Effect of investments on fundamentals and market reaction on pre-operational and operational Brazilian companies for the period 2006-2012

ABSTRACT This paper provides evidence on the market reaction to corporate investment decisions whose shareholder value is largely attributed to growth options. The exploratory research raised pre-operational companies and their operational pairs on the same economy segments. It had the purpose of investigating the existence of statistical differentiation from financial indicators that reflect the installed assets and growth assets, and then study the market reaction to changes in fixed assets as a signaling element about investment decisions. The formation process of operational assets and shareholder value almost exclusively dependent on asset growth stands out in the pre-operational companies. As a result, differentiation tests confirmed that the pre-operational companies had their value especially derived on growth options. The market reaction was particularly bigger in pre-operational companies with abnormal negative stock returns, while the operational companies had positive returns, which may indicate that the quality of the investment is judged based on the financial disclosure. Additionally, operational companies' investors await the disclosure to adjust their prices. We conclude that the results are consistent with the empirical evidence and the participants in financial markets to long-term capital formation investments should give that special attention.

Behavioral aspects of investment fund's markets: are good managers lucky or skilled?

It is generally accepted that financial markets are efficient in the long run a lthough there may be some deviations in the short run. It is also accepted that a good portfolio manager is the one who beats the market persistently along time, this type of manager could not exist if markets were perfectly efficient According to this in a pure efficient market we should find that managers know that they can not beat the market so they would undertake only pure passive management strategies. Assuming a certain degree of inefficiency in the short run, a market may show some managers who tr y to beat the market by undertaking active strategies. From Fama’s efficient markets theory we can state that these active managers may beat the market occasionally although they will not be able to enhance significantly their performance in the long run. On the other hand, in an inefficient market it would be expected to find a higher level of activity related with the higher probability of beating the market. In this paper we follow two objectives: first, we set a basis to analyse the level of efficiency in an asset invest- ment funds market by measuring performance, strategies activity and it’s persistence for a certain group of funds during the period of study. Second, we analyse individual performance persistence in order to determine the existence of skilled managers. The CAPM model is taken as theoretical background and the use of the Sharpe’s ratio as a suitable performance measure in a limited information environment leads to a group performance measurement proposal. The empiri- cal study takes quarterly data from 1999-2007 period, for the whole population of the Spanish asset investment funds market, provided by the CNMV (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores). This period of study has been chosen to ensure a wide enough range of efficient market observation so it would allow us to set a proper basis to compare with the following period. As a result we develop a model that allows us to measure efficiency in a given asset mutual funds market, based on the level of strategy’s activity undertaken by managers. We also observe persistence in individual performance for a certain group of funds

Social capital and the equilibrium number of entrepreneurs

Social capital is viewed either as a proprietary asset that serves private interests, including those of entrepreneurs, or as a collective asset that supports trust-based transactions saving on transaction costs both in markets and within the boundaries of firms, and benefiting society as a whole. This paper explains the relative specialization between entrepreneurs and market-governed exchanges as a result of the interaction between social capital that lowers transaction costs, and the scale economies of ability in managerial jobs (Lucas 1978). The main hypothesis formulated in the paper is that higher social capital will benefit the hierarchy relatively more than the market as a governance mechanism, and therefore in economies with higher social capital, the equilibrium number of entrepreneurs will be lower and their average span of control larger than in economies with lower social capital. The empirical evidence, with data from the Spanish Autonomous Communities, is consistent with this prediction.

Beverage preferences and associated drinking patterns, consequences and other substance use behaviours.

BACKGROUND: Studies about beverage preferences in a country in which wine drinking is relatively widespread (like Switzerland) are scarce. Therefore, the main aims of the present study were to examine the associations between beverage preferences and drinking patterns, alcohol-related consequences and the use of other substances among Swiss young men. METHODS: The analytical sample consisted of 5399 Swiss men who participated in the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF) and had been drinking alcohol over the preceding 12 months. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to study the associations between preference for a particular beverage and (i) drinking patterns, (ii) negative alcohol-related consequences and (iii) the (at-risk) use of cigarettes, cannabis and other illicit drugs. RESULTS: Preference for beer was associated with risky drinking patterns and, comparable with a preference for strong alcohol, with the use of illicit substances (cannabis and other illicit drugs). In contrast, a preference for wine was associated with low-risk alcohol consumption and a reduced likelihood of experiencing at least four negative alcohol-related consequences or of daily cigarette smoking. Furthermore, the likelihood of negative outcomes (alcohol-related consequences; use of other substances) increased among people with risky drinking behaviours, independent of beverage preference. CONCLUSIONS: In our survey, beer preference was associated with risky drinking patterns and illicit drug use. Alcohol polices to prevent large quantities of alcohol consumption, especially of cheaper spirits like beer, should be considered to reduce total alcohol consumption and the negative consequences associated with these beverage types.

