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This paper deals with the analysis of the statistical properties of the profitability yielded by Private Equity from a fractionally integrated viewpoint. Using quarterly data from 1981q2 to 2021q3, the results support the hypothesis of stationarity and mean reversion in all cases; however, we observe differences in the degree of persistence across regions, Europe being the closest to short memory while the US shows the highest degree of long range dependence and thus the longer lasting effects of shocks. Some policy recommendations of the results obtained are included at the end of the manuscript.

The Baltic fisheries are in distress. In the Central Baltic, fisheries management is challenged by reduced cod stock productivity, and altered species interactions. Here, we use an age-structured, ecological–economic multispecies model, which includes latest biological and economic knowledge, to advance our understanding of optimal fisheries management and related trade-offs between user groups under such altered conditions. We contribute to the scientific discussion (i) by showing that the economic importance and optimal stock size of cod largely decreased under prevailing conditions, while clupeids increased in importance. (ii) We challenge the current MSY management objective in a multispecies setting (MMSY) and suggest that an economic multispecies management objective (MMEY) might be more useful for setting future management targets. (iii) We identify new trade-offs and synergies by including a consumer perspective: There is a win–win situation for ecological conservation, and profits in the fishery, while fishery management faces trade-offs between these two on the one hand, and consumer surplus on the other hand. (iv) Finally, we suggest an easy to implement new management approach, called robust management, which is capable of better dealing with variability and time-trends in recruitment, as observed for cod, in order to safeguard the Central Baltic fishery resources.

There is growing consensus that global food systems will need to undergo substantial transformations to ensure continued food security and to halt environmental degradation. Such efforts will have to include more sustainable management of existing farmscapes. Here, we examine drivers of cropland transitions between 13 crop commodities cultivated in Kern County, California. We parameterized multinomial logistic regression models of crop choices, using observed data from 2002 to 2018. We then simulated future crop choices under three scenarios exploring the consequences of climate change, water shortages and policy response, and projected impacts on three agroecosystem pressures (water-use, soil erosion, pesticide-use), and three agroecosystem services (profits, nutrition, and carbon sequestration). Agricultural land-use transitions were especially sensitive to biophysical factors, profits and neighborhood effects. Our results illustrate how climate change may lead to landscape-level crop replacement by 2050, with likely significant socio-ecological consequences.

The welfare state has been found to be highly resilient and protected from retrenchment by institutional and popular support. However, marketization with restructuration of publicly funded health and welfare services is changing the composition of service providers in the Nordic welfare model, heavily relying upon public provision. Sweden has been the Nordic country most favourable for the establishment of for-profit private welfare providers. The present article uses the case of residential substance use treatment (SUT) to outline and elaborate upon the mix of public, for-profit and non-profit private providers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in 2019–2020. The comparison takes its point of departure in Sweden, which, as expected, presented the biggest and most profit-oriented SUT market. The other countries presented smaller markets, measured by the number of units. Denmark and Norway had the highest presence of NGOs, while Norway stood out with a high share of public provision and few for-profit units. The article identified the market-friendly Sweden, ambivalent Finland, stable, market-regulating Denmark and stable, welfare-corporatist Norway, and investigated the country-specific factors potentially influencing the different developments. Implications for the future development of SUT within the Nordic welfare state were discussed.

After the pandemic hit in 2020, the aerospace and defense industry was specifically impacted very harshly. Rolls-Royce was one of the main companies that had to go through major structural and logistical changes to cope with the changing economy. As one of the leaders of the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry, the main problem that Rolls-Royce was facing was the drastic reduction in demand for civil and commercial aircraft, which was one of Rolls-Royce’s core businesses. This led to supply chain problems, reduced profits, and eventually heavy losses. The effects of these problems caused great distress in the company. My specific role was twofold: to analyze their financial statements for the present and to provide risk management strategies for the future. For the former, I offer solutions on how they can minimize their losses and maximize their profits. Most of my research on this part was conducted by studying how companies performed under great financial distress in the past during black swan events, such as the housing crisis of 2008, the Great Recession, the dot-com bubble, and so forth. For the latter risk management objective, I created a personalized risk matrix for Rolls-Royce by identifying and ranking all their current and potential risks. Then I prioritized the risks that required more attention based on both qualitative and quantitative analyses of cost and performance impacts, and presented recommended solutions for these risks. Overall, I address six main issues and risks that Rolls-Royce should focus on and provide solutions to mitigate them.

Las pequeñas y medianas empresas (pymes) son elementos esenciales de la estructura empresarial en Portugal. Debido a sus características intrínsecas, se convierten en un objetivo atractivo para los inversionistas extranjeros, lo que trae consecuencias en el ámbito financiero y económico, particularmente en la rentabilidad. A nivel internacional, el debate sobre su influencia en la rentabilidad es amplio, con una parte que defiende la importancia de la propiedad extranjera en la rentabilidad, y la otra su irrelevancia. La muestra de este estudio está compuesta de 5667 pymes portuguesas de diversos sectores y cubre el periodo de 2014 a 2018. Se usó un modelo de efectos aleatorios para análisis de datos de panel. Además de la muestra completa, también se realizan análisis con la muestra segmentada entre microempresas, pequeñas y medianas empresas y empresas pertenecientes a la industria manufacturera o al comercio al por mayor. Los resultados muestran que el capital extranjero no tiene una influencia significativa en la rentabilidad de las pymes. As pequenas e médias empresas (PME) são uma importante componente da estrutura empresarial portuguesa. Devido às suas características intrínsecas, estas tornam-se um alvo atrativo de investimento por parte de forças extranacionais, o que tem consequências a nível económico-financeiro, mais especificamente ao nível da rendibilidade. É amplo o debate acerca da influência do capital estrangeiro, com autores a defender a sua importância e outros a sua não significância em termos de rendibilidade. O objetivo geral deste estudo é verificar qual o impacto do capital estrangeiro na rendibilidade das PME. Através da análise de dados para 5.667 PME portuguesas, dos mais diversos setores de atividade e para o período de 2014 a 2018, é empregue uma regressão de dados em painel, mais especificamente o modelo de efeitos aleatórios. Para além da amostra completa, são igualmente realizadas regressões com a amostra segmentada entre micro, pequenas e médias empresas e empresas pertencentes à indústria transformadora ou ao comércio por grosso. Os resultados evidenciam que a origem externa do capital não exerce qualquer influência significativa na rendibilidade daquelas empresas.

