2,151 research outputs found
Lessons from Fiascos in Russian Corporate Governance
"Bad corporate governance" is often invoked to explain poor enterprise performance, but the catch phrase is never precisely defined - neither its consequences for the real economy, nor its causes in particular countries has been adequately explained. This paper uses Russian enterprise examples to address these open questions in corporate governance theory. We define corporate governance by looking to the economic functions of the firm rather than to any particular set of national corporate laws. Firms exhibit good corporate governance when their managers maximize residuals and, in the case of investor-owned firms, make pro rata distributions to shareholders. First, using this definition, we develop a typology that shows the channels through which bad corporate governance can inflict damage on the real economy. The topology helps identify vulnerabilities to corporate governance problems that may appear in any country and it suggests a new way to tailor policy responses. Second, we explain the causes of poor corporate performance in Russia by looking to the particular conditions prevailing at privatization - untenable initial firm boundaries and insider allocation of firm shares - and the bargaining dynamics that followed. The focus on initial conditions helps expand a comparative corporate governance literature built on United States, Western European, and Japanese models. Lessons from Russian fiascos counsel caution as to "stakeholder" proposals - including labor or local communities in formal corporate governance - and generate testable hypotheses regarding potential losses from the multiple large block share ownerships typical of many U.S. firms, especially close corporations.
Corporate Governance Lessons from Russian Enterprise Fiascoes
This Article draws on a rich array of deviant behavior in Russian enterprises to craft lessons for corporate governance theory. First, Professors Fox and Heller define corporate governance by looking to the economic functions of the firm. Based on this definition, they develop a typology that comprehensively shows all the channels through which bad corporate governance can inflict damage on a country\u27s real economy. Second, they explain the causes of Russian enterprise fiascoes by looking to the particular initial conditions prevailing at privatization – untenable firm boundaries and insider allocation of firm shares – and the bargaining dynamics that have followed. This focus offers a new perspective for a comparative corporate governance literature derived from United States, Western European, and Japanese models. The analytic tools created in this Article can inform pressing debates across contemporary corporate law, ranging from the theory of the close corporation to the viability of stakeholder proposals
Defined Contribution Pension Plans in the Public Sector: A Benchmark Analysis
This chapter assesses best practice benchmarks for the design of defined contribution plans in the public sector, where such plans are the primary, or core, employment-based retirement benefit. These benchmarks rely on the notion that providing an adequate and secure retirement income for participants is the primary plan objective
Lessons from Fiascos in Russian Corporate Governance
"Bad corporate governance" is often invoked to explain poor enterprise performance, but the catch phrase is never precisely defined - neither its consequences for the real economy, nor its causes in particular countries has been adequately explained. This paper uses Russian enterprise examples to address these open questions in corporate governance theory. We define corporate governance by looking to the economic functions of the firm rather than to any particular set of national corporate laws. Firms exhibit good corporate governance when their managers maximize residuals and, in the case of investor-owned firms, make pro rata distributions to shareholders. First, using this definition, we develop a typology that shows the channels through which bad corporate governance can inflict damage on the real economy. The topology helps identify vulnerabilities to corporate governance problems that may appear in any country and it suggests a new way to tailor policy responses. Second, we explain the causes of poor corporate performance in Russia by looking to the particular conditions prevailing at privatization - untenable initial firm boundaries and insider allocation of firm shares - and the bargaining dynamics that followed. The focus on initial conditions helps expand a comparative corporate governance literature built on United States, Western European, and Japanese models. Lessons from Russian fiascos counsel caution as to "stakeholder" proposals - including labor or local communities in formal corporate governance - and generate testable hypotheses regarding potential losses from the multiple large block share ownerships typical of many U.S. firms, especially close corporations.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39666/3/wp282.pd
Glueball-Like Screening Masses in Pure SU(3) at Finite Temperatures
We investigate the finite-temperature excitation spectrum in the gluon sector
of pure gauge theory through measurements of screening masses in
correlations of loop operators. We develop the classification of such operators
under the symmetry group of the `-slice'. In the confined phase of the
theory, we find that the spectrum dynamically realises the zero temperature
symmetries. We observe a large thermal shift of the glueball mass. In
the deconfined phase, the spectrum distinguishes between operators coupling to
electrically and magnetically polarised gluon fields. The former yields a
screening mass equal to the Wilson-line screening mass; the latter, a method
for the measurement of the magnetic mass in the high-temperature limit.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX file, no figures or macros. HLRZ 61/93, BI-TP 93/49,
FSU-SCRI-93-10
On the glueball spectrum in O(a)-improved lattice QCD
We calculate the light `glueball' mass spectrum in N_f=2 lattice QCD using a
fermion action that is non-perturbatively O(a) improved. We work at lattice
spacings a ~0.1 fm and with quark masses that range down to about half the
strange quark mass. We find the statistical errors to be moderate and under
control on relatively small ensembles. We compare our mass spectrum to that of
quenched QCD at the same value of a. Whilst the tensor mass is the same (within
errors), the scalar mass is significantly smaller in the dynamical lattice
theory, by a factor of ~(0.84 +/- 0.03). We discuss what the observed m_q
dependence of this suppression tells us about the dynamics of glueballs in QCD.
