Corporate governance and stock market performance in Central and Eastern Europe: a study of nine countries, 1994-2001

This paper offers analysis of corporate governance issues behind the stock market performance (stock returns and activity) in nine Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Over the period June 1994 - June 2001, on average the CEE stock markets have had lower returns and higher risk than developed markets. This is explained by the negative influence of the two crisis years (1995 and 1998), the 'flight to quality' effect. Among other reasons, there are cases when prices have been artificially kept down by the controlling owners in order to abuse the minority shareholders. The evidence shows that the enforcement of law matters more than the quality of law on the books, which is in line with previous research (Pistor et al, 2000). I find that the effectiveness (enforcement) of financial regulations has the highest explanatory power of stock market returns in the sample countries. The protection of minority shareholders (Legal index) has a significant impact on market activity, measured by market turnover to market capitalization ratio

A novel method for detecting SNV genotypes from personal genome sequencing data

Genoomi variatsioonide uuringud on olulised mitme erineva valdkonna jaoks nagu näiteks personaalne meditsiin, evolutsiooniline analüüs või bakteritüvede tuvastamine. SNV-d, üksiku nukleotiidi variandid, on kõige põhjalikumalt uuritud variatsioonid genoomis ning seostatud mitmete tunnuste ja haigustega. Genoomiuuringud sõltuvad olulisel määral genoomist antud variatsioonide alleeli variantide määramise võimekusest, olemasolevad SNV genotüüpide määramise meetodid on aga võrdlemisi aeglased ja ebausaldusväärsed. Käesoleva magistritöö eesmärk on arendada välja uudne meetod SNV genotüüpide määramiseks kiiresti ning usaldusväärselt, jättes vahele kõige vigaderohkema etapi tavalisest SNV määramise töövoost. Selles töös tutvustati uut, k-meeridel põhinevat lähenemist SNV genotüüpide määramiseks. Arendati välja meetod SNV asukohti katvate unikaalsete k-meeride kasutamiseks antud SNV-de alleeli variantide leidmiseks. Töö käigus loodi programmid etteantud SNV-de jaoks unikaalsete k-meeride leidmiseks ning personaalse genoomi sekveneerimisandmetest genotüübi määramise metoodika testimiseks. Tutvustatud meetodit testiti nii simuleeritud kui reaalsete sekveneerimisandmetega, ühtlasi mõõdeti programmi aja- ja mälukasutust. Tulevaseks tööks toodi välja ka mõned soovitused programmi ajakulu vähendamiseks ning sekveneerimisandmetest määratud genotüüpide arvu suurendamiseks.The genome variation studies are important for many areas like personal medicine, evolutionary analysis or bacterial strain identification. The single nucleotide variants (SNVs) are the most thoroughly studied variations in the genome, associated with different traits and diseases. Genomic studies depend greatly on the ability of detecting the allele variants of these variations present in personal genome. However, the methods used for calling SNV genotypes from personal sequencing data are not very fast nor reliable. The aim of this master's thesis was to develop a novel method for detecting SNV genotypes fast and reliably with a new approach that allows omitting the often error-prone step of read mapping used in the general variant calling pipelines. A k-mer based approach was introduced in this study for detecting SNV genotypes. A method was developed for using the unique k-mers covering the SNV locations for different allele variants to identify the genotypes of these SNVs. A program was created for compiling a list of unique k-mers for the allele variants of given SNVs and the method was tested using a program for detecting the genotype of these SNVs from the personal genome sequencing data. The method introduced in this study was tested on both simulated and real sequencing data and the memory and time usage was measured. Some recommendations were made for future work to reduce the time usage of the program as well as improving the detection of SNV genotypes

Determinants and consequences of the unification of dual-class shares

This paper explores the reasons why an increasing number of firms in continental Europe are unifying their shares into a single class, and analyzes the consequences of this restructuring. Interestingly, recent changes in corporate governance environment have created a situation when the reasons that once caused the introduction of dual-class shares, i.e., the need to issue new equity and to defend firm from a possible takeover, are the same that now motivate firms to switch back to one share-one vote. Meanwhile, higher value of control rights (e.g., high separation between control and cash flow rights) significantly reduces the likelihood of unification. Finally, the data show that firm value increases after the unification. JEL Classification: G32, G34Corporate governance, dual-class shares, one share-one vote

Corporate Response To The War In Ukraine: Stakeholder Governance Or Stakeholder Pressure?

