103,056 research outputs found
The Impact of Institutional Differences on Derivatives Usage: A Comparative Study of US and Dutch Firms
No full textThis paper tests the influence of institutional differences on risk management practices.Several survey studies have investigated derivatives usage for risk management purposes in the US (see, among others, Bodnar, Hayt, Marston and Smithson, 1995 and Bodnar, Hayt and Marston, 1996, 1998).In this paper, we compare derivative practices of US and Dutch firms.This comparison is interesting because the institutional setting for Dutch firms differs from the US setting with respect to shareholder orientation, international trade, disclosure regulation, and the reliance on financial markets.In a number of survey studies additional countries have been studied, such as New Zealand (Berkman, Bradbury and Magan, 1997), Sweden (Alkebäck and Hagelin, 1999) and Germany (Bodnar and Gebhardt, 1999).In contrast with these papers, we facilitate a comparison by applying a matching and a weighting strategy, which corrects for different distributions over industry and size classes in the Dutch and US samples.After these corrections, the remaining results can be attributed to institutional differences.We find that Dutch firms hedge more financial risk. Because of the greater openness of the Netherlands, Dutch firms experience far more foreign exchange exposure and hedge more currency risk.US firms have more concerns regarding derivative usage, which may be linked to the stricter disclosure requirements in the US.US firms also focus more on accounting earnings, which may be attributable to the shareholder orientation in the US versus the stakeholder orientation in the Netherlands.Whereas Dutch firms tend to rely on OTC-transactions, US firms use exchange-traded derivatives and therefore require a higher counter party rating for derivatives transactions. This distinction can be accredited to the differences in the financial environments between the US and the Netherlands.The aforementioned results indicate that institutional differences between the US and the Netherlands have a significant effect on the risk management practices and derivatives use of US and Dutch firms.risk management;hedging;derivatives
Risk Management for Italian Non-Financial Firms: Currency and Interest Rate Exposure
No full textThis paper surveys risk management practices among Italian non-financial firms. This paper’s contribution lies in investigating derivative usage particular to Italian businesses, a groupwhose public disclosure of derivative instruments is not routine. Italy is characterised by a high percentage of small and medium sized family run
firms. The survey examines determinants of currency and interest rate derivative use with respect currency and to firm size, geographical location, rating, industry, access to capital markets and educated management. The results from the logistic regressions suggest that Italian non-financial firms’ use of derivative contracts is
strongly influenced by these characteristics
A Survey on Risk Management and Derivative Usage in Italian Non-Financial Firms
No full textThis paper presents a survey on the risk management function and the usage of hedging instruments by Italian non-financial firms. The objective is to measure how firms manage the following risks: Exchange-foreign, Interest rate, Energetic, Commodity, Equity, Counter-party, Operational, Country. The study aims at providing descriptive evidence with respect to several questions that are raised in the literature and that are finalized to find out if the firms hedge their exposure or potential exposure, which particular financial risks are managed, how widespread is the derivatives usage, the choice of which derivatives are used for which purposes, the risk management policy implementation, the performance measurement and reporting structure.
In Italy accurate disclosure of derivatives usage in financial statements does virtually not exist. As a result, relatively little is known about the patterns of use and of firm’s attitudes and policies with respect to derivative use. To fill the information gap, this survey documents the usage of derivatives by non-financial large companies.
The outcomes of the survey, conducted both for listed and non-listed firms, suggest that Italian firms are less likely to use derivatives than US firms. The percentage of firms using derivatives or insurance instruments has not changed noticeably since 1999 (the beginning of the euro period). The use of derivatives is more significant among large firms in every risk typology and, in the area of commodity and equity risk management, large firms are the unique size group that uses these instruments in its management activity. The fact that large firms are more likely to use derivatives is suggestive of an economies-to-scale argument for derivatives use.
According to Italian risk managers the low intensity in derivative use cannot be explained by (i) concerns about external perception of derivative/insurance use; (ii) costs of risk management greater than benefits; (iii) expected price to move in firm’s favour; (iv) shareholders expectations to manage risk; (v) uncertainty of timing and/or size.