Rule and Ambady (2008) showed that naïve college undergraduates’ assessment of features of Fortune 500 CEO’s faces correlated with company profits. Specifically, composite ratings of both power and leadership correlated with company profits, even after controlling for CEO age, CEO attractiveness, and the affect CEOs were displaying in the pictures. Composite warmth did not significantly predict revenue or profits (although it correlated at r = -.12 and -.14, which suggests that the effect may become significant with a larger sample).

Li-ion battery (LIB) recycling has become an urgent need with rapid prospering of the electric vehicle (EV) industry, which has caused a shortage of material resources and led to an increasing amount of retired batteries. However, the global LIB recycling effort is hampered by various factors such as insufficient logistics, regulation, and technology readiness. Here, the challenges associated with LIB recycling and their possible solutions are summarized. Different aspects such as recycling/upcycling techniques, worldwide government policies, and the economic and environmental impacts are discussed, along with some practical suggestions to overcome these challenges for a promising circular economy for LIB materials. Some potential strategies are proposed to convert such challenges into opportunities to maintain the global expansion of the EV and other LIB-dependent industries.

Plasma gasification is considered an environmentally friendly process to convert plastic waste into fuel oil; a prototype system is described to test and validate the plasma treatment of plastic waste as a strategic vision. The proposed plasma treatment project will deal with a plasma reactor with a waste capacity of 200 t/day. The annual plastic waste production in tons in all regions of Makkah city during 27 years for all months in the years 1994 to 2022 is evaluated. A statistics survey of plastic waste displays the average rate generation ranging from 224 thousand tons in the year 1994 to 400 thousand tons in the year 2022, with an amount of recovered pyrolysis oil; 3.17 × 105 t with the equivalent energy; 12.55 × 109 MJ, and an amount of recovered diesel oil; 2.7 × 105 t with an amount of electricity for sale 2.96 × 106 MW.h. The economic vision will be estimated, using the results of energy generated from diesel oil as an industrial fuel extracted from plastic waste equivalent to 0.2 million barrels of diesel oil, with sales revenue and cash recovery of USD 5 million, considering the sale of each one barrel of diesel extracted from plastic waste in the range of USD 25. It is important to consider that the equivalent barrels of petroleum cost, according to the organization of the petroleum-exporting countries’ basket prices, up to USD 20 million. The sales profit (2022) is as follows: for diesel with a sales revenue of diesel oil, USD 5 million, with a rate of return of 4.1%, and a payback period of 3.75 years. The generated electricity reached USD 32 million for households and USD 50 million for factories.

Con la Ley 1819 de 2016 se introdujo a la legislación colombiana modificaciones al tratamiento tributario de los contratos de leasing financiero y operativo. En este documento se presentan problemas jurídicos derivados de la nueva configuración tributaria del leasing financiero en el impuesto sobre la renta e IVA, originados en la redacción e interpretación del artículo 127-1 del estatuto. El presente documento se desarrolla bajo la metodología de investigación dogmática, parte del análisis de la legislación colombiana y tiene como insumo importante la investigación de la doctrina emitida por la DIAN como fuente auxiliar, relevante para entender el alcance de esta norma. The enaction of the Law 1819 of 2016, introduced into the Colombian Tax Legislation a change to the special tax treatment of financial and operational leasing contracts. This document presents to the reader different legal problems arising from the wording of the financial leasing contract rules in the income tax and value added tax (VAT), which mainly originate from the drafting and interpretation of the article 127-1 of the Colombian Tax Code, as the special fiscal rule that establishes the treatment of leasing contracts for tax purposes. This document is developed under the dogmatic methodology, to the extent that different legal analyzes are carried out, and counts with the important input of the doctrine (i.e., tax rulings) issued by the Colombian Tax Authority (DIAN by its acronym in Spanish) as a relevant auxiliary source for the understanding of the scope of financial leasing fiscal treatment.

L’objectif de cet article est de proposer un cadre théorique capable de mieux identifier les priorités des dirigent, pour ce faire nous revenons sur la théorie des parties prenantes qui a eu un impact significatif sur la structure de gouvernement d'entreprise et la gestion stratégique de l'entreprise et qui a remis en question la vision néoclassique ou libérale de l’économie «suprématie des actionnaires ». Cette vision traditionnelle de l'entreprise estime que le but de l'entreprise est de maximiser les intérêts des actionnaires. La théorie des parties prenantes se présente donc comme une tentative de fonder une nouvelle théorie de la firme intégrant son environnement avec lequel elle entretient des relations et agit, afin de dépasser la vision actionnariale et économique classique de la firme, maximisatrice de profit. Elle vise, en effet, à démontrer que les dirigeants ont un rôle, des obligations et des responsabilités allant au-delà de la simple prise en compte des actionnaires, ce qui pousse l’entreprise à inclure dans sa gouvernance les droits et les intérêts des parties prenantes non actionnaires. Et placer au premier plan l’importance de prendre en considération les intérêts spécifiques de l’ensemble des acteurs liés à l’entreprise, et donc au processus de création de valeurs, qu’ils soient salariés, actionnaires, dirigeants, sous-traitants, fournisseurs ou distributeurs .Cet article expose les progrès théoriques et les limites de la théorie des parties prenantes.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. We test the profit implication of product-market planning as a dynamic capability, from a contingency theory perspective. Among a sample of high-technology industrial organizations, we find that product-market planning capability is significantly and positively related to profits under marketing differentiation, but negative implications ensue for those adopting cost efficiency strategies. Pursuing hybrid strategies has no significant effect, while technological turbulence also has no moderating effect. Additional analysis establishes the temporal effects of product-market planning capability on 3-year lagged profits. These differential results are considered within a contingency framework. Implications are identified and discussed for industrial marketing management theory and practice.

This article examines the relationship between hospital profitability and efficiency. A cross-section of 1317 U.S. metropolitan, acute care, not-for-profit hospitals for the year 2015 was employed. We use a frontier method, stochastic frontier analysis, to estimate hospital efficiency. Total margin and operating margin were used as profit variables in OLS regressions that were corrected for heteroskedacity. In addition to estimated efficiency, control variables for internal and external correlates of profitability were included in the regression models. We found that more efficient hospitals were also more profitable. The results show a positive relationship between profitability and size, concentration of output, occupancy rate and membership in a multi-hospital system. An inverse relationship was found between profits and academic medical centers, average length of stay, location in a Medicaid expansion state, Medicaid and Medicare share of admissions, and unemployment rate. The results of a Hausman test indicates that efficiency is exogenous in the profit equations. The findings suggest that not-for-profit hospitals will be responsive to incentives for increasing efficiency and use market power to increase surplus to pursue their objectives.

