordinary least squares, differenceâinâdifference (using the SarbanesâOxley Act), logistic, and dynamic generalized method of moments regression analyses reveal that blockholders adopt a shortâterm horizon in smaller firms with a less independent board, high leverage, and high dividends while the same blockholders keep their investments longer in firms with a more independent board and low dividends. Under various economic conditions, different firm characteristics gain importance in blockholdersâ decision on shortâterm versus longâterm investments
Synthesis of Learning from a Decade of CGIAR Research Programs
The objective of this forward-looking synthesis was to bring together learning from a decade of experience with CGIAR research programs (CRPs), based on existing evaluative evidence. The purpose of this meta-review is to review lessons from the CRP experience to inform the development of future research programs of One CGIAR. The 2021 Synthesis and Lessons Learned from a Decade of CRPs is delivered in response to the request of the CGIAR System Council and aligned with the synthesis terms of reference endorsed by SIMEC in February 2021. The synthesis examined evidence from the two phases of CRP implementation: 2011â2016 and 2017â2019. Four key issues were addressed: (1) patterns and trends between the two phases of CRPs related to the quality of science (QoS) and research for development, achievement of sustainable development outcomes, and management and governance; (2) systemwide issues affecting CRP achievements; (3) recommendations for the future orientation of CGIAR research and innovation; and (4) key evidence gaps and needs for future evaluations. A narrative synthesis approach was used, employing secondary source data from 47 existing evaluations and reviews. External evaluations were systematically coded and analyzed by senior subject matter experts (SMEs) using a standardized analytical framework. A bibliometric trend analysis was carried out, and findings were triangulated against earlier syntheses and validated by members of the Independent Science for Development Council (ISDC), CRP leaders, and expert peer reviewers
Risk-shifting Through Issuer Liability and Corporate Monitoring
This article explores how issuer liability re-allocates fraud risk and how risk allocation may reduce the incidence of fraud. In the US, the apparent absence of individual liability of officeholders and insufficient monitoring by insurers under-mine the potential deterrent effect of securities litigation. The underlying reasons why both mechanisms remain ineffective are collective action problems under the prevailing dispersed ownership structure, which eliminates the incentives to moni-tor set by issuer liability. This article suggests that issuer liability could potentially have a stronger deterrent effect when it shifts risk to individuals or entities holding a larger financial stake. Thus, it would enlist large shareholders in monitoring in much of Europe. The same risk-shifting effect also has implications for the debate about the relationship between securities litigation and creditor interests. Credi-torsâ claims should not be given precedence over claims of defrauded investors (e.g., because of the capital maintenance principle), since bearing some of the fraud risk will more strongly incentivise large creditors, such as banks, to monitor the firm in jurisdictions where corporate debt is relatively concentrated
Multiple agency perspective, family control, and private information abuse in an emerging economy
Using a comprehensive sample of listed companies in Hong Kong this paper investigates how family control affects private information abuses and firm performance in emerging economies. We combine research on stock market microstructure with more recent studies of multiple agency perspectives and argue that family ownership and control over the board increases the risk of private information abuse. This, in turn, has a negative impact on stock market performance. Family control is associated with an incentive to distort information disclosure to minority shareholders and obtain private benefits of control. However, the multiple agency roles of controlling families may have different governance properties in terms of investorsâ perceptions of private information abuse. These findings contribute to our understanding of the conflicting evidence on the governance role of family control within a multiple agency perspectiv
A Low-Mass Planet with a Possible Sub-Stellar-Mass Host in Microlensing Event MOA-2007-BLG-192
We report the detection of an extrasolar planet of mass ratio q ~ 2 x 10^(-4)
in microlensing event MOA-2007-BLG-192. The best fit microlensing model shows
both the microlensing parallax and finite source effects, and these can be
combined to obtain the lens masses of M = 0.060 (+0.028 -0.021) M_sun for the
primary and m = 3.3 (+4.9 -1.6) M_earth for the planet. However, the
observational coverage of the planetary deviation is sparse and incomplete, and
the radius of the source was estimated without the benefit of a source star
color measurement. As a result, the 2-sigma limits on the mass ratio and finite
source measurements are weak. Nevertheless, the microlensing parallax signal
clearly favors a sub-stellar mass planetary host, and the measurement of finite
source effects in the light curve supports this conclusion. Adaptive optics
images taken with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) NACO instrument are consistent
with a lens star that is either a brown dwarf or a star at the bottom of the
main sequence. Follow-up VLT and/or Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations
will either confirm that the primary is a brown dwarf or detect the low-mass
lens star and enable a precise determination of its mass. In either case, the
lens star, MOA-2007-BLG-192L, is the lowest mass primary known to have a
companion with a planetary mass ratio, and the planet, MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb, is
probably the lowest mass exoplanet found to date, aside from the lowest mass
pulsar planet.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Scheduled for
the Sept. 1, 2008 issu
Hamlet and the fall of the Berlin wall : the myth of interventionist Shakespeare performance
The critical reception of Heiner MĂŒllerâs 1990 Hamlet/Maschine at the Deutsches Theater in East Berlin epitomizes a trend of crediting GDR Shakespeare performance with political influence. Drawing on rehearsal notes and reviews, Oliver challenges the interventionist Shakespeare myth, contrasting the Deutsches Theaterâs political involvement with the impact of its Hamlet production on events surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall. Shakespeareâs capacity for political intervention at this point was limited by theater practitionersâ reliance on public funding, their close relationships with governmental authority, and an underlying distrust of the masses. Ultimately, GDR artists proved useful to the 1989 protest movement because they occupied a unique position at the interface of dissidence and power
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The interaction of adverse childhood experiences and gender as risk factors for depression and anxiety disorders in US adults: a cross-sectional study
Background
Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and being female are distinct risk factors for having a major depressive episode (MDE) or an anxiety disorder (AD) in adulthood, but it is unclear whether these two risk factors are synergistic. The purpose of this study was to determine whether exposure to ACEs and being female are more than additive (synergistic) in their association with MDE and AD in US adults.
Methods
We pooled cross-sectional survey data in the Midlife in the United States study from two nationally-representative cohorts of English-speaking US adults. Data from the first cohort were collected in 2004â2006 and from the second in 2011â2014. Data from both cohorts included the 12-month prevalence of MDE and AD (generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder) assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form, gender (here termed female and male), and the count of five categories of exposure to ACEs: physical, sexual, or emotional abuse; household alcohol or substance abuse; and parental separation or divorce.
Results
Of the 5834 survey respondents, 4344 (74.5%) with complete data on ACEs were included in the analysis. Mean (SD) age was 54.1 (13.8) years and 53.9% were female. The prevalences of MDE, AD, and exposure to 3â5 categories of ACEs were 13.7, 10.0, and 12.5%, respectively. After adjusting for covariates (age, race, and current and childhood socioeconomic disadvantage), for those with both risk factors (female and 3â5 ACEs) the prevalence of MDE was 26.9%. This was 10.2% (95% CI: 1.8, 18.5%) higher than the expected prevalence based on the additive associations of the two risk factors. The adjusted prevalence of AD among females with 3â5 ACEs was 21.9%, which was 11.4% (95% CI: 4.0, 18.9%) higher than the expected prevalence.
Conclusions
For both MDE and AD, there was synergy between the two risk factors of exposure to ACEs and being female. Identification and treatment of MDE and AD may benefit from understanding the mechanisms involved in the synergistic interaction of gender with ACEs
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