The reasons to explain the limited practice in derivative markets are as follows:
Insufficient exposure to risk area to warrant management;
Exposure more effectively managed by other means:
Difficulties in monitoring/measuring contract effectiveness
Re-equilibration of primary fluid inclusions in peritectic garnet from metapelitic enclaves, El Hoyazo, Spain
No full textPrimary-appearing fluid (Fl) and melt (FI) inclusions occur in peritectic garnet from restitic enclaves from El Hoyazo (Spain). The inclusions were trapped under conditions of immiscibility during partial melting of the enclaves. Trapped fluids in Bt-Grt-Sil and Spl-Crd enclaves have been characterized by microthermometric. Raman spectroscopic, electron microprobe (EMP) and transmission electron microprobe (TEM) analyses to better constrain melt and fluid products and pressure conditions of the partial melting event. In Bt-Grt-Sil enclaves, Fl are one phase and contain a CO(2)-N(2) mixture, sometimes with graphite as trapped phase. In Spl-Crd enclaves, Fl are two phase and contain an H(2)O-rich (<= 90 mol%), with minor amounts of CO(2), N(2), and traces of H(2)S and CH(4). Graphite often occurs as a trapped phase in the H(2)O-rich Fl, and rare carbonates and other accessory minerals are also observed. Although decrepitation features are not recognized during examination with a petrographic microscope, Fl densities based on mass balance constraints are always lower than expected at the inferred PT conditions of entrapment, 5-7 kbar and 800-900 degrees C. Extremely low densities (approximate to 0.1 g cm(-1)) of Fl in Bt-Grt-Sil enclaves suggest a pressure <= 500 bar at 800-900 degrees C, while densities up to 0.53 g cm(-1) in Spl-Crd enclaves indicate P kbar at 800-900 degrees C. Re-equilibration is likely to have occurred via partial decrepitation, as suggested by TEM studies that show rare partially annealed sub-pm cracks, containing small cavities, which may have been the pathways for fluid movement out of the inclusions. MI coexisting with Fl have a rhyolitic, peraluminous composition, with higher H(2)O contents of MI in Spl-Crd enclaves (approximate to 9 wt.%) compared to MI in Bt-Grt-Sil enclaves (approximate to 3 wt.%). Based on published data, peritectic garnet in Spl-Crd enclaves grew in the presence of a leucogranitic melt saturated in an H(2)O-rich fluid, in good agreement with the inferred garnet PT growth conditions. The composition of the fluid phase coexisting with melt in Bt-Grt-Sil enclaves cannot be evaluated owing to the almost complete decrepitation and fluid loss from Fl, and may only be inferred to have been more CO(2)-rich, based on the lower H(2)O content of the coexisting melt
Fast charging techniques and compact integrated implementations for electrochemical double layer capacitors in portable applications
No full textThe widespread increase in the range and types of portable electronic devices in the past decades has resulted in higher requirements for energy storage and conversion modules. Most of these devices use rechargeable batteries as energy storage elements. No matter what type of batteries are used (Ni-Cd, Ni-MH, Li-Ion, etc.) they all have one serious drawback in common, in terms of charging time. Electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) also known as ultracapacitors or supercapacitors seem to have overcome this disadvantage, at the cost of lower energy storage capacity.This work aims to explore the design of fast and compact integrated charging techniques for ultracapacitors using the AC mains network as the source. The main constraints that arise are the power dissipation on-chip and in the magnetic components due to the large amount of energy that has to be transferred in a very short time interval. Two other limitations come from the EDLC side due to the device parasitics and the widely varying voltages over the operational envelope. This will impose the need for a flexible control system providing high efficiency over the whole output voltage range.The structure of this thesis comprises five main parts: literature review, behavioural modelling of the control system (including matlab simulations); implementation of the device with discrete components; design of an analogue circuit implementation and design of a mixed signal circuit implementation. As ultracapacitors represent one of the newest solutions in the field of electrical energy storage there are very few designs for chargers from the mains network. Therefore the literature review will also examine the properties and the modelling of EDLCs, as well as the choice of converter topologies available and the characteristics of the magnetic devices required for the system. The behavioural model of the control module gives a preview of the system parameters, while the design chapter introduces a series of new control techniques. The simulations and measurements of the breadboard circuit come as a first confirmation of the design approach and make it a viable starting point for an IC implementation. The analogue IC design presents the integration of the algorithms in a medium-voltage process using the current mode approach, as a demonstrator for a fully monolithic high-voltage IC. Once the functionality of the system is demonstrated at IC level, the mixed-signal system aims to optimize the device and provide a broader flexibility for the system parameters and control algorithms
Bibliographie Hilarion G. Petzold 1958 – 2009 mit Anhang als Einführung
No full textDieses Archiv enthält die Gesamtbibliographie der Werke des Autors nebst einiger Texte „Über H. G. Petzold“ im Schlussteil der Bibliographie sowie einen Anhang mit einer Einführung in die Architektur des Werkes in seinem wissenslogischen Aufbau als Ausarbeitung seines „Tree of Science Modells“ (2007).This archive contains the complete bibliography of the author and some texts about H. G. Petzold, moreover an epilogue with an introduction to the architecture of the works in its epistemological structure and composition and as an elaborations of Petzold’s „Tree of Science Modell (2007).https://www.fpi-publikation.de/polyloge/01-2009-petzold-h-g-gesamtbibliographie-h-g-petzold-1958-2009-updating-november2009/peerReviewedpublishedVersio
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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3346: Samuel G. Freedman, author, 2013
No full textPhotograph of author Samuel G. Freedman, at NT Daily Slash meeting in the Mayborn School of Journalism at UNT
Weisfeiler and Lehman Go Cellular: CW Networks
No full textGraph Neural Networks (GNNs) are limited in their expressive power, struggle with long-range interactions and lack a principled way to model higher-order structures. These problems can be attributed to the strong coupling between the computational graph and the input graph structure. The recently proposed Message Passing Simplicial Networks naturally decouple these elements by performing message passing on the clique complex of the graph. Nevertheless, these models can be severely constrained by the rigid combinatorial structure of Simplicial Complexes (SCs). In this work, we extend recent theoretical results on SCs to regular Cell Complexes, topological objects that flexibly subsume SCs and graphs. We show that this generalisation provides a powerful set of graph “lifting” transformations, each leading to a unique hierarchical message passing procedure. The resulting methods, which we collectively call CW Networks (CWNs), are strictly more powerful than the WL test and not less powerful than the 3-WL test. In particular, we demonstrate the effectiveness of one such scheme, based on rings, when applied to molecular graph problems. The proposed architecture benefits from provably larger expressivity than commonly used GNNs, principled modelling of higher-order signals and from compressing the distances between nodes. We demonstrate that our model achieves state-of-the-art results on a variety of molecular datasets
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