Fine-tuning the use of bail-in to promote a stronger EU financial system. CEPS Special Report No. 136/April 2016

This paper discusses the application of the new European rules for burden-sharing and bail-in in the banking sector, in view of their ability to accommodate broader policy goals of aggregate financial stability. It finds that the Treaty principles and the new discipline of state aid and the restructuring of banks provide a solid framework for combating moral hazard and removing incentives that encourage excessive risk-taking by bankers. However, the application of the new rules may have become excessively attentive to the case-by-case evaluation of individual institutions, while perhaps losing sight of the aggregate policy needs of the banking system. Indeed, in this first phase of the banking union, while large segments of the EU banking sector still require a substantial restructuring and recapitalisation, the market may not be able to provide all the needed resources in the current environment of depressed profitability and low growth. Thus, a systemic market failure may be making the problem impossible to fix without resorting to temporary public support. But the risk of large write-offs of capital instruments due to burden-sharing and bail-in may represent an insurmountable obstacle to such public support as it may set in motion an investors’ flight. The paper concludes by showing that existing rules do contain the flexibility required to accommodate aggregate policy requirements in the general interest, and outlines a public support scheme for the precautionary recapitalisation of solvent banks that would be compliant with EU law.

World Beats : Beat Generation Writing and the Worlding of U.S. Literature /

A study of the Beat-era writers in a global context. This title was made Open Access by libraries from around the world through Knowledge Unlatched.

Capital needs assessment survey results /

Responses were submitted by 383 public libraries who reported $647.4 million of capital needs for general repair work, building additions, and new building construction for the next two years.

The place of science in modern civilisation and other essays /

"Reprinted from various periodicals, running over a period of about twenty years."

The value of dividend imputation tax credits in Australia

A dividend imputation tax system provides shareholders with a credit (for corporate tax paid) that can be used to offset personal tax on dividend income. This paper shows how to infer the value of imputation tax credits from the prices of derivative securities that are unique to Australian retail markets. We also test whether a tax law amendment that was designed to prevent the trading of imputation credits affected their economic value. Before the amendment, tax credits were worth up to 50% of face value in large, high-yielding companies, but Subsequently it is difficult to detect any value at all. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Molecular structure and function of the glycine receptor chloride channel

The glycine receptor chloride channel (GlyR) is a member of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor family of ligand-gated ion channels. Functional receptors of this family comprise five subunits and are important targets for neuroactive drugs. The GlyR is best known for mediating inhibitory neurotransmission in the spinal cord and brain stem, although recent evidence suggests it may also have other physiological roles, including excitatory neurotransmission in embryonic neurons. To date, four alpha-subunits (alpha1 to alpha4) and one beta-subunit have been identified. The differential expression of subunits underlies a diversity in GlyR pharmacology. A developmental switch from alpha2 to alpha1beta is completed by around postnatal day 20 in the rat. The beta-subunit is responsible for anchoring GlyRs to the subsynaptic cytoskeleton via the cytoplasmic protein gephyrin. The last few years have seen a surge in interest in these receptors. Consequently, a wealth of information has recently emerged concerning Glyl? molecular structure and function. Most of the information has been obtained from homomeric alpha1 GlyRs, with the roles of the other subunits receiving relatively little attention. Heritable mutations to human GlyR genes give rise to a rare neurological disorder, hyperekplexia (or startle disease). Similar syndromes also occur in other species. A rapidly growing list of compounds has been shown to exert potent modulatory effects on this receptor. Since GlyRs are involved in motor reflex circuits of the spinal cord and provide inhibitory synapses onto pain sensory neurons, these agents may provide lead compounds for the development of muscle relaxant and peripheral analgesic drugs.

