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Essays on corporate finance: how executive traits and incentives shape corporate and career outcomes
Get PDFThis thesis consists of three essays on empirical corporate finance. The first and last chapters
provide the introduction and conclusion, respectively.
The first essay (Chapter 2) examines the impact of CEO inherited altruism on firm corporate social
responsibility (CSR) performance and shareholder returns. The results show that firms led by CEOs
with stronger altruistic preferences exhibit better CSR performance, particularly during normal
‘good’ economic times and when firms have more resources available. CEO inherited altruistic
preferences do not have any negative impact on firms’ stock returns in general, while they protect
shareholder returns during times of financial crisis and recessions, particularly for firms with limited
financial flexibility and fewer available resources.
The second essay (Chapter 3) explores the influence of CSR contracting on green innovation in
U.S. firms. We find that CSR contracting significantly enhances both the volume and value of green
patents. Additionally, CSR contracting fosters patents with broader technological roots, but it does
not necessarily lead to a wider range of forward citations. Additionally, CSR contracting encourages
both exploitative and exploratory innovations and is linked to improved environmental
performance. However, we cannot conclusively assert that green innovation mediates the
relationship between CSR contracting and environmental performance.
The third essay (Chapter 4) shows show that the probability of a forced CEO turnover in U.S. firms
is higher when the CEO has ancestral origin in a country with higher political animosity with the
US, even after controlling for several firm-, performance-, and CEO-related characteristics. The
relationship is unlikely linked just to CEO performance or worse bilateral trade relations. Our
findings point instead to a behavioral bias in CEO dismissals: the effect of political animosity is
stronger when the CEO’s ancestral country is viewed less favorably by the U.S. public, in states
with less ethnic diversity, and in firms under lower institutional investors’ monitoring
Avenues towards reconciling wild and managed bee proponents
Get PDFBees are crucial for food security and biodiversity. However, managed bees are increasingly considered drivers of wild bee declines, leading to stakeholder conflicts and restrictive policies. We propose avenues to reconcile wild and managed bee proponents and point out knowledge gaps that hinder the development of evidence-based policies
Integrated fire management as an adaptation and mitigation strategy to altered fire regimes
Get PDFAltered fire regimes are a global challenge, increasingly exacerbated by climate change, which modifies fire weather and prolongs fire seasons. These changing conditions heighten the vulnerability of ecosystems and human populations to the impacts of wildfires on the environment, society, and the economy. The rapid pace of these changes exposes significant gaps in knowledge, tools, technology, and governance structures needed to adopt informed, holistic approaches to fire management that address both current and future challenges. Integrated Fire Management is an approach that combines fire prevention, response, and recovery while integrating ecological, socio-economic, and cultural factors into management strategies. However, Integrated Fire Management remains highly context-dependent, encompassing a wide array of fire management practices with varying degrees of ecological and societal integration. This review explores Integrated Fire Management as both an adaptation and mitigation strategy for altered fire regimes. It provides an overview of the progress and challenges associated with implementing Integrated Fire Management across different regions worldwide. The review also proposes five core objectives and outlines a roadmap of incremental steps for advancing Integrated Fire Management as a strategy to adapt to ongoing and future changes in fire regimes, thereby maximizing its potential to benefit both people and nature
Assessing the potential for sensory and nutritional optimisation of oat-based milk alternatives
No full textResearch into plant-based milk alternatives (PBBMAs), in particular Oat-based (OMAs) is increasingly important. Existing literature has highlighted sensory, physicochemical, and nutritional challenges – with limited protein quantity and quality, potential for bioactive compounds to hinder absorption of calcium and impart bitter and astringent effects, and issues with processing, stability and appearance – all of which impacting the overall acceptability of OMAs. There are substantial gaps in literature which are necessary to address. The aim of this thesis is to lead to a better understanding of the sensory, physical and nutritional profile of OMAs, to provide a basis on how to optimise future products. This research investigates the physical, chemical, and sensory components of existing commercial OMA’s, and how these correlate with one another, concluding that smaller particle size results in increased whiteness of products, avenanthramides and avenacosides at their current level in OMAs do not correlate with perceived bitterness and astringency, and packing may substantially effect the volatile profile. Following this, the effects of pea and potato protein fortification are investigated, concluding