French companies operate in a unique environment characterized by the strong involvement of block shareholders such as families and banks. Furthermore, the French legal system allows firms to choose ...between a one‐tier or a two‐tier board structure. This study investigates whether this choice can affect the firm's operating and stock performance. Our regression results provide strong evidence that ownership and board structures are used together as corporate governance tools. In particular, the agency cost of debt is strongly affected by their interaction when institutional investors are also bank lenders. Our test results show that while family control has a negative impact on corporate governance, French institutional blockholders play a positive role as monitors of one‐tier structures. In contrast, they are more likely to misuse the two‐tier board system by promoting interlocked directorship, board opacity and their own interests as creditors. Our regression analysis reveals that foreign institutional investors do not have any impact on firm performance, regardless of board structure. Finally, we do not find any inverse relationship between board size and efficiency in France.
Our article assesses the impacts regarding on-farm investment and production decisions resulting from the Partially Decoupled (PD) payment scheme implemented during the 1990s and first half of the ...2000s within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The Spanish Cereal, Oilseed and Protein (COP) sector is taken as a case study regarding this effect due to its economic and political relevance in Spain. The empirical analysis is applied to farm-level data from 2000 to 2004 using the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). We use a reduced-form application of the dual model of investment under uncertainty and estimate a system of censored and uncensored equations. PD payments are found to increase short-run production and generate a statically significant increase in the investment in farm assets. Results also show the importance of assessing the effects of PD payments in a dynamic framework as applied in this article.
Using a dataset on corporate governance ratings of the 300 largest publicly traded European companies from 17 countries, I analyse the dynamics of corporate governance between 2000 and 2004 focusing ...on convergence. Within the structure of corporate governance, shareholders' rights and duties and takeover defences have changed little while ratings for board structure and functioning, and particularly for disclosure, have risen in every country and industry. Continental companies have narrowed the gap in relation to the UK and Ireland, and there is evidence of convergence within individual countries and industries. Nevertheless, the European corporate governance landscape is still diverse, with differences between countries overwhelming differences between industries.
► Traditional chemical intermediaries face partial disintermediation in their supply chain. ► Traditional chemical intermediaries need to harness the merits of the e-B2B marketplace to retain their ...importance as intermediaries. ► Both buyers and distributors of chemicals agree that five market sub-functions were important to them in the process of intermediation.
The traditional chemical distribution industry is a multi-billion dollar business and with the introduction of Electronic Business-to-Business (e-B2B) exchanges to the global chemical industry there is some concern about the future roles of traditional intermediaries (TI). The objectives of this research paper are to investigate the possibility of disintermediation of roles of TI by e-B2B exchanges and to identify the value adding role of TI as perceived by chemical distributors and buyers. If these value adding roles may be the key to future survival for TI in the marketplace. International data collected from e-B2B exchanges, chemical distributors and buyers are used. Content analysis of e-B2B exchanges was conducted while survey questionnaires were used for distributors and buyers using a cross-sectional approach. The research shows that whilst the e-B2B exchanges have a role to play in the chemical supply chain management there were still sub-functions which the buyers viewed that the TI could offer to them. So the supplier–buyer relationships could be maintained between the buyers and the TI, at least for the time being, until newer business models of e-B2B exchanges begins to compete with the TI’s to offer these sub-functions. The research holds valuable implications for TI in the chemical industry regarding the need for differentiation with a view building new competences to survive the encroachment of their traditional business base by e-B2B exchanges. The impact of e-B2B exchanges on TI in the chemical industry has not previously been studied in-depth. This paper provides new knowledge and makes a contribution by providing evidence of evolution in the chemical distribution channels.
The impact of poultry product recall events on consumer demand in the US was empirically tested for four major categories of poultry: broiler (young chicken), eggs, turkey and other chicken (mature ...or nonbroiler chicken). From 2000 to 2004, poultry Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) recall events had a consistent positive impact on demand for turkey but no significant impact on other types of poultry products. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - FSIS recall, as a complement to food labelling, did not undermine poultry consumption but promoted turkey demands. On the contrary, media recall undermined poultry demands. Moreover, it demonstrated that turkey consumers were a special behaviour group of poultry consumers.
In the wake of the financial crash, many governments across the globe are seeking to curb expenditure in public sector organizations. To assess the extent to which public organizations can make ...strategic choices that might result in lower expenditure, we explore the relationship between strategic management and overspending in English local governments. The effects of strategic stances and actions on overspending are tested using multivariate statistical techniques. The empirical results show that an innovative strategic stance results in overspending as does a commitment to the development of new services, while a reactive strategic stance and decentralized decision making are associated with lower levels of overspending. Our analysis provides support for arguments that public organizations can make strategic choices that result in tighter control of their budgets.
This article considers the impact of sub-national political systems on economic growth by applying the case of Russian regions from 2000 to 2004. It investigates two dimensions of the sub-national ...systems. First, it studies the influence of democracy on economic performance, providing evidence of a non-linear relationship between democracy and economic growth. Regions with high levels of democracy, as well as strong autocracies, perform better than hybrid regimes. Second, this article considers the influence of the size of the bureaucracy on economic outcomes and confirms the “grabbing hand” view on bureaucracy rather than the Weberian idea. Increasing the size of the bureaucracy is associated with a decline in economic performance. In addition, this article analyzes the potential interaction between these two characteristics of sub-national politics as factors of economic growth, but does not establish any robust results.
We consider the effects of interventions by the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) on the intraday volatility of the US dollar/Japanese yen (USD/JPY) exchange rates and their spillovers to volatility of the ...euro/JPY exchange rates. We use 15‐minute data during the period 2000–2004 and employ multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) modeling and quartile plots of intraday volatility to analyze the intraday effects of the BoJ interventions on exchange rate volatility. The results indicate that the BoJ interventions decrease daily volatility of the USD/JPY exchange rate but increase the volatility of the euro/JPY series. On intervention days, the intraday volatility has different patterns to those on non‐intervention days.
Wholesale trade in Russia today Khanin, G. I.; Fomin, D. A.
Studies on Russian economic development,
09/2007, Letnik:
18, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This paper compares the official and alternative statistical estimates of the financial performance of wholesale trade in 2001 and its dynamics in 2000-2004. The causes of the sector's high ...profitability and the rise in turnover in recent years are ascertained. A comparative study of wholesale trade in the Soviet era and the present is made and the functions of wholesale in today's Russia and economically advanced countries are contrasted. The negative role of wholesale trade in the present economy of Russia is demonstrated, which stems from the special characteristics of the functions it performs. The case is made for a sharp increase in the sector's taxation and the amount of its possible tax load is calculated.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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