bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Governance Regimes and Nationality Diversity in Corporate Boards: A Comparative Study of Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom
Authors: Van Veen Kees , Elbertsen Janine 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTManuscript Type:EmpiricalResearch Question:In this study, the level of nationality diversity of a corporate board is seen as directly dependent on the governance regime of the country of origin of the company. Therefore, to what extent can differences in nationality diversity in corporate boards be explained by structural differences in governance regimes in different countries?Research Findings:A number of hypotheses about the level of nationality diversity in company boards in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK have been derived. These have been tested and confirmed to a large extent. Governance regime effects are strong, even when controlled for the most relevant company effects.Theoretical Implications:For the first time, the explanation of nationality diversity has been directly connected to the characteristics of a country's governance regime. Additionally, the relative strength of competing country and company forces was discussed and tested.Policy Implications:This study shows how the increase in the diversity of nationalities on corporate boards, as result of global economic forces, are translated through national institutions. On a company level, this implies that the governance regime of a company's country of origin might be either an asset or a liability. It also shows the importance of national‐level institutions when it comes to the ways global economic forces exercise a differentiating effect on the board composition of large multinational enterprises.
The Influence of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors on the Association between Default Risk and Audit Opinions: Evidence from the Chinese Stock Market
Authors: Ting Wei , Yen Sin‐Hui , Chiu Chien‐Liang 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTManuscript Type: EmpiricalResearch Question/Issue: Numerous studies demonstrate that audit opinions provide strong signals to investors/debt holders warning of firms’ default probability. When foreign investors were allowed to enter the Chinese stock market, the role of audit opinions grew in importance. In this study, we examine the relationships between audit opinions and default probability within the Chinese stock market, and explore whether there was any significant shift in this relationship following the entry of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFIIs).Research Findings/Insights: We find that audit opinions began providing signals of potential default risk only after QFIIs entered the market; suggesting that in the post‐December 2002 period, auditors’ decisions in China became more conservative, and that institutional investors began to play a monitoring role.Theoretical/Academic Implications: This study provides support for institutional theory through the provision of empirical evidence showing that audit opinions, as signals of potential default risk, may actually be less efficient in immature markets than in more mature markets. Furthermore, the role of audit opinions in providing such signals to outside investors can clearly be affected by the introduction of new monitoring mechanisms. The results imply that market maturity could prompt firms to provide more accurate information.Practitioner/Policy Implications: The strengthening of security laws could increase confidence among investors in China, thereby providing evidence to market participants showing that the more accurate information and greater efficiency of audit opinions, arising as a direct result of the entry of QFIIs, could lead to expansion of the Chinese investment environment.
Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Synergies and Interrelationships
