Promotion Tournaments and Capital Rationing

We analyze capital allocation in a conglomerate where divisional managers with uncertain abilities compete for promotion to CEO. A manager can sometimes gain by unobservably adding variance to divisional performance. Capital rationing can limit this distortion, increase productive efficiency, and allow the owner to make more accurate promotion decisions. Firms for which CEO talent is more important for firm performance are more likely to ration capital. A rationed manager is more likely to be promoted even though all managers are identical ex ante. When the tournament payoff is relatively small, offering an incentive wage can be more efficient than rationing capital; however, when tournament incentives are paramount, rationing is more efficient.

Report of the Stanford Linked Data Workshop

The Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (SULAIR) with the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) conducted at week-long workshop on the prospects for a large scale, multi-national, multi-institutional prototype of a Linked Data environment for discovery of and navigation among the rapidly, chaotically expanding array of academic information resources. As preparation for the workshop, CLIR sponsored a survey by Jerry Persons, Chief Information Architect emeritus of SULAIR that was published originally for workshop participants as background to the workshop and is now publicly available. The original intention of the workshop was to devise a plan for such a prototype. However, such was the diversity of knowledge, experience, and views of the potential of Linked Data approaches that the workshop participants turned to two more fundamental goals: building common understanding and enthusiasm on the one hand and identifying opportunities and challenges to be confronted in the preparation of the intended prototype and its operation on the other. In pursuit of those objectives, the workshop participants produced:1. a value statement addressing the question of why a Linked Data approach is worth prototyping;2. a manifesto for Linked Libraries (and Museums and Archives and …);3. an outline of the phases in a life cycle of Linked Data approaches;4. a prioritized list of known issues in generating, harvesting & using Linked Data;5. a workflow with notes for converting library bibliographic records and other academic metadata to URIs;6. examples of potential “killer apps” using Linked Data: and7. a list of next steps and potential projects.This report includes a summary of the workshop agenda, a chart showing the use of Linked Data in cultural heritage venues, and short biographies and statements from each of the participants

IFRS For U.S. Companies

Growing acceptance of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) worldwide and recent actions of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) indicate that IFRS could soon become a body of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S.).  It is, therefore, very crucial that investors, preparers, auditors, educators and regulators are aware of how this imminent change would affect them.  This commentary article addresses this timely issue by critically examining: (1) potential benefits of allowing U.S. firms to adopt IFRS, (2) necessary changes related to the IASB and IFRS, and (3) necessary changes to the U.S. financial reporting infrastructure.  It also raises specific concerns that the SEC should consider

Recommendations For Speakers in Meetings and Conferences

[Excerpt] It is not easy for a speaker to prepare documents and presentations especially when speaking to diverse audiences, i.e. when people have different languages, different backgrounds, different level of knowledge or include people with intellectual disabilities. Sometimes, speakers do not know how they can transmit information to people with intellectual disability

Foreword

Thank you to the Georgia Law Review and the University ofGeorgia School of Law for inviting me to discuss evidence reformin the State of Georgia. As a trial lawyer, it is both an honor-anda daunting task-to address such a distinguished group ofevidence scholars as have gathered here today.More than 150 years ago, the author of Georgia\u27s first evidencecode, Judge David Irwin, began with a simple principle: Theobject of all legal investigation is the discovery of truth. 2 If that isso, and I believe that it is, then an evidence code is a lens thatfocuses the discovery and that brings truth into perspective. Therules of evidence filter information, controlling what evidence ajury may, and may not, hear as it weighs the claims before it.They focus the jury\u27s perception of the evidence before it, settingthe parameters of what a given piece of evidence does, or does not,establish. They are fundamental to our system of justice andaffect, in a very real way, the manner in which legal proceedingsare conducted and whether the ultimate outcome is fair and just

Recommendations for Organizers of Meetings and Conferences

[Excerpt] Planning and organizing a conference, a meeting or any other event is a complex task, often involving numerous different people. The objective should always be to make the event as beneficial as possible for all participants. Increasingly, also people with intellectual disabilities actively participate in events together with many other participants. This shows the growing inclusion of this group of people in our societies and should be much more promoted. Of course, these participants are often very disappointed when they cannot follow and participate in an event because some basic guidelines for accessibility have not been followed. As organizer of an event, you are in the critical position to include considerations about its accessibility from the beginning of the planning process. Taking care of these issues from the beginning has proven to be most effective and avoids costly changes to programmes and venues

An Exploration of Doubly Transitive Designs in Affine Space

Through a combination of linear algebra, geometry, and algebraic structures, one can prove that certain families of geometric designs have groups of automorphisms that are doubly transitive. These geometric designs can be defined as edge colorings of complete graphs. Automorphisms of these geometric designs are permutations of the vertices of the graphs, which are also permutations of the colors of the edges such that given two edges of the same color, their images are also the same color. All cases considered are on the vector space Fn for a field F and the group of automorphisms is a subgroup of the affine general linear group AGL (F,n). Three families of these designs have been explored. The first family is derived from an absolute value, the second from the addition of vectors, and the third from an inner product

Impact of urban factors and invasive species on white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) habitat use and foraging behavior in an urban forest park.

White-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) select for areas of greater canopy cover at the macro scale, and for areas with more CWD at the micro-scale. White-footed mice potentially avoid habitats with higher invasive species richness. White-footed mice preferentially foraged under the honeysuckle canopy in response to changes in temperature and humidity. This study suggests that the interaction between P. leucopus and ground layer invasive species is complex, and that the effect of moonlight may be diminished in this urban park. Urban ecosystems demonstrate high levels of anthropogenic land-use change, modification of abiotic inputs, and altered disturbance regimes. These changes result in reduced native biodiversity and increased presence of invasive species. Urban parks often serve as reserves for more sensitive native species, helping to preserve native biodiversity through mitigation of anthropogenic effects. Understanding what changes affect these urban parks, how the vegetative community responds, and how species (small mammals in particular) modify their behaviors to persist in these areas will increase our ability to manage urban areas for maximum biodiversity. This research project took place in Twin Parks, a forested bottomland urban park. Chapter 1 assesses the habitat at a macro scale, determining what elements of the vegetative community, vertical structure, and environment contribute to patterns of white-footed mouse capture. Chapter 2 assesses habitat selection at a microhabitat scale, examining how P. leucopus uses the invasive Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii). Chapter 3 examines P. leucopus anti-predator responses in relation to coarse woody debris (CWD) and honeysuckle canopy cover using Giving-Up-Density trials