'Please Mr Hay, what are my poss(abilities)?': Legitimation of ability through physical education practices

This paper provides two vignettes that draw on data from projects that interrogate how a student can be positioned by practices within physical education (PE) and directed by the PE teacher in relation to their valued or legitimated ability. Through the use of Pierre Bourdieu's conceptual tools of field, habitus and capital we investigate the complex legitimation processes that shape student poss(abilities) and that are situated in the space of the PE class. The first vignette is from the perspective of a student and draws on data from interviews, a journal, questionnaires and photos of her PE experiences in upper primary and lower secondary school. The second vignette focuses on teacher practices and his constitution of the field of a PE class highlighting the significance of teacher perspectives of 'ability' in informing assessment in senior secondary PE. Using these examples we discuss the symbolic violence that works against each student by positioning them as 'less able' or 'unable' despite their participation in a learning context. We argue that by not attending to the possible abilities of students that could have been recognized, developed and legitimated, and through the misuse of capital assignment by teachers, PE may well be counterproductive to students' ongoing engagement with the subject area and the espoused potential upon which such a subject area justifies itself.

Farming under constrained budgets: Practices of agricultural credit users in central Lombok, Indonesia

There has been a long dependency on credit by Indonesian farmers as a result of the lack of capital to apply proper farming practices. This paper describes the farming activities applied by agricultural credit users in Central Lombok, Indonesia. A survey was conducted during July 2001- March 2002 of 65 farmers making use of government or private credit in three villages within the Regency. Data from the farmers were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Survey results indicated that on average, farmers had some 20 years experience of farming, were aged 40 years, but lacked of formal education. Their main asset was cropping land with average landholding of 0.69 ha. As a consequence of their capital constraints, farmers were commonly making use of credit to finance their farming activities, including both production of rice as the main crop and secondary crops. Farmers generally applied less than recommended amount of inputs in their farming practices, since the amount of credit they obtained was limited. As a result, their farms become less productive and their repayment capability of loans diminished. Of 65 farmers interviewed, 54 could earn extra income by engaging in a variety of non-farm activities, which contributed on average some 36% to family incomes of over Rp 5 million (A$ 1 thousand). The average credit repayment rate made by agricultural producers was 60%. The repayment made did not always reflect farm production capacity, being sometimes supported by other borrowings. The greater role of credit is not in increasing agricultural production or improving farmers’ income, but in helping them to sustain farm production and their living. Farmers need a bigger amount of credit to make an impact on their livelihood. This should be accompanied by extension services for farmers to enable better use of credit and to change their attitude towards it. As well, farmers require to be equipped with technical and market skills to run a business. Interdisciplinarity, holistic analysis, and an expansion of traditional ‘agricultural’ interests to embrace the span of interests included in rural livelihood, are each critical features of revision of the existing system.

A RELAÇÃO ENTRE CAPITAL HUMANO E CAPITAL PSICOLÓGICO

Os ativos intangíveis receberam atenção especial de estudiosos nos últimos anos, no contexto organizacional de gestão de pessoas, visto que foram desenvolvidas propostas teóricas para compreendê-los e mensurá-los. Ancorados nesta linha de investigação, encontram-se o capital humano e o capital psicológico. Enquanto o capital humano representa o que os trabalhadores sabem fazer, o capital psicológico compreende um estado mental positivo composto por autoeficácia, esperança, otimismo e resiliência. Este estudo teve, como objetivo geral, analisar as relações entre capital humano e capital psicológico. Tratou-se de um estudo quantitativo do qual participaram 60 trabalhadores, estudantes do último período do Curso de Administração, com idade média de 23,85 anos, sendo a maioria do sexo feminino, solteira e empregada. Os dados para o estudo foram coletados em salas de aula de uma universidade particular, situada na Região do Grande ABC, por meio de um instrumento auto aplicável, contendo uma medida intervalar de capital psicológico com 12 itens, validada para o Brasil, e uma de capital humano com seis questões, sendo duas para medir a dimensão experiência e quatro para aferir educação. Foi criado um banco eletrônico, o qual foi submetido a análises descritivas e de correlação (r de Pearson) por meio do SPSS, versão 19.0. Os resultados revelaram que os participantes detinham um capital humano representado por 4,38 anos médios de experiência de trabalho , e que a maioria (75%) havia revelado possuir no máximo cinco anos neste quesito. Quanto à dimensão educação do capital humano, a maioria (96,70%) não havia concluído nenhum curso de graduação, se dedicou entre 11 a 20 anos aos estudos (81,60%), não realizou intercâmbios de estudos (93%), enquanto 86,70% já incluíram, em seu currículo acadêmico, atividades complementares previstas no Plano Pedagógico do Curso de Administração que cursavam, bem como 73,30% realizaram entre um a três estágios curriculares. As análises indicaram um escore mediano de capital psicológico, acentuado pela dificuldade dos participantes para reconhecerem que estavam em uma fase de sucesso no trabalho e de conseguirem enxergar o lado brilhante das coisas relativas ao trabalho. Ao se investigar as relações entre o capital humano e capital psicológico não foram encontradas correlações significativas. Diante de tais resultados, pareceu provável que os participantes do estudo, por serem predominantemente jovens trabalhadores que ainda não concluíram um curso de graduação, embora tivessem em seu percurso de vida mais de 10 anos dedicados aos estudos e trabalhado por volta de cinco anos em média, ainda não reconheciam, em si, a presença de um consistente capital humano nem psicológico. A ausência de relação observada entre os dois ativos intangíveis preconizados por teóricos como importantes, para que o trabalhador pudesse contribuir com a empresa no alcance de suas metas, pareceu revelar que ainda eram necessários mais estudos e desenvolvimento de teorização, para sustentar não somente as hipóteses acerca de ativos intangíveis, como também permitir identificar a relação de dependência que pudesse existir entre as categorias de capital humano e psicológico.