Authors: Jamali Dima , Safieddine Asem M. , Rabbath Myriam 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTManuscript Type: EmpiricalResearch Questions/Issue: This paper seeks to explore the interrelationships between corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR): first, theoretically, by reviewing the literature and surveying various postulations on offer; second, empirically, by investigating the conception and interpretation of this relationship in the context of a sample of firms operating in Lebanon. Accordingly, the paper seeks to highlight the increasing cross‐connects or interfaces between CG and CSR, capitalizing on fresh insights from a developing country perspective.Research Findings/Results: A qualitative interpretive research methodology was adopted, drawing on in‐depth interviews with the top managers of eight corporations operating in Lebanon, with the findings suggesting that the majority of managers conceive of CG as a necessary pillar for sustainable CSR. These findings are significant and interesting, implying that recent preoccupation with CG in developing countries is starting to be counterbalanced by some interest/attention to CSR, with growing appreciation of their interdependencies and the need to move beyond CG conformance toward voluntary CSR performance.Theoretical Implications: This study makes two important contributions. First, it suggests that there is a salient two‐way relationship and increasing overlap between CG and CSR. While much previous literature has researched CG and CSR independently, this paper makes the case for considering them jointly and systematically. Second, the paper outlines a number of theoretical propositions that can serve as the basis for future research on the topic, particularly in developing countries, given that the data and theoretical propositions are both derived from and tailored to developing country contexts.Practical Implications: This study can potentially alert managers to the increasing overlap between the CG and CSR agendas and the need to exert diligent systematic efforts on both fronts. CG and CSR share more in common than previously assumed, and this needs to be accounted for by practitioners. The research can also alert policy makers in developing countries to the need to increase the vigilance and capacity of the regulatory and judicial systems in the context of CG reform and to increase institutional pressures, particularly of the coercive and normative variety to enhance CSR adoption.
Beyond Dichotomy: The Curvilinear Impact of Employee Ownership on Firm Performance
Authors: Guedri Zied , Hollandts Xavier 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTManuscript type: EmpiricalResearch Question/Issue: This study examines the impact of employee stock ownership and board employee representation on firm performance.Research Findings/Results: Results drawn from a longitudinal analysis of a sample of 230 French firms over the period 2000–2005 provide support for an inverted U‐shaped relationship between employee ownership and accounting‐based performance measures. However, this relationship is not supported when a market‐based performance measure is used. We also found that the inflection point of the inverted U‐shaped relationship between employee ownership and firm performance does not depend upon the level of employee representation on the board.Theoretical Implications: This study addresses the inconsistency of results found so far in the literature examining the performance implications of employee ownership by proposing a theoretical framework and providing empirical support for the hypothesis suggesting that the relationship between employee ownership and firm performance is not linear, but indeed, has an inverted U‐shape.Practical Implications: In a governance context characterized by a spectacular increase in employee ownership fostered by a pervasive support from both managers and government, our results suggest that performance implications of employee ownership are positive up to a certain point, after which the marginal effect of employee ownership on firm performance becomes negative. As a result, our findings suggest that managers and shareholders should be careful when launching and increasing the level of employee ownership to not go beyond specific inflection points.
MONETARY AND FISCAL INTERACTIONS: SHORT‐RUN AND LONG‐RUN IMPLICATIONS
Authors: Isaac Alan G. 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTWe model policy interactions in a growing economy. Unemployment can persist and matters for the real wage; conflicting claims underpin inflation outcomes; and aggregate demand determines capacity utilization and unemployment. Monetary policy is characterized by a Taylor rule. Fiscal policy is characterized by a marginal tendency to run deficits or surpluses. We address three questions: can monetary policy ensure macroeconomic stability in the absence of coordinated fiscal policy, can fiscal policy ensure macroeconomic stability when the monetary authority pegs the interest rate, and can policy authorities trade‐off some sustained inflation for a long‐run improvement in unemployment rates?
The Performance of Characteristics‐based Indices1
Authors: Amenc Noël , Goltz Felix , Le Sourd Véronique 
Published: October 2008

