10 research outputs found
Corporate Governance Rating and Family Firms: The Greek Case
No full textCorporate governance (CG) studies have mostly focused on highly dispersed corporations. However, there is an important need for research exploring the governance structure of family-owned firms. The main characteristics that distinguish the family firm from the other types of corporations are the presence of one or more controlling family and the involvement of the owners in the management. Family firm is the most common form of business in Greece. Hence, the governance structures and the performance of the family firms affect the growth opportunities of the capital market. The aim of the paper is to explore the main aspects of CG of family-owned listed companies in Greece. For this purpose, we apply a specific CG rating methodology, using five core CG criteria to distinguish family from non-family firms: shareholders' rights and obligations; transparency, disclosure of information and auditing; board of directors; CEO and executive management and corporate social responsibility and corporate governance commitment. The overall research objective of the study is to develop a CG rating methodology on the current state of corporate governance in Greece. Each firm is rated among the 120 total number of companies (both family-owned and widely- held). The results disclose the potential strengths and weaknesses of the existing corporate governance framework of the family-owned firms and provide specific policy recommendations.family firms, corporate governance rating, Greece
Can Corporate Governance be Rated? Ideas based on the Greek experience
No full textThe paper presents an attempt to quantify the compliance of Greek companies with international best practices. Based on 37 indicators (composed out of 54 questions) it was found that Greek companies demonstrate a fairly satisfactory degree of compliance with OECD guidelines. Their weak points lie in: the role of stakeholders and corporate social responsibility; the organisation of CG; the effective role of the independent members of the board (which may be attributed to the small size of the pool of potential independent board members); disclosure of remuneration; and risk management. Methodologically, the merit of the exercise lies in its approach towards the creation of "collectively subjective" weightings, an effort to discuss the benefits of separating the rating of the market from the rating of companies and the discussion on typologies of work that can be effectively performed through rating exercises. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2004.
The Construction of a Corporate Governance Rating System for a Small Open Capital Market: Methodology and Applications in the Greek Market
No full textAn investigation of price - volume intraday patterns under "Bull" and "Bear" market conditions
No full textThere has been a common belief among stock market practitioners that stock prices move along with trading volume creating certain patterns in price and volume formation. Nevertheless, the above argument was hardly recognised by the academic community since for a number of years statistical results indicated that the stock market is an efficient market i.e. a market where past available information is of no use in predicting future returns profitably, and/or non rational factors do not influence stock prices; The last decade the research for market efficiency was expanded and the use of new large data sets and advanced techniques indicated deviations from the predictions of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (E.M.H.). This study investigates whether there exists a relationship between stock returns and trading volume in the Athens Stock Exchange (A.S.E.) and if such a relationship forms evidence against the E.M.H. We believe that we add to the research in this area since we use intraday data and investigate for a possible relationship under different market states and for different categories of shares.peer-reviewe
Corporate governance rating in a small open capital market: Methodology and applications in the Greek market
No full textThe need of institutional investors to evaluate the Corporate Governance (CG) practices of listed companies resulted in many attempts to construct the CG rating methodologies. This paper, in response to this situation, attempts to quantify the compliance of large capitalization Greek companies with international best practices. The methodology consists of a questionnaire reflecting the Greek CG code, which basically replicates the OECD principles. Other wellregarded CG codes are also taken into account. Then, a rating system based on CG indicators is constructed and applied for the years 2001 and 2003. The total rating results for the years 2001 and 2003 demonstrate a relatively satisfactory improvement. The highest compliance is in the category of shareholder rights, while weak compliance appears in the last category, which incorporates commitment to CG, CSR and the relations with shareholders. The exercise, using practically all agreed principles of the OECD, could demonstrate a reasonable degree of compliance of the average company rated. Its limitation in that respect is that it could not satisfy investigations on convergence. The indicators used are highly pertinent to measure compliance but not convergence, which is not within the initial targets and needs a longer time series analysis. The methodology is applied in a small open economy and may have significant implications in other similar capital markets. Methodologically, the merit of the exercise lies in its approach toward the creation of "collectively subjective" weightings, and is valuable to institutional investors, policymakers, regulators and academics.
The upgrading of the Greeek capital market to a mature market status and the global competition for capital has boosted the CG debate in Greece. In addition, the recent corporate failures and financial scams around the world have increased awareness that proper CG is fundamental to the efficient operation of capital markets. The need of institutional investors to evaluate the CG practices of the listed companies resulted in many attempts to construct CG rating methodologies. This paper presents an attempt to quantify the compliance of large capitalization Greek companies with international best practices. Firstly, the literature on CG ratings is reviewed. Secondly, a brief history of the CG in Greece is presented. Then, the structure of our CG rating methodology and the results are described. Finally, the findings and proceedings with some critical points are summarized
An investigation of Price – Volume intraday patterns under “Bull” and “Bear” market conditions.