RESUMEN El presente artículo tiene como finalidad describir la experiencia de los y las residentes del barrio Escalante, ubicado en el distrito El Carmen en la capital de Costa Rica (San José). Este asentamiento data de la primera mitad del siglo XX y en la última década atraviesa una serie de transformaciones urbanas, principalmente: los cambios de uso del suelo, del perfil de la ciudad y de la vocación hacia actividades comerciales y turísticas. En este texto se muestran los resultados de una encuesta aplicada a las personas residentes durante el último semestre del año 2018, así como entrevistas en profundidad. Como resultados importantes están: las dificultades para residir en el barrio, la falta de participación ciudadana y las decisiones políticas sobre la ciudad sin la consulta a quienes la habitan. ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to narrate the experience of the residents of barrio Escalante, located in district El Carmen in the capital San José of Costa Rica. This settlement dates from the first half of the 20th century and in the last decade it goes through a series of urban transformations mainly: the changes in land use; the profile of the city and the vocation to commercial and tourist activities. This article shows the results of a survey applied to residents during the last semester of 2018 as well as in-depth interviews. As important results are: the difficulties to reside in the neighborhood; the lack of citizen participation and political decisions about the city without consulting those who inhabit it. RESUMO O presente artigo tem como finalidade apresentar a experiência dos residentes do Bairro Escalante, localizado no distrito El Carmen na capital da Costa Rica (San José). Este assentamento data da primeira metade do século XX e na última década atravessa uma série de transformações urbanas principalmente: as mudanças de uso do solo; do perfil da cidade e da vocação para atividades comerciais e turísticas. Neste artigo se mostram os resultados de uma enquete aplicada às pessoas residentes durante o último semestre do ano 2018, assim como entrevistas em profundidade. Como resultados importantes estão: as dificuldades para residir no bairro; a falta de participação cidadã e as decisões políticas sobre a cidade sem a consulta a quem a habitam.

Resumen En este artículo se hace una revisión de los beneficios para un inversionista con un portafolio que invierte tanto en un índice de mercado como en acciones de inversión socialmente responsables (ISR) y que está diversificado en Estados Unidos y México. Al emplear el modelo estándar de Markowitz con históricos diarios de los rendimientos de los índices S&P 500, Dow Jones Sustainability, Índice de Precios y Cotizaciones (IPC) e IPC sustentable, se encontró que sobreponderar en acciones de inversión socialmente responsables conlleva mejores resultados en términos de eficiencia media-varianza en ambos países, en comparación con un portafolio que replica el nivel de inversión de acciones ISR de los índices de mercado previamente citados. Los resultados presentados contribuyen a refutar la posición teórica de que se pierden beneficios y rentabilidad si se da preferencia a la inversión socialmente responsable, en comparación a una cartera o índice de mercado convencional. Clasificación JEL: G11; G15; G17. Abstract This article reviews the benefits for an investor with a portfolio that invests in both a market index and socially responsible investment (SRI) stocks, that is diversified in the United States and Mexico. By using the Markowitz standard model with daily historical return data of the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Sustainability, the Price and Quotation Index (PQI), and the PQI sustainability index, it was found that to overweight in SRI stocks leads to a better mean-variance efficiency in both countries, in a comparison with a portfolio replicating the level of investment of SRI stocks of the previously mentioned market indices. The results presented contribute to refute the theoretical position that benefits and profitability are lost if the preference is given to the SRI, in comparison with a conventional portfolio or market index. Resumo Este artigo analisa os benefícios para um investidor com um portfólio que investe em um índice de mercado e em ações de Investimento Socialmente Responsável (ISR) e que é diversificado nos Estados Unidos e no México. Usando o modelo padrão de Markowitz com retornos históricos diários para o S&P 500, Dow Jones Sustainability, Índice de Preços e Cotações (CPI) e CPI sustentável, verificou-se que supervalorizar nos estoques de investimento socialmente responsável leva a melhores resultados em termos da eficiência de variância média nos dois países, em comparação com um portfólio que replica o nível de investimento das ações ISR dos índices de mercado mencionados anteriormente. Os resultados apresentados ajudam a refutar a posição teórica de que lucros e rentabilidade são perdidos se for dada preferência a Investimentos Socialmente Responsáveis, em comparação com um portfólio ou índice de mercado convencional.

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is promoted in arid and semi-arid areas for increased yields. Planting pits are RWH systems that are used for collecting rainwater and runoff. Recently, there has been increased interest in economic and environmental benefits of agricultural technologies for sustainable development. To contribute to this knowledge, economics of Chololo and Five by Nine planting pits and sorghum and pigeon pea mulch was investigated at two sites in semi-arid Eastern Kenya for four seasons. The experiments were in a randomized complete block design in three replicates. Returns of planting pits and mulch were calculated by evaluating the benefit-cost (B: C) ratios and net present values (NPV) while considering water as an economic good. Planting pits were profitable for sorghum and unprofitable for pigeon pea production. The outcome differed with sites and seasons depending on rainfall availability. Chololo pits earned US$ 92 to US$ 786 per hectare whereas Five by Nine pits earned US $ 59 to US$ 955 per hectare. Mulches were beneficial for sorghum and pigeon pea production at Nkarini and unprofitable at Machang’a with the yield differing with seasons depending on rainfall availability. This study recommends Five by Nine and Chololo pits for sorghum production at Nkarini where it was economically viable in three out of four seasons.

Artículo de revista The latest SAFE results show that the activity of Spanish SMEs continued to grow in the period from October 2021 to March 2022, albeit at a slower pace than six months earlier. The rise in costs prompted a deterioration in profits for most of these firms. Access to external finance is not a factor of concern for most SMEs; indeed, the indicator of obstacles to obtaining bank loans has held at very low values. However, the results show an interruption of the trend of improving availability of bank loans during the period analysed, linked to the SMEs’ pessimistic perception of the general economic environment. In addition, a significant percentage of SMEs reported an increase in financing costs. Against a backdrop of heightened uncertainty generated, among other factors, by the economic repercussions of the war in Ukraine, overall the respondent firms anticipated a deterioration in access to finance for the period April-September 2022.