Abstract This paper analyses a set of characteristics‐based indices that, it has been argued, outperform market cap‐weighted indices. We analyse the performance of an exhaustive list of these indices and show that i) the outperformance over value‐weighted indices may be negative over long time periods, and ii) there is no significant outperformance over equal‐weighted indices. An analysis of the style and sector exposures of characteristics‐based indices reveals a significant value tilt. When this tilt is properly adjusted for, the abnormal returns of these indices decrease considerably. Moreover, it is straightforward to construct portfolios with higher Sharpe ratios than characteristics‐based indices through factor or sector tilts.
Do Inflation‐Linked Bonds Still Diversify?
Authors: Brière Marie , Signori Ombretta 
Published: October 2008

Abstract The diversifying power of inflation‐linked (IL) bonds relative to traditional asset classes has changed significantly. In this paper, we study the dynamics of conditional volatilities and correlations for three asset classes, IL bonds, nominal bonds and equities, in the USA and Europe. Using a DCC‐MVGARCH for the period 1997–2007, we highlight the change that took place in 2003. Although IL bonds once had definite diversification power, they are now highly correlated with nominal bonds and have reached similar volatility levels. As a result, the two asset classes are practically substitutable. This seems to be due to more stable inflation expectations and to a more liquid IL bond market. Although diversification was a valuable reason for introducing IL bonds in a global portfolio before 2003, this is no longer the case. Dynamic portfolio optimisation using our estimates of conditional correlations and volatilities clearly demonstrates that the optimal weight of IL bonds in a portfolio decreased sharply in 2003 in favour of nominal bonds and equities.
Analysis of RYR1 Haplotype Profile in Patients with Malignant Hyperthermia
Authors: Carpenter D. , Morris A. , Robinson R. L. , Booms P. , Iles D. , Halsall P. J. , Steele D. , Hopkins P. M. , Shaw M.‐A. 
Published: October 2008

SummaryThis study represents a new approach to characterising patients at risk of malignant hyperthermia (MH) through the use of a recently published method for identifying high‐risk haplotypes in candidate genes. We present analysis based upon the largest standardised and genotyped database of MH patients worldwide. We used unphased RYR1 SNP data directly to (1) assess RYR1 haplotype frequency differences between susceptible cases and control groups and (2) analyse population‐based association via clustering of RYR1 haplotypes based on disease risk. Our results show a significant difference in RYR1 haplotype frequency between susceptible cases and UK Caucasian population controls. Furthermore we identify a high‐risk cluster of haplotypes that is associated with the commonest UK MH mutation p.G2434R/c.7300G>A. These results demonstrate the applicability of this new and practical method for population based association analysis.
A Genetic Study of the Ghrelin and Growth Hormone Secretagogue Receptor (GHSR) Genes and Stature
Authors: Gueorguiev M. , Lecoeur C. , Benzinou M. , Mein C. A. , Meyre D. , Vatin V. , Weill J. , Heude B. , Grossman A. B. , Froguel P. , Korbonits M. 
Published: October 2008

SummaryGrowth and nutrition are interrelated and influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors. We studied whether common variants in ghrelin and ghrelin receptor (GHSR) genes could play a role in stature variation in the general population and in families ascertained for obesity.Selected tagging SNPs in the ghrelin and GHSR genes were genotyped in 263 Caucasian families recruited for childhood obesity (1,275 subjects), and in 287 families from a general population (1,072 subjects). We performed familial testing for associations in the entire population and in a sub‐set of the samples selected for a case‐control study. In the case‐control study for height (cases were selected from the obese cohort with mean ZH = 3.17 ± 0.15 confidence interval (CI) versus controls with mean ZH 0.14 ± 0.09), we found an association with a 2 base‐pair intronic deletion in the GHSR gene (rs10618418) (p = 0.006, odds ratio (OR) 1.86, 95% CI [1.26;2.74] under additive model), although when adjusting for BMI, the association disappeared (p = 0.06). Individuals carrying no deletion or who were heterozygous were significantly more frequent among the tall obese population (52% vs. 36% in controls, p = 0.007, OR 1.97, 95%CI [1.22;3.18]). However, the association was not maintained after correcting for multiple testing. Familial association testing of the ghrelin and GHSR genes and their interaction testing failed to show that any combination of SNPs had any significant effect. Thus, our results suggest that common variants of the ghrelin and GHSR genes are not major contributors to height variation in a French population.
Impact and Quantification of the Sources of Error in DNA Pooling Designs
Authors: Jawaid A. , Sham P. 
Published: October 2008