ANÁLISE DAS MUDANÇAS DOS FATORES DETERMINANTES DA ESTRUTURA DE CAPITAL EM FUNÇÃO DO CICLO DE VIDA DAS EMPRESAS BRASILEIRAS SÃO BERNARDO DO CAMPO

As várias teorias acerca da estrutura de capital despertam interesse motivando diversos estudos sobre o assunto sem, no entanto, ter um consenso. Outro tema aparentemente pouco explorado refere-se ao ciclo de vida das empresas e como ele pode influenciar a estrutura de capital. Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar quais determinantes possuem maior relevância no endividamento das empresas e se estes determinantes alteram-se dependendo do ciclo de vida da empresa apoiada pelas teorias Trade Off, Pecking Order e Teoria da Agência. Para alcançar o objetivo deste trabalho foi utilizado análise em painel de efeito fixo sendo a amostra composta por empresas brasileiras de capital aberto, com dados secundários disponíveis na Economática® no período de 2005 a 2013, utilizando-se os setores da BM&FBOVESPA. Como resultado principal destaca-se o mesmo comportamento entre a amostra geral, alto e baixo crescimento pelo endividamento contábil para o determinante Lucratividade apresentando uma relação negativa, e para os determinantes Oportunidade de Crescimento e Tamanho, estes com uma relação positiva. Para os grupos de alto e baixo crescimento alguns determinantes apresentaram resultados diferentes, como a singularidade que resultou significância nestes dois grupos, sendo positiva no baixo crescimento e negativa no alto crescimento, para o valor colateral dos ativos e benefício fiscal não dívida apresentaram significância apenas no grupo de baixo crescimento. Para o endividamento a valor de mercado foi observado significância para o Benefício fiscal não dívida e Singularidade. Este resultado reforça o argumento de que o ciclo de vida influência a estrutura de capital

New technology adoption in developing countries:the role of buyer-supplier relationships

Developing countries depend on foreign providers to ensure successful adoption of new technology. This paper investigates the role of buyer-supplier relationships (BSR) in technology adoption using a survey of 147 Malaysian firms. In particular the authors examined the impact on performance of different patterns of buyer-supplier relationship. Results show that firms demonstrating closer relationships with their suppliers are more likely to achieve higher levels of performance than those that do not. There are also insights that are especially pertinent to an improved understanding of buyersupplier relationships in the procurement of capital equipment, about which the current research literature is limited.