Par sa situation stratégique en zone occupée, à proximité de la ligne de démarcation et non loin du littoral atlantique, la manufacture d’armes de Châtellerault est un cas significatif de l’ordre nouveau qui s’installe après le 22 juin 1940, dans une usine à la fois prise de guerre et laboratoire de la collaboration d’État. Si la gestion du travail hérite des temps de guerre antérieurs, elle témoigne des méthodes autoritaires de la double direction allemande et française pour répondre aux commandes du Reich. Les contraintes imposées au personnel incitent une minorité à résister. Ces transformations ont laissé des traces By its strategic location in the occupied zone, near the demarcation line and not far from the Atlantic coast, the Châtellerault arms factory is a significant case of the new order that settles after June 22, 1940, in a factory both taken from war and laboratory of state collaboration. If the management of work inherits from previous war times, it testifies to the authoritarian methods of the dual German and French leadership to respond to the commands of the Reich. The constraints imposed on staff encourage a minority to resist. These transformations have left their mark Durch ihre strategische Lage in der besetzten Zone, in der Nähe der Demarkationslinie und nicht weit von der Atlantikküste entfernt, ist die Waffenfabrik Châtellerault ein bedeutender Fall der neuen Ordnung, die sich nach dem 22 Juni 1940 in einer Fabrik niederlässt, sowohl eine Kriegserwerb als auch ein Labor der Staatlichen Kollaboration. Wenn die Arbeitsverwaltung von früheren Kriegszeiten erbt, zeugt sie von den autoritären Methoden der deutschen und französischen Doppelführung, auf die Befehle des Reiches zu reagieren. Die Zwänge, die dem Personal auferlegt werden, ermutigen eine Minderheit zum Widerstand. Diese Transformationen haben ihre Spuren hinterlassen

STELLS theory is motivational process theory, which encourages the employer to regard the employee as a co-investor in the business, having put into the business Skills, Time, Talents, Efforts, Labour, Life, and Services as investment. On the weight of this fact, the employee should be rewarded commensurately with his/her inputs into the business.&nbsp

Profitability of rice production in different production systems in Ebonyi State, Nigeria was evaluated. Rice is critical for food security in Nigeria, hence, farmers need to make appropriate choices of rice production systems to optimize production and ensure an adequate domestic supply. This study used 2015 survey data from rice farming households. Rice farmers in swamp, lowland and upland rice production systems showed variability in profit. Swamp production systems had the highest return per hectare (29.37%) followed by lowland production systems (20.10%) and upland production systems (13.03%). Poor access to production credit and climate change were constraints to rice production in the area. Rice production using the swamp production system is profitable and would ensure increased production and higher returns to the farmers. It is recommended that farmers should form cooperative groups to enable them to pool resources together to boost their production.

The technological improvements modeled for Cournot competition have primarily focused on production cost reductions and scope effects. We consider a case where the technology improves the ability to affect the production capacity constraints instead. We find that although such technological progress entails public benefits in the form of greater consumer surplus and social welfare, it is likely to have limited and even sometimes harmful private effects (e.g., to firm profits). We formally model this technological improvement possibility through the relevant variants of oligopolies and rival technological asymmetries. We describe and discuss the strategic implications for managers and policy-makers considering investing and exploiting such capacity-adjusting technologies. We also flesh out the many core areas for future work to follow up on in our initial unique results.

This paper argues that the case of product differentiation of concentrated markets (i.e., innovation competition) is one where production per unit of profit of non-financial corporations is lower than in competitive mass production and profit share is not an increasing function of capacity utilisation. Rather the desired excess capacity is higher compared since the break-even point where total costs and revenues equalize tends to be lower. The argument is supported with descriptive annual data for the period 1947-2019 in the USA.

Seasonal-to-interannual variations of rainfall over southern Africa, key to predicting extreme climatic events, are predictable over certain regions and during specific periods of the year. This predictability had been established by testing seasonal forecasts from models of varying complexity against official station rainfall records typically managed by weather services, as well as against gridded data sets compiled through a range of efforts. Members of the general public, including farmers, additionally have extended records of rainfall data, often as daily values spanning several decades, which are recorded and updated regularly at their farms and properties. In this paper, we show how seasonal forecast modelers may use site recorded farm rainfall records for the development of skillful forecast systems specific to the farm. Although the uptake of seasonal forecasts in areas with modest predictability such as southern Africa may be challenging, we will show that there is potential for financial gain and improved disaster risk farm management by co-developing with farmers forecast systems based on a combination of state-of-the-art climate models and farm rainfall data. This study investigates the predictability of seasonal rainfall extremes at five commercial farms in southern Africa, four of which are in the austral summer rainfall areas, while one is located in the winter rainfall area of the southwestern Cape. We furthermore calculate a measure of cumulative profits at each farm, assuming a “fair odds” return on investments made according to forecast probabilities. The farmers are presented with hindcasts (re-forecasts) at their farms, and potential financial implications if the hindcasts were used in decision-making. They subsequently described how they would use forecasts for their farm, based on their own data.

We show that the traveling salesman problem (TSP) and its many variants may be modeled as functional optimization problems over a graph. In this formulation, all vertices and arcs of the graph are functionals; i.e., a mapping from a space of measurable functions to the field of real numbers. Many variants of the TSP, such as those with neighborhoods, with forbidden neighborhoods, with time-windows and with profits, can all be framed under this construct. In sharp contrast to their discrete-optimization counterparts, the modeling constructs presented in this paper represent a fundamentally new domain of analysis and computation for TSPs and their variants. Beyond its apparent mathematical unification of a class of problems in graph theory, the main advantage of the new approach is that it facilitates the modeling of certain application-specific problems in their home space of measurable functions. Consequently, certain elements of economic system theory such as dynamical models and continuous-time cost/profit functionals can be directly incorporated in the new optimization problem formulation. Furthermore, subtour elimination constraints, prevalent in discrete optimization formulations, are naturally enforced through continuity requirements. The price for the new modeling framework is nonsmooth functionals. Although a number of theoretical issues remain open in the proposed mathematical framework, we demonstrate the computational viability of the new modeling constructs over a sample set of problems to illustrate the rapid production of end-to-end TSP solutions to extensively-constrained practical problems., Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures

Отчет о финансовых результатах характеризует результаты деятельности организации за отчетный период и показывает, каким образом она получает прибыль или убыток. В отчете о финансовых результатах можно выделить четыре элемента: доходы, расходы, прибыли и убытки. Доходы представляют собой увеличение, а расходы уменьшение экономических выгод экономического субъекта, которые происходят в результате поступления или выбытия активов, а также погашения или возникновения обязательств перед бюджетом, внебюджетными фондами и третьими лицами, приводящих к определенным изменениям капитала этого субъекта. Прибыль наиболее полно отражает эффективность производства, объем и качество произведенной продукции, состояние производительности труда, уровень себестоимости. Убыток представляет собой превышение расходов над доходами, он является обстоятельством, снижающим величину собственного капитала.