SummaryThe analysis of genome wide variation offers the possibility of unravelling the genes involved in the pathogenesis of disease. Genome wide association studies are also particularly useful for identifying and validating targets for therapeutic intervention as well as for detecting markers for drug efficacy and side effects. The cost of such large‐scale genetic association studies may be reduced substantially by the analysis of pooled DNA from multiple individuals. However, experimental errors inherent in pooling studies lead to a potential increase in the false positive rate and a loss in power compared to individual genotyping. Here we quantify various sources of experimental error using empirical data from typical pooling experiments and corresponding individual genotyping counts using two statistical methods. We provide analytical formulas for calculating these different errors in the absence of complete information, such as replicate pool formation, and for adjusting for the errors in the statistical analysis. We demonstrate that DNA pooling has the potential of estimating allele frequencies accurately, and adjusting the pooled allele frequency estimates for differential allelic amplification considerably improves accuracy. Estimates of the components of error show that differential allelic amplification is the most important contributor to the error variance in absolute allele frequency estimation, followed by allele frequency measurement and pool formation errors. Our results emphasise the importance of minimising experimental errors and obtaining correct error estimates in genetic association studies.
Efficacy and safety of using mesh or grafts in surgery for anterior and/or posterior vaginal wall prolapse: systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Jia X , Glazener C , Mowatt G , MacLennan G , Bain C , Fraser C , Burr J 
Published: October 2008

Background  The efficacy and safety of mesh/graft in surgery for anterior or posterior pelvic organ prolapse is uncertain.Objectives  To systematically review the efficacy and safety of mesh/graft for anterior or posterior vaginal wall prolapse surgery.Search strategy  Electronic databases and conference proceedings were searched, experts and manufacturers contacted, and reference lists of retrieved papers scanned.Selection criteria  Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), nonrandomised comparative studies, registries, case series involving at least 50 women, and RCTs published as conference abstracts from 2005 onwards.Data collection and analysis  One reviewer screened titles/abstracts, undertook data extraction, and assessed study quality. Data analysis was conducted for three subgroups: anterior, posterior, and anterior and/or posterior repair (not reported separately).Results  Forty‐nine studies involving 4569 women treated with mesh/graft were included. Study quality was generally high. Median follow up was 13 months (range 1–51 months). In anterior repair, there was short‐term evidence that mesh/graft (any type) significantly reduced objective prolapse recurrence rates compared with no mesh/graft (relative risk 0.48, 95% CI 0.32–0.72). Nonabsorbable synthetic mesh had a significantly lower objective prolapse recurrence rate (8.8%, 48/548) than absorbable synthetic mesh (23.1%, 63/273) and biological graft (17.9%, 186/1041), but a higher erosion rate (10.2%, 68/666) than absorbable synthetic mesh (0.7%, 1/147) and biological graft (6.0%, 35/581). There was insufficient information to compare any of the other outcomes regardless of prolapse type.Conclusions  Evidence for most outcomes was too sparse to provide meaningful conclusions. Rigorous long‐term RCTs are required to determine the comparative efficacy of using mesh/graft.
A randomised comparison of SurePath liquid‐based cytology and conventional smear cytology in a colposcopy clinic setting
Authors: Sykes PH , Harker DY , Miller A , Whitehead M , Neal H , Wells JE , Peddie D 
Published: October 2008

Objective  The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity of cervical cytology using conventional smears and SurePath liquid‐based cytology (LBC).Design  Prospective randomised evaluation of diagnostic test.Setting  A single institution colposcopy clinic.Population  Women attending first visit colposcopy appointments were offered entry into the study.Methods  Cervical cytology samples from 913 women of age 16–75 years were randomly processed as SurePath LBC or conventional smears. Conventional smears were taken for 453 women and a SurePath LBC taken for 451 women. Cytology results were correlated with colposcopic findings and histology from colposcopic biopsies, treatment and follow up.Main outcome measures  To compare the sensitivity of SurePath LBC and conventional smears for histologically proven abnormality. Other outcome measures include a comparison of their sensitivity for high‐grade abnormalities and their satisfactory rate.Results  Accounting for all randomised samples, there was a trend towards improved sensitivity for SurePath LBC (79.1 versus 73.7%, P = 0.1). However, excluding unsatisfactory cytology (and samples not taken) eliminated this trend; the sensitivity for both LBC and conventional smears for any epithelial abnormality was 81%. With a threshold of atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance (ASC‐US), both SurePath LBC and conventional smears had a sensitivity of 92% for high‐grade lesions. SurePath LBC was less likely to be reported as unsatisfactory (2.7 versus 9.1%, P < 0.0001).Conclusions  In this context, with a threshold of ASC‐US, both SurePath LBC and conventional smears offer high sensitivity for the detection of CIN2/3, but SurePath LBC is less likely to be reported as unsatisfactory.
Customised birthweight percentiles: does adjusting for maternal characteristics matter?
Authors: Hutcheon JA , Zhang X , Cnattingius S , Kramer MS , Platt RW 
Published: October 2008