Policy into practice:a study of public policy implementation and the role of learning

Public policy becomes managerial practice through a process of implementation. There is an established literature within Implementation Studies which explains the variables and some of the processes involved in implementation, but less attention has been focused upon how public service managers convert new policy initiatives into practice. The research proposes that managers and their organisations have to go through a process of learning in order to achieve the implementation of public policy. Data was collected over a five year period from four case studies of capital investment appraisal in the British National Health Service. Further data was collected from taped interviews by key actors within the case studies. The findings suggest that managers do learn to implement policy and four factors are important in this learning process. These are; (i) the nature of bureaucratic responsibility; (ii) the motivation of actors towards learning; (iii) the passage of time which allows for the development of competence and (iv) the use of project team structures. The research has demonstrated that the conversion of policy into practice occurs through the operationalisation of solutions to policy problems via job tasks. As such it suggests that in understanding how policy is implemented, technical learning is more important than cultural learning, in this context. In conclusion, a "Model of Learned Implementation" is presented, together with a discussion of some of the implications of the research. These are the possible use of more pilot projects for new policy initiatives and the more systematic diffusion of knowledge about implementation solutions.

The impact of foreign direct investment on labour productivity in the Chinese electronics industry

Foreign direct investment (FDI) may have a positive impact on labour productivity in recipient industries through direct introduction of capital, technology and management skills and indirectly through spillover effects on domestic firms. This study uses a model intended to examine the overall effects of inward FDI in the Chinese electronics industry. Official data are used for 41 sub-sectors of the industry in 1996 and 1997 having differing levels of FDI. Labour productivity is modelled as dependent on the degree of foreign presence in the industry and other variables, namely capital intensity, human capital and firm size for scale factors. The econometric results suggest that foreign presence in the industry is associated with higher labour productivity. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Advanced manufacturing technology adoption in developing countries:the role of buyer-supplier relationships

Purpose – Developing countries are heavily dependent on the resources and commitment of foreign providers to ensure successful adoption of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT). The purpose of this paper is to describe the important role of buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs) in the process of technology selection, acquisition and implementation. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 147 Malaysian manufacturing firms is the main instrument used in the research investigations and data analysis is carried out by the structured equation modelling (SEM) technique. In particular, the authors examine the impact on performance of different patterns of relationship between technology buyers and suppliers. Findings – Although the majority of the firms reported improvements in their performance since the acquisition of AMT, closer investigation reveals that those demonstrating a closer relationship with their suppliers are more likely to achieve higher levels of technology and implementation performance (IP) than those that do not. Research limitations/implications – The paper only assesses the strength of BSR from the buyers' perspective and they may have limited experience of acquisition, whereas suppliers may have more experience of selling AMT. Also, the research is undertaken in Malaysia and the findings may be different in other countries, especially where the technology being acquired is not imported but sourced locally. Practical implications – The findings relating to BSR, technology acquisition and IP have important implications both for customers and supplier firms as well as for industrial policy makers in developing countries. Originality/value – The result of the research provides useful insights that are especially pertinent to an improved understanding of BSRs in the procurement of capital equipment, about which the current research literature is limited.

Cost and performance analysis of new wood-fuelled power plant concepts

The objective of the thesis was to analyse several process configurations for the production of electricity from biomass. Process simulation models using AspenPlus aimed at calculating the industrial performance of power plant concepts were built, tested, and used for analysis. The criteria used in analysis were performance and cost. All of the advanced systems appear to have higher efficiencies than the commercial reference, the Rankine cycle. However, advanced systems typically have a higher cost of electricity (COE) than the Rankine power plant. High efficiencies do not reduce fuel costs enough to compensate for the high capital costs of advanced concepts. The successful reduction of capital costs would appear to be the key to the introduction of the new systems. Capital costs account for a considerable, often dominant, part of the cost of electricity in these concepts. All of the systems have higher specific investment costs than the conventional industrial alternative, i.e. the Rankine power plant; Combined beat and power production (CUP) is currently the only industrial area of application in which bio-power costs can be considerably reduced to make them competitive. Based on the results of this work, AsperiPlus is an appropriate simulation platform. How-ever, the usefulness of the models could be improved if a number of unit operations were modelled in greater detail. The dryer, gasifier, fast pyrolysis, gas engine and gas turbine models could be improved.