that pea and potato protein fortification as low as 1% significantly affect the physical and sensory properties of OMAs. Next, a study into the effects of processing on oats nutritional components, found processing steps to affect properties differently, with only avenanthramides more susceptible to heat degradation, and only β-glucan lost within decanted solids, whilst the effect of enzymatic hydrolyses differed depending on the enzyme in use. Finally, an investigation into the effect of OMAs on calcium bioavailability discovered no significant reduction in calcium uptake in comparison to cow’s milk, suggesting calcium uptake is not negatively affected by OMA’s. This research on PBMAs is promising for the future of these products, as despite challenges and drawbacks, there are many methods established to address and overcome these. With the highlighted areas addressed in future research, it may be possible to optimise the nutritional, sensorial and physicochemical profile of OMAs
Milk recording data highlight improvements in fertility and somatic cell counts but worsening longevity for the UK national dairy herd
Get PDFBenchmarking of key performance indicators (KPIs) can be used by farmers and technical advisors to indicate areas for improvement and enable them to make more informed management decisions. Data for selected KPIs are readily available from a variety of sources. However, longitudinal data covering a mixture of KPIs in the same dataset are limited. Herein, milk recording data are used from a cross-section of 195 UK Friesian/Holstein herds which have milk recorded for a minimum of 10 years to examine trends in the median herds’ KPIs from 2014 to 2023. Herd size has increased by 15.8 % but cows are being culled at a younger age. Fertility parameters have improved, most notably conception rates increased from 32.9 % to 40.0 % and the percent of cows conceived 100 days post-partum (DPP) increased from 30.4 % to 39.0 %. From 2014 to 2021, milk yield per cow per year increased from 8394 kg to 8797 kg and lifetime milk yield per cow per day increased from 11.7 kg to 12.8 kg, but both decreased slightly in 2022 and 2023. Many somatic cell count (SCC) related parameters improved between 2014 and 2023. Notably, the percent of cows dried-off with no SCC recordings ≥ 200,000 cells/ml during a completed lactation increased from 39.7 % in 2014 to 51.0 % in 2023. Therefore, fertility and SCC related KPIs have demonstrated improvements but milk production appears to have peaked and recently plateaued, and the longevity of cows appears to have shortened. Decreased longevity appears at odds with pressure on farmers to attain environmental targets which would favour cows with longer, more productive lives
Contested sacred ground and mistaken idioms: pre -reducción and early reducción churches in South-central colonial Peru (AD 1536–1615)
Get PDFThe cross followed the sword in the Spanish colonisation of the Americas. This Christian evangelisation went hand in hand with the conquistador’s subjugation of the Central Andeans. An evangelisation whose material correlates revolved around church architecture. In the colonial tumult of the first 80 years in the Andes, Christianity adapted swiftly to changing social and populational circumstances, and church buildings reflected this shift. We trace how church architecture, in the Andean highlands, changed and with it the deeper connotations of worship. A three to four phased evolution of churches, from open chapels, embedded churches, reducción churches and a final phase of add-ons such as belltowers, reflected how Andean society shifted from an animistic religion of space with churches linked to an Indigenous sacred landscape, to a Spanish Catholic religion of place focussed on the church building and internalised liturgical rituals. These changes mirrored deeper social transformations, as a fast-decreasing Indigenous population was concentrated in model colonial villages and towns (reducciones). These aimed at rooting out Prehispanic worship, and with it generate a more complete evangelisation of the local population. This severing of locals from their Prehispanic beliefs was a policy pushed by colonial and church authorities to control and convert
Investigating the electrical modification of fog in the UAE
No full textSevere financial losses are caused annually due to low visibility weather conditions such as fog.
Accurate forecasting of fog onset and dissipation, along with attempts to suppress fog are essential
to mitigate these societal impacts. To enhance the understanding of fog, a broad description of its
properties is required. This thesis presents some of the first measurements of the electrical and
microphysical properties of fog in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is the first to investigate
the effects of artificial charge emission during fog in this region.
The analysis indicates that the Potential Gradient (PG) values observed during fog in the UAE
were substantially higher than those previously reported in the literature (ranging from − 1247
V/m to 1400 V/m). Furthermore, the PG during fog was often negative, with 93% of cases showing
negative PG values (with a median PG value of − 397 V/m), particularly during latter stages of the
wintertime fog events. This unusual polarity of PG is hypothesized to result from the deposition
of fog droplets, where positive charges are transported from the top of the fog layer downwards
towards the surface, thus altering the PG.