Objective  The objective of this study was to determine whether the improved prediction of risk for perinatal mortality obtained with the use of a customised birthweight standard can also be obtained with the use of a non‐customised but intrauterine‐based standard.Design  Population‐based cohort study.Setting  Sweden.Population  Births in the Swedish Medical Birth Register between 1992 and 2001 (n = 782 303) with complete data on birthweight, gestational age, sex, maternal age, pre‐pregnancy body mass index, height, parity, and ethnicity.Methods  We calculated the relative risks (RRs) of stillbirth and early neonatal mortality among small‐for‐gestational‐age (SGA) births as established by (1) a customised standard, (2) a population standard based on birthweights, and (3) a population standard based on a best estimate of intrauterine weights.Main outcome measures  Stillbirth and early neonatal mortality (<7 days).Results  The RRs of stillbirth and early neonatal mortality among SGA births as classified by the intrauterine standard were similar to those among SGA births as classified by the customised standard and much higher than those among SGA births as classified by the birthweight standard.Conclusions  A non‐customised but intrauterine‐based standard has a similar ability to predict risk for stillbirth and early neonatal mortality as a customised birthweight standard. The process of customising population weight‐for‐gestational‐age standards to account for maternal characteristics does little to improve prediction of perinatal mortality.
Non‐hospital delivery and permanent congenital and early‐onset hearing loss in a developing country
Authors: Olusanya BO , Wirz SL , Luxon LM 
Published: October 2008

Objective  The objective of this study was to determine the role of non‐hospital delivery and other risk factors for permanent congenital and early‐onset hearing loss (PCEHL) in a developing country.Design  Matched case–control study.Setting  Four primary healthcare centres in inner‐city Lagos, Nigeria.Population  Fifty‐six infants with PCEHL and 280 normal hearing controls matched for age and sex from a population of infants not older than 3 months attending Bacille de Calmette‐Guérin immunisation clinics.Methods  Conditional logistic regression analyses of infant and maternal characteristics associated with PCEHL, and the evaluation of population exposure to each risk factor.Main outcome measures  Adjusted matched odds ratios and population attributable risk percent (PAR%).Results  Children with PCEHL were significantly more likely to be first born (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1–3.6) without skilled attendants at birth (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.3–4.5) and have a history of neonatal jaundice requiring exchange blood transfusion (NNJ/EBT) (OR 9.6, 95% CI 2.4–38.2) but less likely to be small for gestational age (SGA) (OR 0.1, 95% CI 0.0–0.5). After controlling for other covariates, the absence of skilled attendants at birth (OR 4.2, 95% CI 2.0–8.6) and NNJ/EBT (OR 19.1, 95% CI 4.3–85.5) emerged as predictors of PCEHL, while SGA (OR 0.1, 95% CI 0.0–0.2) retained its inverse relationship with PCEHL. The PAR% was 35.9% for the lack of skilled attendants at birth and 10.6% for having NNJ/EBT. About 23% of children with PCEHL did not exhibit any risk factors.Conclusions  NNJ/EBT and the absence of skilled attendant at birth rather than the place of delivery are significant predictors of PCEHL in this study population. Targeted hearing screening using these risk factors would facilitate the detection of about 77% of children with PCEHL.