Категория «финансовые результаты» представляет собой не только одно из центральных понятий бухгалтерского учета, но и экономического анализа, менеджмента, увязывающая учетные процессы с механизмом принятия управленческих решений, направленных на рост доходности бизнеса посредством расчета, анализа и прогнозирования различных экономических показателей. Финансовые результаты выступают важнейшим показателем эффективности деятельности организации. Финансовый результат представляет собой прирост (уменьшение) капитала организации, вызванный ее предпринимательской или иной деятельностью. При определении доходов в бухгалтерском учете и в налогообложении необходимо пользоваться различными источниками нормативной информации, а именно Положением по бухгалтерскому учету «Доходы организации» (ПБУ 9/99) и Налоговым кодексом Российской Федерации. Доходы и расходы экономического субъекта находят свое отражение в отчетности этого субъекта, в частности в отчете о финансовых результатах., The category "financial results" is not only one of the central concepts of accounting, but also economic analysis, management, linking accounting processes with the mechanism for making managerial decisions aimed at increasing business profitability through the calculation, analysis and forecasting of various economic indicators. Financial results are the most important indicator of the effectiveness of the organization. The financial result is an increase (decrease) in the capital of the organization caused by its entrepreneurial or other activities. When determining income in accounting and in taxation, it is necessary to use various sources of regulatory information, namely, the Regulation on accounting "Income of the organization" (PBU 9/99) and the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The income and expenses of an economic entity are reflected in the reporting of this entity, in particular in the statement of financial results.

Agricultural expansion and intensification drive the conversion of natural areas worldwide. Scenarios are powerful tools to explore possible future changes in agricultural land use, how these may affect the environment, and how policies may influence land-use patterns. Focusing on Argentina's prime agricultural areas, the Pampas, Espinal and Chaco, we developed spatially-explicit future land-use scenarios from 2010 to 2030, considering both agricultural expansion (i.e., conversions from woodland to either grazing land or cropland) and agricultural intensification (i.e., conversions from grazing land to cropland). Our simulations were based on an econometric model of net returns, which assumes economically rational land-use actors. Using this model, we assessed the rates and spatial patterns of future land-use change under current land zoning in our study region, and contrasted this with a forecast of future land use based on land-conversion rates from 2000–2010. We systematically tested the impact of economic policies (e.g., taxes or subsidies), infrastructure improvement (e.g., road paving), and technological innovation (i.e., yield increases) on the spatial patterns of land-use conversions. Our model suggests future land-use change will mainly happen along intensification pathways, with deforestation slowing down, if land-use actors would be profit-maximizing. This general pattern did not change even for policy interventions that impacted profits from agriculture in major ways, cautioning against overestimating the leverage that economic policies provide for halting deforestation. Improving the region's road network would create a strong incentive to expand cropland further into remaining woodlands and over grazing lands. However, low agricultural profits and higher yields could curb deforestation in marginal areas to some extent. We also highlight that priority areas for conservation are particularly likely to experience high land-use pressure in the future. Given the lower-than-expected power of economic policies to alter deforestation patterns in our models, zoning, if properly enforced, appears to be a more straightforward tool for avoiding unwanted environmental impacts in the Chaco. Fil: Piquer Rodríguez, María. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Universität zu Berlin; Alemania Fil: Baumann, Matthias. Universität zu Berlin; Alemania Fil: Butsic, Van. University of California at Berkeley; Estados Unidos Fil: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina Fil: Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación de Recursos Naturales. Instituto de Recursos Biológicos; Argentina Fil: Volante, José Norberto. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Salta. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; Argentina Fil: Müller, Daniel. Universität zu Berlin; Alemania. Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies; Alemania Fil: Kuemmerle, Tobias. Universität zu Berlin; Alemania

In competitive markets, profits deviating from the norm will not persist for extended periods. If unimpeded, entry and exit of firms should restore profits to competitive levels. This dynamic process is influenced by regulations that temporarily or permanently impede competition. We study how product market regulations (PMR)—as measured by the OECD—affect competition by their impact on the profit persistence (Wölfl et al. in Ten years of product market reform in OECD countries-insights from a revised PMR indicator, 2009, Product market regulation: extending the analysis beyond OECD countries, 2010). To examine profit dynamics, we follow the methodology developed by Mueller (Economica 44(176):369–380, 1977), which measures both the short run persistence of profits and the long run permanent rents. The method can be used to measure: (1) short run transitory rents; (2) long run permanent rents. To this end we use firm level data from 30 OECD countries over the period 1998–2013. Results show that PMR increase the permanent rents of firms but we find no significant effect on short run profit persistence. We conclude that PMR negatively influence competition and increase permanent rents, resulting in misallocation of resources. © 2018, The Author(s). open access

Using a novel dataset on Turkishmanufacturing firms covering 22 industries and 45,712 firms, we investigate theimpact of real exchange rate fluctuations on firm level corporate profits. Ourestimation results do not present strong evidence on the impact of exchangerate variations on firm level profits. The results are not robust to theindustry specific exchange rate series constructed using different weightingschemes showing the importance of the choice of the exchange rate series usedin the analysis. Moreover, firms with higher productivity and employment aswell as older firms have found to be more profitable., Bu çalışmada Türk imalat sanayiinde faaliyet gösteren 22 imalat sektörüve 45.712 firmayı kapsayan bir veri seti kullanarak, reel döviz kurudalgalanmalarının firma düzeyindeki şirket kazançları üzerindeki etkisiaraştırılmaktadır. Tahmin sonuçlarımız döviz kuru değişimlerinin firmadüzeyindeki kârlar üzerindeki etkisine istinaden güçlü bir kanıt sunmamaktadır.Çalışmanın sonuçları ayrıca farklı ağırlıklandırma yöntemleriyle hesaplanmışsektörel döviz kuru serilerinin firma karlarına etkilerinin farklılaştığınıgöstermektedir. Bu durum kullanılan döviz kuru serisinin seçiminin öneminivurgulamaktadır. Buna ek olarak, çalışmada yüksek üretkenlik ve istihdama sahipolan firmalar ile yaşça büyük olan firmaların daha karlı oldukları raporedilmiştir.

