1,720,971 research outputs found
Capital Structure and Profitability: S&P 500 Enterprises in the Light of the 2008 Financial Crisis
No full textThe present study aims to investigate to what extent capital structure has an impact on profitability and closely associated factors due to a series of bankruptcies and bail-outs within the last twelve months. The analysis refers to firms listed in the S&P 500 index on January 2004 and evaluates their performance from 2004 to 2008. The results show strong industry-specific characteristics for all factors observed, i.e. gearing, profitability, liquidity, investments and dividends. In addition, findings indicate a negative effect of higher gearing for almost all ten sectors in respect of the core variables analysed. Neither the trade-off nor the pecking order theory can be confirmed, however, more support for the former is found. Due to the complexity of capital structure choice, regulations have very limited effects that require the need for independent non-governmental monitoring agencies to improve transparency and have the authority to intervene if managers act at the expense of public interest
Firm Size Inequality: Industry Dynamics, Entrepreneurship and Welfare
No full textThis thesis analyses the dynamics and determinants of the size distribution of firms and examines its implications on welfare. It draws on Schumacher‘s proposition of a 'balanced‘ size distribution of firms as a precondition for sustainable economic development, which conflicts with models predicting an increase in firm size inequality in the long run. For the said dynamism to be understood, the historical development from the First Industrial Revolution is reproduced and emerging patterns set in relation to the evolutionary approach to economic development. This leads to the central argument of this thesis, which is the need for a fair share of medium-sized firms in order to maximise innovative capacity, economic resilience, net job creation and sustainability. To identify the forces driving firm size inequality and the extent to which rebalancing is possible, this thesis consolidates the streams Gibrat‘s Law initiated. The industry-level analysis of the UK, Italy and Germany from 2001 to 2010 demonstrates that the size distribution of firms converges to a lognormal distribution. For technology-rich firms, firm size inequality is inversely U-shaped and the systemic erosion of diversity reduces the options to rebalance. In service industries, industry dynamics are more intense and cause a faster increase in firm size inequality. The resulting co-existence of small and large firms reduces spill-over effects and the ability to recover from macro-economic shocks, but these, paradoxically, increase firm size inequality. To delay the process of increasing firm size inequality, small and medium-sized firms need to engage with export activities and accumulate intangible assets. As the owner-managed firm commercialises on uncertainty and the large firm escapes from it, preserving the 'middle‘ is rewarded with a higher degree of innovative capacity and contributes to sustainable growth. There are also windows of opportunity where rebalancing is possible and from these openings new industries emerge
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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