Excessive alcohol consumption in young men: is there an association with their earlier family situation? A baseline-analysis of the C-SURF-study (Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors).

AIMS: To determine whether parental factors earlier in life (parenting, single parent family, parental substance use problem) are associated with patterns of alcohol consumption among young men in Switzerland. METHODS: This analysis of a population based sample from the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF) included 5,990 young men (mean age 19.51 years), all attending a mandatory recruitment process for the army. These conscripts reported on parental monitoring and rule-setting, parental behaviour and family structure. The alcohol use pattern was assessed through abstention, risky single occasion drinking (RSOD), volume drinking and dependence. Furthermore, the impact of age, family socio-economic status, educational level of the parents, language region and civil status was analysed. RESULTS: A parental substance use problem was positively associated with volume drinking and alcohol dependence in young Swiss men. Active parenting corresponded negatively with RSOD, volume drinking and alcohol dependence. Single parent family was not associated with a different alcohol consumption pattern compared to standard family. CONCLUSION: Parental influences earlier in life such as active parenting (monitoring, rule-setting and knowing the whereabouts) and perceived parental substance use problem are associated with alcohol drinking behaviour in young male adults. Therefore, health professionals should stress the importance of active parenting and parental substance use prevention in alcohol prevention strategies.

Combined impact of negative lifestyle factors on cardiovascular risk in children: a randomized prospective study.

PURPOSE: Negative lifestyle factors are known to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk (CVR) in children, but research on their combined impact on a general population of children is sparse. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the combined impact of easily assessable negative lifestyle factors on the CVR scores of randomly selected children after 4 years. METHODS: Of the 540 randomly selected 6- to 13-year-old children, 502 children participated in a baseline health assessment, and 64% were assessed again after 4 years. Measures included anthropometry, fasting blood samples, and a health assessment questionnaire. Participants scored one point for each negative lifestyle factor at baseline: overweight; physical inactivity; high media consumption; little outdoor time; skipping breakfast; and having a parent who has ever smoked, is inactive, or overweight. A CVR score at follow-up was constructed by averaging sex- and age-related z-scores of waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose, inverted high-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides. RESULTS: The age-, sex-, pubertal stage-, and social class-adjusted probabilities (95% confidence interval) for being in the highest CVR score tertile at follow-up for children who had at most one (n = 48), two (n = 64), three (n = 56), four (n = 41), or five or more (n = 14) risky lifestyle factors were 15.4% (8.9-25.3), 24.3% (17.4-32.8), 36.0% (28.6-44.2), 49.8% (38.6-61.0), and 63.5% (47.2-77.2), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Even in childhood, an accumulation of negative lifestyle factors is associated with higher CVR scores after 4 years. These negative lifestyle factors are easy to assess in clinical practice and allow early detection and prevention of CVR in childhood.