This Article empirically investigates the corporate response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the framework of the stakeholder capitalism debate. Some describe corporate leaders’ decision to withdraw from Russia as an example of stakeholder governance, maintaining that they placed social responsibility over profits. Others question the authenticity of corporate support for Ukraine and argue that companies left Russia mainly driven by operational and reputational concerns. Against this backdrop, we conduct an empirical study of reactions to the outbreak of the war from companies in the S&P500 and STOXX600 indices. We explore whether managers effectively decided mostly on ethical and moral grounds, or whether perhaps there was another possible channel. In particular, we focus on assessing the role played by stakeholder pressure exercised on companies to leave Russia. First, we examine whether revenue exposure to Russia was associated with the corporate decision to withdraw or suspend Russian activities, and the speed of the decision’s announcement. The findings indicate that firms which quickly announced their withdrawal from Russia actually had little revenue exposure to the country. Furthermore, we conduct a Twitter-based test of the virality of boycott campaigns and examine their relationship with managers’ decision to take positive action in supporting Ukraine and exiting Russia. Our analysis shows that the decision to withdraw from Russia is significantly positively associated with boycott campaigns. Finally, our research underscores important differences across market sizes. The smallest companies in our sample (mid-cap companies) are on average the most exposed to the Russian economy, whereas the Twitter boycott campaigns concentrated markedly on bigger firms (large and mega-cap firms). Overall, the evidence presented in this paper suggests that corporate leaders tend to promote stakeholder interests when they face potential reputational damage that could affect shareholder wealth, or when it represents a good marketing move, so called “woke-washing”. The analysis also supports and reinforces the view that pressure from stakeholders – magnified by the use of social media – can successfully influence the corporate decision to pursue certain social goals and not only profits. However, our results highlight how size matters in the stakeholder capitalism debate. Stakeholder pressure on management can be an important and effective factor in achieving a socially desirable outcome, but it tends to focus on large, high-profile companies, while other market participants are left free to operate without this meaningful managerial constraint

Tritija uzvedība kodolsintēzes reaktora materiālos

Elektroniskā versija nesatur pielikumusDarbs veltīts nākotnes enerģijas avota kodolsintēzes attīstībai. Pētījuma mērķis ir novērtēt kodolsintēzes reaktora materiālu piemērotību saistībā ar to izmaiņām iekārtas apstākļos un radioaktīvā ūdeņraža izotopa tritija uzkrāšanos. Darbā izmantotas LU Ķīmiskās Fizikas Institūta Cietvielu Radiācijas Ķīmijas Laboratorijā izstrādātas metodes un iekārtas. Novērots sinerģētisks jonizējošā starojuma un magnētiskā lauka efekts tritija izdalīšanās veicināšanā un novērtēts tā kopējais ieguldījums. Balstoties uz iegūtajiem rezultātiem izstrādātas rekomendācijas attiecībā uz radioaktīvo atkritumu daudzuma mazināšanu kodolsintēzes reaktoros Atslēgas vārdi: kodolsintēze, tritijs, difūzija, magnētiskais lauks, jonizējošais starojums.Doctoral thesis is devoted to the development of future energy source nuclear fusion. The objective of this research is to evaluate fusion reactor material suitability regarding their behaviour and tritium retention in the fusion reactor relevant conditions. Methods and technique developed in the UL Institute of Chemical Physics Laboratory of Radiation Chemistry of Solid State has been used in this study. Synergetic facilitating effect of accelerated electrons and high magnetic field on tritium release from materials has been found and its overall contribution estimated. Recommendations regarding the nuclear waste reduction based on the results on tritium behaviour studies have been provided Key words: nuclear fusion, tritium, diffusion, magnetic field, ionizing radiatio

The Evolution of the Concept of Immunity of International Organizations

This article looks at the change in the conceptual foundations of the immunity of international organisations, paying special attention to the nature of the immunity of the first international organisations and the later disappearance of that unique approach. Three distinct stages in the development of the concept of immunity of international organizations can be discerned. In the first stage the early international organizations were bestowed immunity derived from an augmented concept of neutrality. The second stage witnessed the granting of diplomatic privileges and immunities to certain organizations and their officials. The third stage involved the adoption of the concept of ‘functional immunity’ of international organizations. The article will also engage with the discussions (or lack of them) surrounding the adoption of immunity provisions and study the progression of analytical engagement with the concept of immunity. An examination of these stages will reveal how changes in the conceptual bases of immunity initially came about mostly due to practical considerations and without an analysis of the conceptual transformation that resulted