We use the largest cross-country sample of reported share transactions by corporate insiders to date to establish that insiders in the majority of European countries do not make statistically significant abnormal trading profits. This finding stands in contrast to the earlier evidence from the U.S. The result holds across subsamples of firms with different characteristics. Furthermore, the introduction of the European Union Market Abuse Directive (MAD) had a mixed impact on the frequency and volume of insider trading across countries but generally did not affect profits of insider-mimicking portfolios. We build on the heterogeneity of our sample countries to show that several country-level regulatory, economic and cultural factors are linked with the level of insider profits which can explain why the profitability of insider trading differs starkly across countries.

The essay discusses the strengths and shortcomings of private higher education in Latin America. It argues that private institutions play an important role and shows – with numbers – that profits and quality education are unrelated. In discussing regulations, it argues that both neglect and heavy-handed policies are not producing the expected results. What less prosperous and smaller private institutions need is public support, in order to offer decent quality education and innovate in non-traditional areas, such as post-secondary programs. Indeed, they need help to structure courses, prepare teaching materials and train their teachers. Resumo O ensaio discute os pontos fortes e as fragilidades do ensino superior privado na América Latina, defendendo a posição de que tem um papel importante. Os números sugerem que lucro e qualidade acadêmica não estão correlacionados. No que tange à regulação, defende a posição de que nem liberalidade total e nem controles pesados produzem os resultados esperados. O que as instituições pequenas e modestas precisam é de apoio público para oferecer uma qualidade correta e inovar nos cursos menos tradicionais, como os tecnólogos. De fato, precisam de ajuda para montar os cursos, preparar materiais educativos e treinar os professores. Resumen Este artículo discute las fortalezas y limitaciones de la educación superior privada en América Latina. Argumenta que las instituciones privadas juegan un papel importante y muestra, con cifras, que el lucro y la educación de calidad no están correlacionadas. Al discutir las regulaciones, el artículo sugiere que tanto políticas basadas en fuertes controles, como las que adoptan estrategias extremadamente liberales dejando al mercado que opere por su cuenta, han fallado en producir los resultados esperados. Lo que las instituciones privadas pequeñas y menos ricas necesitan es apoyo público. Esto con la finalidad de ofrecer educación de calidad y de ser capaces de innovar en la forma de cursos no-tradicionales, como en el caso de diplomas cortos en carreras tecnológicas. El apoyo es necesario, de hecho, para estructurar cursos, preparar materiales de enseñanza y entrenar a los profesores.

The article discusses the structure of the modern banking system of Russia, shows the trend and reasons for the decline in the number of commercial banks, characterizes changes in the licensing of credit institutions. Since 2019, banks operate with a universal and basic licenses. Considered the assets of commercial banks, it is shown that increasing the concentration of assets of the largest banks with state participation, whose assets amounted to 60.4% at the beginning of 2019. A brief analysis of the financial performance of commercial banks, В статье рассматривается структура современной банковской системы России, показана тенденция и причины снижения количества коммерческих банков, характеризуются изменения в лицензировании кредитных организаций. С 2019 года функционируют банки с универсальной и базовой лицензиями. Рассмотрены активы коммерческих банков, показано, что увеличивается концентрация активов крупнейших банков с государственным участием, активы которых составили на начало 2019 г. 60,4%. Проведен краткий анализ финансовых показателей коммерческих банков.

Настоящая статья посвящена анализу отбывания наказаний, осужденных в Европейских частных тюрьмах, работающих на различных производствах и приносящие огромную прибыль пенитенциарной системе. Изученный теоретико-сравнительный анализ показал, что частные исправительные учреждения за рубежом несут исключительное благо для самого общества по выпуску товаров потребительского свойства. Они имеют свои производства, выпускают продукцию пользующаяся повышенным спросом у населения и через своих представителей реализовывают ее потребителям, а коммерческая выручка приносит существенную прибыль в целом всей пенитенциарной системе. Таким образом, все объекты пенитенциарных учреждений, находятся на самоокупаемости и хозрасчетной деятельности и не обременительны для государства. Автор предлагает в порядке эксперимента внедрить Европейский бизнес тюремный опыт и на территории РФ, но со своей спецификой. Он утверждает, что проведение апробации и эксперимента было бы интересно и полезно для нашей существующей УИС, тем более, что центральное руководство ФСИН непосредственно заинтересовано в этом. В исследовании подводятся итоги внедрения передовых технологий в действующую систему ФСИН России., This article is devoted to the analysis of the serving of sentences, convicted in European private prisons, working in various industries and bringing huge profits to the penitentiary system. Studied theoretical-comparative analysis showed that private correctional institutions abroad are of exceptional benefit to the society itself for the production of consumer goods. They have their own production, produce products that are in high demand among the population and, through their representatives, sell it to consumers, and commercial revenue brings substantial profits in the whole penitentiary system. Thus, all objects of penitentiary institutions are on self-sufficiency and self-financing activities and are not burdensome for the state. The author proposes to introduce the European prison experience in the Russian Federation as an experiment, but with its own specifics. He argues that the testing and experiment would be interesting and useful for our existing MIS, especially since the central leadership of the FPS is directly interested in this. The study summarizes the introduction of advanced technologies in the existing system of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia.

URL del artículo en la web de la Revista: https://www.upo.es/revistas/index.php/RevMetCuant/article/view/2915 La informalidad en la pequeña empresa es un fenómeno ampliamente extendido en los países de Latinoamérica. En el Perú representa el 50% de las unidades empresariales, situación que supone conocer cuáles son los determinantes de esta realidad para contribuir al diseño de políticas públicas. Es así que la presente investigación estudia las variables relacionadas con el desempeño productivo y la calidad de vida del hogar del dueño de la empresa como elementos altamente vinculados a la informalidad. Además, se evalúa si la decisión del empresario sobre la informalidad responde a una maximización de beneficios o, por el contrario, se debe a una exclusión debido a que la legislación actual es ajena a la real naturaleza de la unidad de negocio. Las conclusiones permiten observar que las características del hogar facilitan la formalidad y que el marco normativo tributario existente excluye a las pequeñas empresas, que experimentan menores niveles de ganancia en comparación con empresas formales de características similares. Informality in small businesses is a widespread phenomenon in Latin American countries. In Peru it represents 50% of the business units, a situation that implies the knowledge of the determinants of this reality to contribute to the design of public policies. Thus, the present work studies the variables related to the productive performance and the life quality of the company owner¿s home as elements highly related to informality. In addition, it is evaluated whether the employer¿s decision about informality responds to a maximization of profits or, on the contrary, it is due to exclusion because the current legislation is apart from the real nature of the business unit. The conclusions allow observing that the characteristics of the home facilitate the formality and that the existing tax regulatory framework excludes small companies, which experience lower levels of profit compared to formal companies with similar characteristics. Universidad Pablo de Olavide