The association between cigarettes smoking, cannabis use and alcohol consumption in a population of young men: results of a population-based survey.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is often initiated at a young age as well as other risky behaviors such as alcohol drinking, cannabis and other illicit drugs use. Some studies suggest that cigarette smoking may have an influence on other risky behaviors but little is known about the chronology of occurrence of those different habits. The aim of this study was to assess, by young men, what were the other risky behaviors associated with cigarette smoking and the joint prevalence and chronology of occurrence of those risky behaviors. METHODS: Cross-sectional analyses of a population-based census of 3526 young men attending the recruitment for the Swiss army, aged between 17 and 25 years old (mean age: 19 years old), who filled a self reported questionnaire about their alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis and other illicit drugs habits. Actual smoking was defined as either regular smoking (¡Ý1 cigarette/day, on every day) or occasional smoking, binge drinking as six or more drinks at least twice a month, at risk drinking as 21 drinks or more per week, recent cannabis use as cannabis consumption at least once during the last month, and use of illicit drugs as consumption once or more of illicit drugs other than cannabis. Age at begin was defined as age at first use of cannabis or cigarette smoking. RESULTS: In this population of young men, the prevalence of actual smoking was 51.2% (36.5% regular smoking, 14.6% occasionnal smoking). Two third of participamnts (60.1%) declared that they ever used cannabis, 25.2% reported a recent use of cannabis. 53.8% of participants had a risky alcohol consumption considered as either binge or at risk drinking. Cigarette smoking was significantly associated with recent cannabis use (Odds Ratio (OR): 3.85, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 3.10- 4.77), binge drinking (OR: 3.48, 95% CI: 3.03-4.00), at risk alcohol drinking (OR: 4.04, 95% CI: 3.12-5.24), and ever use of illicit drugs (OR: 4.34, 95% CI: 3.54-5.31). In a multivariate logistic regression, odds ratios for smoking were increased for cannabis users (OR 3.10,, 95% CI: 2.48-3.88), binge drinkers (OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.44-2.17), at risk alcohol drinkers (OR 2.26, 95% CI: 1.52-3.36) and ever users of illicit drugs (OR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.20-2.03). The majority of young men (57.3%) initiated smoking before cannabis and mean age at onset was 13.4 years old, whereas only 11.1% began to use cannabis before smoking cigarettes and mean age at onset was slightly older (14.4 years old). 31.6% started both cannabis and tobacco at the same age (15 years old). About a third of participants (30.5%) did have a cluster of risky behaviours (smoking, at risk drinking, cannabis use) and 11.0% did cumulate smoking, drinking, cannabis and ever use of illegal drugs. More than half of the smokers (59.6%) did cumulate cannabis use and at risk alcohol drinking whereas only 18.5% of non-smokers did. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of young smokers initiated their risky behaviors by first smoking and then by other psychoactive drugs. Smokers have an increased risk to present other risky behaviors such as cannabis use, at risk alcohol consumtion and illicit drug use compared to nonsmokers. Prevention by young male adults should focus on smoking and also integrate interventions on other risky behaviors.

A Structural Analysis of the Health Expenditures and Portfolio Choices of Retired Agents

Richer and healthier agents tend to hold riskier portfolios and spend proportionally less on health expenditures. Potential explanations include health and wealth effects on preferences, expected longevity or disposable total wealth. Using HRS data, we perform a structural estimation of a dynamic model of consumption, portfolio and health expenditure choices with recursive utility, as well as health-dependent income and mortality risk. Our estimates of the deep parameters highlight the importance of health capital, mortality risk control, convex health and mortality adjustment costs and binding liquidity constraints to rationalize the stylized facts. They also provide new perspectives on expected longevity and on the values of life and health.

Web-based Implementation of Winter Maintenance Decision Support System Using GIS and Remote Sensing, May 2005

Winter maintenance, particularly snow removal and the stress of snow removal materials on public structures, is an enormous budgetary burden on municipalities and nongovernmental maintenance organizations in cold climates. Lately, geospatial technologies such as remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and decision support tools are roviding a valuable tool for planning snow removal operations. A few researchers recently used geospatial technologies to develop winter maintenance tools. However, most of these winter maintenance tools, while having the potential to address some of these information needs, are not typically placed in the hands of planners and other interested stakeholders. Most tools are not constructed with a nontechnical user in mind and lack an easyto-use, easily understood interface. A major goal of this project was to implement a web-based Winter Maintenance Decision Support System (WMDSS) that enhances the capacity of stakeholders (city/county planners, resource managers, transportation personnel, citizens, and policy makers) to evaluate different procedures for managing snow removal assets optimally. This was accomplished by integrating geospatial analytical techniques (GIS and remote sensing), the existing snow removal asset management system, and webbased spatial decision support systems. The web-based system was implemented using the ESRI ArcIMS ActiveX Connector and related web technologies, such as Active Server Pages, JavaScript, HTML, and XML. The expert knowledge on snow removal procedures is gathered and integrated into the system in the form of encoded business rules using Visual Rule Studio. The system developed not only manages the resources but also provides expert advice to assist complex decision making, such as routing, optimal resource allocation, and monitoring live weather information. This system was developed in collaboration with Black Hawk County, IA, the city of Columbia, MO, and the Iowa Department of transportation. This product was also demonstrated for these agencies to improve the usability and applicability of the system.