Additionally, the results demonstrated a bimodal droplet size distribution during natural fog
conditions, with peaks at less than 1 μm and around 10 μm in two events, and between 20–23 μm
in other events. Beyond natural fog dynamics, artificial negative charge was emitted into the fog
through four corona ionisers, demostrating an effective change in PG, with a decrease of
approximately 40 to 60 V/m. In addition, these experiments showed modifications in the droplet
size distribution, including an increase in the concentration of small particles (0.2–0.5 μm) and a
decrease in the larger particles (>5 μm), resulting in a visibility improvement of 5–6%. These
findings align with the theoretical considerations that charge can promote the formation of small
droplets, stabilise them against evaporation and enhance the collision and coalescence of the larger
droplets, offering valuable insights into potential weather modification methods that avoid the use
of chemicals. Such methods could be particularly beneficial for regions with high fog frequency,
like the UAE
Development of maleimide-modified poly(N-(2-hydroxylpropyl)methacrylamide) as a novel mucoadhesive polymer for nasal drug delivery
Get PDFNasal drug administration is an attractive option for systemic drug delivery, but it is often limited by inadequate nasal drug absorption. In this study, we investigated novel mucoadhesive poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide) (PHPMA)-based copolymers functionalised with maleimide moieties as formulations to enhance the retention of dosage forms on the nasal mucosa. PHPMA and its maleimide derivatives were synthesised using controlled radical polymerisation, resulting in polymers with well-defined structures, low dispersity, and variable maleimide functionality. Functionalisation of PHPMA with maleimide groups substantially improved its mucoadhesive properties. Importantly, copolymers with low maleimide content, which were nevertheless sufficient for mucoadhesion, showed no significant cytotoxicity against HEK293 cells and no mucosal irritation in a slug mucosal irritation assay. These PHPMA derivatives demonstrate excellent potential as mucoadhesive materials for developing dosage forms for nasal drug delivery
Future trends in upper-atmospheric shear instability from climate change
Get PDFUnderstanding how jet streams respond to a warming climate is crucial for anticipating changes in atmospheric circulation and their broader impacts. Previous studies have highlighted the influence of anthropogenic warming on the meridional temperature gradient, which directly affects jet stream dynamics and variability. This study investigates projected trends in upper-level jet stream shear instability under future climate change scenarios using CMIP6 multi-model simulations. Building on previous findings linking anthropogenic warming to strengthened meridional temperature gradients, we analyse annual means of zonal wind speed, vertical wind shear, and stratification profiles from 2015 to 2100 globally. Results show strengthened multi-model annual-mean vertical shear at 250 hPa, particularly in high-emission scenarios, with trends ranging from 0.04 to 0.11 m s −1 (100 hPa) −1 decade −1 depending on the scenario and region, equivalent to a total relative increase of 16–27% over 86 years. Decreasing trends are observed in the annual-mean Brunt-Väisälä frequency (N 2 ) at 250 hPa, with multi-model ensemble mean values across regions ranging from −0.018 to −0.040 × 10 −4 s −2 decade −1 for lower and higher emissions scenarios, respectively, equating to a total relative decrease of 10–20%. Similarly, the annual-mean Richardson number (Ri) shows decreasing trends of −0.014 to −0.050 decade −1 across emissions scenarios and regions, which is a total relative decrease of 38–47%. These findings suggest more favourable conditions for the generation of Clear-Air Turbulence (CAT), posing critical challenges for aviation safety and operations in a warming climate
Constraining the population size estimates of the pre-Columbian Casarabe Culture of Amazonian Bolivia
Get PDFThe capacity of Amazonian environments to support large indigenous societies prior to European Contact has long been a contentious area of debate, particularly in regions where pre-Columbian cultures are known to have constructed large, spatially complex earthworks. Here, we provide the first range of supported population estimates for the Casarabe Culture of the Bolivian Llanos de Moxos – one of the most
complex pre-Columbian societies yet documented in Amazonia. Between 400 and 1400 CE, the Casarabe Culture inhabited this forest-savanna mosaic landscape, where they constructed hundreds of monumental habitation mounds, integrated by a
dense network of causeways and canals, suggesting the former presence of a large, sedentary society. To estimate the population size of this culture, we employed a multifaceted
modelling approach – including architectural energetics, maximum carrying capacity, and agent-based modelling – which considers: (i) the number of people needed to build these earthworks; (ii) how many people the local environment could
support; and (iii) how their population grew and spread over time. Our results indicate that the Casarabe Culture likely grew to a maximum population of between 10,000 and 100,000 people within a 5020 km2 quadrant of their former territory, representing a density of between 2 and 20 people km-2. These values are considerably larger than both the modern rural population density and the indigenous carrying capacity estimates made for Amazonia more widely, and they support previous interpretations that this culture practiced a form of low-density urbanism