How do we deal with environmental management issues at the local level? Traditionally, the approach proposed from an environmental management perspective has involved various kinds of “top-down” regulatory measures, such as defining a standard that must be satisfied or a tax on pollution. Conversely, there has been less focus on the analysis of local, bottom-up approaches, as for example the effectiveness of various ways of organizing a local environmental transition process. Our focus is on analyzing of under what conditions it is possible for a “green entrepreneur” (GE) to manage a transition from brown to green energy? Theoretically, we consider four entrepreneurial skills, at least two of which must be present for the GE to succeed. In the case of the Danish island of Samso and its rapid introduction of renewable energy, three of these skills are found to be present: profits, communication, and trustworthiness. The GE, however, failed to activate the fourth skill concerning the ability to persuade local non-green actors regarding the value of the green component. Thus, a main result is that it is crucial to convince non-green locals about the profitability of local environmental management rather than its potentially green components.

This paper presents a class of hub network design problems with profit-oriented objectives, which extend several families of classical hub location problems. Potential applications arise in the design of air and ground transportation networks. These problems include decisions on the origin/destination nodes that will be served as well as the activation of different types of edges, and consider the simultaneous optimization of the collected profit, setup cost of the hub network and transportation cost. Alternative models and integer programming formulations are proposed and analyzed. Results from computational experiments show the complexity of such models and highlight their superiority for decision-making.

This paper analyses the determinants of profitability of the Indian drug and pharmaceutical industry, which is known for historically weak innovative R&D initiatives. The change in the economic environment brought out by the TRIPS compliance, this industry was found to have fast adjusted to new working environment by substantially modifying its strategies. The study uses inflation adjusted time-series data for a period 1990-2014 and applies OLS regression model with Newey-West standard errors. It has found that export intensity, A&M intensity, and post-product patent regime have exercised positive influence on industries’ profitability. The negative and statistically significant influence of Leverage ratio and operating expenditure to total assets ratio points to the need for firms to better their efficient management of funds, and contain costs. The study suggests that firms are required to pay far more attention to optimize their operating expenditures, advertisement and marketing expenditures and improve their export orientation, as part of the long term strategy.

This study seeks to investigate the internal and external determinants of the Pakistan banking sector, specifically after the recent financial crisis of 2008. The sample data comprises of total 26 banks, which include 17 conventional, 5 Islamic and 4 public banks. The selected sample covers the period of five years from 2009 to 2013. A balanced panel data regression model has been used and considered return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) as an alternative of bank's profitability. The results of the study suggest that bank's profitability is significantly affected by its internal determinants while external determinants are insignificant. We find operating efficiency, liquidity, non-performing loans to total assets and real GDP has negative impact, whereas financial risk, gearing ratio, asset management, bank size, deposits, loans to total assets and inflation show positive impact on the assets side. On the other side, operating efficiency, gearing ratio, asset management, liquidity, deposits and real GDP have a positive impact while financial risk, bank size, asset quality and inflation exert negative impact on the equity side. During the study period, findings suggest that the Pakistan banking industry has managed well to avoid significant impact of external factors like inflation and GDP over profitability while efficient management is required to improve internal factors to be more profitable.

The King, Money and Justice. Some Remarks on Xenophon, Agesilaus, IV. This paper aims to explain how money and justice are represented in Agesilaus. The first part of the praise describes the king as someone who shares and supplies money to his friends and his homeland. Xenophon explains his way of life in the second part where he describes the different virtues of the king and emphasizes especially his sobriety and his sense of parsimony : they testify to Agesilaus’ “ justice in money matters” (IV, 1). The praise becomes apologetic in order to prove that Agesilaus has always been beyond reproach as far as public money is concerned : this passage could evoke some tricks of the king which would have been negatively perceived., Cette étude analyse la représentation de l’argent et de la justice dans l’Agésilas de Xénophon. Le roi est présenté dans la partie narrative de l’éloge comme un inlassable pourvoyeur de richesses qui sont distribuées à ses amis et à sa patrie ; la dimension morale de son attitude est ensuite justifiée dans le catalogue des vertus du roi où sa sobriété et son sens de l’économie sont mis en avant dans un éloge de sa «justice à l’égard des richesses » (IV, 1). L’éloge prend alors une teinte apologétique pour défendre l’idée qu’Agésilas a toujours été irréprochable à l’égard de l’argent public, ce qui peut faire discrètement écho à des manoeuvres du roi qui auraient été mal perçues., Pontier Pierre. Le roi, l’argent et la justice. Remarques sur l’Agésilas, IV. In: Gaia : revue interdisciplinaire sur la Grèce Archaïque, numéro 19, 2016. pp. 289-306.

This study attempts to predict aggregate profits for small and medium Romanian firms using a relatively naïve model We use a dataset consisting of 4,519 observations spanning a period of eleven years, from 2001 to 2011 Each observation is obtained by aggregating the data associated with all small and medium firms that can be found for a given NACE and SIRUTA code in the greater Bucharest metropolitan area Our sample includes a number of more than 1,514 observations that correspond to firms with aggregate zero turnover and aggregate zero number of employees These are in fact shell companies, firms that are inactive, but somehow remained in the evidence of the Romanian Trade Register Office We split our sample into two distinct periods, using the 2008 financial crisis as the dividing point We fit a simple prediction model of aggregate total profits as a function of four variables, using the pre-financial crisis period We test the predictions of our model using the post-crisis period The results are imparting three important lessons First, by allowing shell companies in our sample, the prediction accuracy of our model appears to weaken Many surveys and economic policy studies conducted by the Romanian government take into account all companies in the evidence of the Trade Register Office, whether active or not We thus strongly recommend that policy initiatives be based solely on statistical surveys that include only firms in operation Second, we do not need very detailed information, a large number of explanatory variables, or a very sophisticated model in order to achieve a good prediction power Using only four variables, our naïve prediction model boasts an impressive out-of-sample R-square of almost 62% Third, the 2008 financial crisis that wreaked havoc in Western Europe and North America, represented a true tipping point for the economy of the greater Bucharest metropolitan area as well.