We also calculate the masses of flux tubes that wind around the spatial torus,
and extract the string tension from these. As we decrease the quark mass we see
a small but growing vacuum expectation value for the corresponding flux tube
operators. This provides clear evidence for `string breaking' and for the
(expected) breaking of the associated gauge centre symmetry by sea quarks.Comment: 33pp LaTeX. Version to appear in Phys. Rev.
A prompt neutrino measurement
A test has been made to explore the possibility of beam dump neutrino experiments with short target‐detector separations and modest detectors. Results have given a positive neutrino signal which is interpreted in the context of various charmed‐meson production models. A limit to the lifetime and mass of the axion is also a byproduct of this test.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87326/2/246_1.pd
The glueball spectrum from an anisotropic lattice study
The spectrum of glueballs below 4 GeV in the SU(3) pure-gauge theory is
investigated using Monte Carlo simulations of gluons on several anisotropic
lattices with spatial grid separations ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 fm. Systematic
errors from discretization and finite volume are studied, and the continuum
spin quantum numbers are identified. Care is taken to distinguish single
glueball states from two-glueball and torelon-pair states. Our determination of
the spectrum significantly improves upon previous Wilson action calculations.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, uses REVTeX and epsf.sty (final version
published in Physical Review D
Universal geometric approach to uncertainty, entropy and information
It is shown that for any ensemble, whether classical or quantum, continuous
or discrete, there is only one measure of the "volume" of the ensemble that is
compatible with several basic geometric postulates. This volume measure is thus
a preferred and universal choice for characterising the inherent spread,
dispersion, localisation, etc, of the ensemble. Remarkably, this unique
"ensemble volume" is a simple function of the ensemble entropy, and hence
provides a new geometric characterisation of the latter quantity. Applications
include unified, volume-based derivations of the Holevo and Shannon bounds in
quantum and classical information theory; a precise geometric interpretation of
thermodynamic entropy for equilibrium ensembles; a geometric derivation of
semi-classical uncertainty relations; a new means for defining classical and
quantum localization for arbitrary evolution processes; a geometric
interpretation of relative entropy; and a new proposed definition for the
spot-size of an optical beam. Advantages of the ensemble volume over other
measures of localization (root-mean-square deviation, Renyi entropies, and
inverse participation ratio) are discussed.Comment: Latex, 38 pages + 2 figures; p(\alpha)->1/|T| in Eq. (72) [Eq. (A10)
of published version
The (LATTICE) QCD Potential and Running Coupling: How to Accurately Interpolate between Multi-Loop QCD and the String Picture
We present a simple parameterization of a running coupling constant, defined
via the static potential, that interpolates between 2-loop QCD in the UV and
the string prediction in the IR. Besides the usual \Lam-parameter and the
string tension, the coupling depends on one dimensionless parameter,
determining how fast the crossover from UV to IR behavior occurs (in principle
we know how to take into account any number of loops by adding more
parameters). Using a new Ansatz for the LATTICE potential in terms of the
continuum coupling, we can fit quenched and unquenched Monte Carlo results for
the potential down to ONE lattice spacing, and at the same time extract the
running coupling to high precision. We compare our Ansatz with 1-loop results
for the lattice potential, and use the coupling from our fits to quantitatively
check the accuracy of 2-loop evolution, compare with the Lepage-Mackenzie
estimate of the coupling extracted from the plaquette, and determine Sommer's
scale much more accurately than previously possible. For pure SU(3) we
find that the coupling scales on the percent level for .Comment: 47 pages, incl. 4 figures in LaTeX [Added remarks on correlated vs.
uncorrelated fits in sect. 4; corrected misprints; updated references.
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