Body mass index and health-related quality of life among young Swiss men.

BACKGROUND: Studies about the association between body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are often limited, because they 1) did not include a broad range of health-risk behaviors as covariates; 2) relied on clinical samples, which might lead to biased results; and 3) did not incorporate underweight individuals. Hence, this study aims to examine associations between BMI (from being underweight through obesity) and HRQOL in a population-based sample, while considering multiple health-risk behaviors (low physical activity, risky alcohol consumption, daily cigarette smoking, frequent cannabis use) as well as socio-demographic characteristics. METHODS: A total of 5 387 young Swiss men (mean age = 19.99; standard deviation = 1.24) of a cross-sectional population-based study were included. BMI was calculated (kg/m²) based on self-reported height and weight and divided into 'underweight' (<18.5), 'normal weight' (18.5-24.9), 'overweight' (25.0-29.9) and 'obese' (≥30.0). Mental and physical HRQOL was assessed via the SF-12v2. Self-reported information on physical activity, substance use (alcohol, cigarettes, and cannabis) and socio-demographic characteristics also was collected. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to study the associations between BMI categories and below average mental or physical HRQOL. Substance use variables and socio-demographic variables were used as covariates. RESULTS: Altogether, 76.3% were normal weight, whereas 3.3% were underweight, 16.5% overweight and 3.9% obese. Being overweight or obese was associated with reduced physical HRQOL (adjusted OR [95% CI] = 1.58 [1.18-2.13] and 2.45 [1.57-3.83], respectively), whereas being underweight predicted reduced mental HRQOL (adjusted OR [95% CI] = 1.49 [1.08-2.05]). Surprisingly, obesity decreased the likelihood of experiencing below average mental HRQOL (adjusted OR [95% CI] = 0.66 [0.46-0.94]). Besides BMI, expressed as a categorical variable, all health-risk behaviors and socio-demographic variables were associated with reduced physical and/or mental HRQOL. CONCLUSIONS: Deviations from normal weight are, even after controlling for important health-risk behaviors and socio-demographic characteristics, associated with compromised physical or mental HRQOL among young men. Hence, preventive programs should aim to preserve or re-establish normal weight. The self-appraised positive mental well-being of obese men noted here, which possibly reflects a response shift, might complicate such efforts.

Cooperatives and Contracting in Agriculture: The Case of West Liberty Foods, October 2005

The West Liberty Foods turkey cooperative was formed in 1996 to purchase the assets and assume operations of Louis Rich Foods (an investor-owned processing rm), which, at the time, announced the imminent shutdown of its West Liberty, Iowa, processing facility. We study the creation and performance of this �new generation� cooperative using eld interviews with grower members and company management. We describe changes, before and after the buyout, in the contractual apparatus used for procuring live turkeys, and in the communication requirements, work expectations, and nancial positions of growers. During the private ownership period, most of the inputs (except labor and facilities) were provided by the rm; there was substantial supervision of the growers' actions; growers faced little price and production risk; and growers' equity was due largely to ownership of land and other farm assets. Our interviews reveal that, after cooperative formation, growers were exposed to considerable additional risk; monitoring of growers by the rm was less intensive; grower time and effort commitments to turkey production increased substantially; and a signicant fraction of rm (cooperative) equity came from growers' willingness to leverage their farm and personal assets (and hence indirectly their existing relationships with local lenders). We argue that some of these changes are consistent with a nancial contract where asset pledging and its corollary risk generate higher work effort by growers and a reduction in agency rents. These economies likely compensate for an organizational deadweight loss traditionally associated with cooperative governance.