We study the effects of low-skilled immigration on firm profits, average wages, employment, capital and total factor productivity (TFP) by combining firm-level and local labour market data from Italy. We find that low-skilled immigration increases profits by reducing average wages and total labour costs. This effect is small on average, but about ten times larger for firms operating in local labour markets with a high share of low-skilled employment than for other firms. In these areas, the substitution effects triggered by immigration reduce average wages much more than elsewhere.

Many governments in sub-Saharan Africa are seeking to establish public–private partnerships (PPPs) for the financing and operation of new healthcare facilities and services. While there is a large empirical literature on PPPs in high-income countries, we know much less about their operation in low-income and middle-income countries. This paper seeks to inform debates about the use of PPPs in sub-Saharan Africa by describing the planning and operation of a high-profile case in Maseru, Lesotho. The paper highlights several beneficial impacts of the transaction, including the achievement of high clinical standards, alongside a range of key challenges—in particular, the higher-than-anticipated costs to the Ministry of Health. Governments have budget-related incentives to promote the use of PPPs—even in cases in which they may threaten financial sustainability in the long term. To address this, future proposals for PPPs need to be exposed to more effective scrutiny and challenge, taking into account state capacity to proficiently manage and pay for contracted services.

This chapter examines risk management issues in the context of banks and evolution of the banking business, by focusing on identification, measurement and management of all the risks linked with the financial instruments and business areas in order to achieve sound management. This is a key in devising strategies for banks and financial intermediaries: it can lead to positive results and therefore profits or negative results and therefore losses; in the latter case the outcome allows identification of critical points and weaknesses.

International audience; Ce chapitre vise à étudier l'inscription des négociants en vins languedociens dans l'effort de guerre - ainsi que ses conséquences et limites - imposé par l'Etat entre 1914 et 1918.

En el presente trabajo, se aplica el modelo CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) a los diferentes títulos que componen el IBEX35, con el objetivo de poder determinar cuáles son los mejores títulos, en relación a la rentabilidad - riesgo que ofrecen. Así, para poder conocer cuáles son los mejores títulos del IBEX35, primero formaremos la SML con las rentabilidades del CAPM , que determinará la rentabilidad mínima que debe ofrecer cua lquier activo para considerarlo una opción de inversión y , por último, calcularemos la rentabilidad esperada de todos los activos por medio de la “Razón de Sharpe”, la cual nos dirá junto con la SML qué activos van a ofrecer la rentabilidad que se espera y cuáles no. P ara cumplir con nuestro objetivo, re realiza un repaso de l a teoría elemental de carteras para conocer los conceptos básicos, y cómo surgieron y evolucionaron las teorías actuales de carteras. La estructura del trabajo est á dividida en 5 bloqu es:  En el primer bloque , se explican los conceptos básicos de la teoría de carteras, y se definen conceptos como coste de capital, probabilidad subjetiva, variabilidad y diversificación.  En el segundo bloque , nos adentramos en los modelos teóricos de carte ras, explicando cómo se usan, que significan, y có mo se interpretan los resultados .  En el tercer bloque , definimos qué es el IBEX35 y cuál es su composición.  En el cuarto bloque, se desarrolla la parte práctica del trabajo, donde conocemos cuáles son los mejores activos para invertir , por medio de la SML y los rendimientos ofrecidos por la Razón de Sharpe de cada activo.  En el quinto bloque, exponemos las conclusiones que nos han dejado la parte teórica y práctica de este trabajo. Facultad de Ciencias de la Empresa Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena

Simple Summary This paper explores the ways in which biomedical research that uses nonhuman animal subjects generates financial profits and gains for humans who are associated with the industry. Research establishments, scientists, regulators and persons that inspect laboratories for compliance, those associated with granting licences, companies that sell nonhuman animal subjects and that supply equipment for the research, and corporations that market the resulting products are among those that benefit financially. These profits are rarely discussed—they seem to be camouflaged by the focus of the moral convention that assumes that human health-related needs prevail over those of the nonhuman animals who are so used. The paper concludes by calling for an end to the denigration of nonhuman animals as experimental subjects who can be used as commodities for profit-maximisation and as tools in experiments for human health benefits. Abstract Each year millions of nonhuman animals suffer in biomedical experiments for human health benefits. Clinical ethics demand that nonhuman animals are used in the development of pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Nonhuman animals are also used for fundamental biomedical research. Biomedical research that uses nonhuman animals is big business but the financial gains are generally occluded. This paper explores how such research generates profits and gains for those associated with the industry. Research establishments, scientists, laboratories, companies that sell nonhuman animal subjects, that supply equipment for the research, and corporations that market the resulting products are among those that benefit financially. Given the complex articulation of ethical codes, enormous corporate profits that are secured and personal returns that are made, the accepted moral legitimacy of such experiments is compromised. In order to address this, within the confines of the moral orthodoxy, more could to be done to ensure transparency and to extricate the vested financial interests from the human health benefits. But such a determination would not address the fundamental issues that should be at the heart of human actions in respect of the nonhuman animals who are used in experiments. The paper concludes with such an address by calling for an end to the denigration of nonhuman animals as experimental subjects who can be used as commodities for profit-maximisation and as tools in experiments for human health benefits, and the implementation of a more inclusive ethic that is informed by universal concern about the suffering of and compassion for all oppressed beings.

Finding competent collaborators while executing construction projects overseas is of paramount importance for project success. The partner choice and project performance cannot be understood only from an economic viewpoint because it is constrained by the firms’ embeddedness in social relations. Based on this premise, this paper provides not only a theoretical explanation of the impact of structural and relational embeddedness on firms’ economic behaviour and outcomes, but also empirical evidence by analysing the collaborative process among Korean construction firms working overseas during the past 18 years. Three conclusions are drawn. First, the inter-firm network, at least asymptotically, has scale-free network properties with variance. Second, the network retained endogamic characteristics in that a great majority of smaller firms had worked with only one large firm, forming strong subgroups. Last, there is a plausible evidence of the impact of both structural embeddedness and relational embeddedness on profits.

In this paper we investigate how differently stock returns of oil producers and oil consumers are affected from oil price changes. We find that stock returns of oil producers are affected positively by oil price changes regardless of whether oil price is increasing or decreasing. For oil consumers, oil price changes do not affect all consumer sub-sectors and where it does, this effect is heterogeneous. We find that oil price returns have an asymmetric effect on stock returns for most sub-sectors. We devise simple trading strategies and find that while both consumers and producers of oil can make statistically significant profits, investors in oil producer sectors make relatively more profits than investors in oil consumer sectors.