No full textThere has been a common belief among stock market practitioners that stock prices move along with trading volume creating certain patterns in price and volume formation. Nevertheless, the above argument was hardly recognised by the academic community since for a number of years statistical results indicated that the stock market is an efficient market i.e. a market where past available information is of no use in predicting future returns profitably, and/or non rational factors do not influence stock prices; The last decade the research for market efficiency was expanded and the use of new large data sets and advanced techniques indicated deviations from the predictions of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (E.M.H.). This study investigates whether there exists a relationship between stock returns and trading volume in the Athens Stock Exchange (A.S.E.) and if such a relationship forms evidence against the E.M.H. We believe that we add to the research in this area since we use intraday data and investigate for a possible relationship under different market states and for different categories of shares.informational efficiency, stock prices, trading volume, causality
Author Correction: Association between change in heart rate over years and life span in the Paris Prospective 1, the Whitehall 1, and Framingham studies
No full textProspective, open-label, randomized, phase iii study of two dose-dense regimens MVAC versus gemcitabine/ cisplatin in patients with inoperable, metastatic or relapsed urothelial cancer: A hellenic cooperative oncology group study (HE 16/03)
No full textBackground: The combinations of methotrexate, vinblastine, Adriamycin, cisplatin (Pharmanell, Athens, Greece) (MVAC) or gemcitabine, cisplatin (GC) represent the standard treatment of advanced urothelial cancer (UC). Dosedense (DD)-MVAC has achieved longer progression-free survival (PFS) than the conventional MVAC. However, the role of GC intensification has not been studied. We conducted a randomized, phase III study comparing a DD-GC regimen with DD-MVAC in advanced UC. Patients and methods: One hundred and thirty patients were randomly assigned between DD-MVAC: 66 (M 30 mg/ m2, V 3 mg/m2, A 30 mg/m2, C 70 mg/m2 q 2 weeks) and DD-GC 64 (G 2500 mg/m2, C 70 mg/m2 q 2 weeks). The median follow-up was 52.1 months (89 events). Results: The median overall survival (OS) and PFS were 19 and 8.5 months for DD-MVAC and 18 and 7.8 months for DD-GC (P = 0.98 and 0.36, respectively). Neutropenic infections were less frequent for DD-GC than for DD-MVAC (0% versus 8%). More patients on DD-GC received at least six cycles of treatment (85% versus 63%, P = 0.011) and the discontinuation rate was lower for DD-GC (3% versus 13%). Conclusions: Although DD-GC was not superior to DD-MVAC, it was better tolerated. DD-GC could be considered as a reasonable therapeutic option for further study in this patient population. Clinical Trial Number: ACTRN12610000845033, www.anzctr.org.au. © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved
MYC copy gain, chromosomal instability and PI3K activation as potential markers of unfavourable outcome in trastuzumab-treated patients with metastatic breast cancer
No full textBackground: There is an unmet need for more efficient patient stratification for receiving trastuzumab in the metastatic breast cancer (mBC) setting, since only part of such patients benefit from the addition of this agent to chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of biomarkers including MYC and MET in mBC patients treated with trastuzumab-based regimens. Methods: mBC patients, locally tested as HER2-positive, treated with trastuzumab and chemotherapy between 1998 and 2010 were evaluated. Paraffin tumors (n = 229) were retrospectively centrally assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for HER2, ER, PgR and Ki67; fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for HER2, TOP2A and centromere (CEN) 17, MYC and CEN8, MET and CEN7; qPCR for MYC, MET copy number (CN); and, for PI3K activation (PIK3CA mutations; PTEN and phospho-mTOR protein expression). Increased CEN CN was assessed based on normal cut-offs. Time to progression (TTP) and survival were evaluated from the initiation of trastuzumab as first line treatment. Results: Among all tumors, 90 were HER2-negative upon central testing (ambiguous HER2) and the rest were true HER2-positive. Further, 156 patients presented with mBC upon relapse of pre-treated disease (R-mBC) and 65 were diagnosed at stage IV (de novo mBC). Concordance between FISH and qPCR on gene CN status was fair for MYC (Kappa = 0.458) and absent for MET. The presence of MYC CN gain with qPCR and the absence of PI3K activation were infrequent events (7 and 8 % of evaluable tumors, respectively), while 41 % of tumors had increased CEN CN in one or more chromosomes, indicative of chromosomal instability. The most consistent finding in the entire cohort and in the above patient subgroups with respect to outcome was the unfavourable effect of MYC CN gain, which was retained upon multivariable analysis (e.g., survival in the entire cohort, HR 6.02; 95 % CI 2.67-13.6; p < 0.001). Further unfavourable prognosticators were increased CEN CN in one chromosome in R-mBC but not in de novo mBC (multivariable interaction p = 0.048), PI3K activation in R-mBC (multivariable p = 0.004) and increased Ki67 for patient TTP. Conclusions: MYC gene copies, centromere status and PI3K activation may adversely impact trastuzumab treated mBC patient outcome and seem worthy validating in larger series. © 2016 The Author(s)