Not the right job but a secure one : over-education and temporary employment in France, Italy and Spain

Resorting to four waves of the European Community Household Panel, this research explores the association between temporary employment and the likelihood of being over-educated. Such an association has been largely ignored by the literature explaining over-education, more inclined to attribute such a mismatch to the system of education. Selecting three similarly standarised and stratified systems of education (France, Italy and Spain) and controlling for many other variables likely to affect over-education, like gender, age, tenure, job change, firm size or sector, the paper demonstrates that such an association between temporary employment and over-education exists. Being a stepping stone towards a more stable and adjusted position in the labour market, holding a temporary employment may be associated to a higher likelihood of being over-educated. Such an association is more likely in Italy and France. Yet, the opposite sign prevails where permanent employment becomes such a valuable asset as to make individuals trade human capital by employment security. This is the case of Spain.

Children in the welfare state. A social investment approach

Children occupy centre-stage in any new welfare equilibrium. Failure to support families may produce either of two undesirable scenarios. We shall see a society without children if motherhood remains incompatible with work. A new family policy needs to recognize that children are a collective asset and that the cost of having children is rising. The double challenge is to eliminate the constraints on having children in the first place, and to ensure that the children we have are ensured optimal opportunities. The simple reason why a new social contract is called for is that fertility and child quality combine both private utility and societal gains. And like no other epoch in the past, the societal gains are mounting all-the-while that families’ ability to produce these social gains is weakening.In the following 1 analyze the twin challenges of fertility and child development. I then examine which kind of policy mix will ensure both the socially desired level of fertility and investment in our children? The task is to identify a Paretian optimum that will maximize efficiency gains and social equity simultaneously.

Do youths gamble? You bet! A Swiss population-based study.

OBJECTIVES: To establish the gambling prevalence among Swiss resident youths, to estimate the associations between gambling frequency and substance use, poor mental health and social support and to determine the correlation between gambling pattern and gambling frequency. METHODS: Cross-sectional population-based survey conducted in 2007. From 1233 eligible participants aged 15-24 years, adequate information was available for 1116 (582 males), distributed into: non- (n=577), occasional (n=388) and frequent gamblers (n=151). Outcome measures: Substance use, social activities, presence of a reliable person among friends or family, psychological distress, major depression and gambling pattern. RESULTS: Overall, the 48.3% (n=539) of youths who had gambled during the previous year; were older and more likely to be male than non-gamblers. 13.5% (n=151) gambled at least weekly and could be differentiated from occasional gamblers on the basis of their gambling pattern. After controlling for gender, age and language area, occasional gamblers were significantly more likely to be occasional binge drinkers, whereas frequent gamblers were more likely to be daily smokers. CONCLUSION: Almost half of Swiss resident youths are involved in gambling. Both occasional and frequent gambling are associated with further health compromising behaviour. Practitioners dealing with young people should be aware that gambling is a behaviour that might be part of a more global risky behaviour framework.

International nursing : cultivating a culture of empowerment

International nursing has been a growing phenomenon throughout the globe. International nurses have been found to be an asset to healthcare organizations and an important part of the health care team. However, growing concern for the plight of international nurses facing obstacles such as professional stagnation and exploitation has spurred the development of strategies to mitigate and ameliorate the experiences of nurses working abroad. In this respect, the purpose of this study was to explore the management-influenced factors and the nurse team-influenced factors that promote the empowerment of the international nurse in the health care setting. The methodology used in this study was a systemic review. After a rigorous search for relevant empirical studies using OVID database, eight empirical research studies were selected using systematic review methodology to collect, analyze and synthesize data. The selected eight empirical studies were then subjected to a content analysis. The results suggested that the empowerment of an international nurse is inseparable from the empowerment of the health care organization. Based on the findings in this study, strategies to promote international nurses were found to mirror strategies evidenced to empower the nursing organization. Some of the management-influenced factors which were found to facilitate empowerment included a diversity rich work culture, transformational leadership at the management level, and a responsibility to foster the values of the organization. The team-influenced factors which were found to contribute to the empowerment of the international nurse included a united mutually-interdependent nurse team, shared accountability among the members of the nurse team, and the building of trust in work relationships. To conlude, this study indicates that efforts to empower international nurses without considering the work culture and the organization as a whole are futile because empowerment cannot take place in an environment that lacks antecedent conditions. Strategies to empower the international nurse should not focus on the deficits and special needs of the international nurse, but should focus on the similarities and commonalities of the nursing body. Empowerment of the international nurse mean open honest communication, supportive work environment, and a firm policy to quell disruptive elements that threaten the organization's values, mission, and philosophy of care.