Transparency of ownership and control in Germany

We first analyze legal provisions relating to corporate transparency in Germany. We show that despite the new securities trading law (WpHG) of 1995, the practical efficacy of disclosure regulation is very low. On the one hand, the formation of business groups involving less regulated legal forms as intermediate layers can substantially reduce transparency. On the other hand, the implementation of the law is not practical and not very effective. We illustrate these arguments using several examples of WpHG filings. To illustrate the importance of transparency, we show next that German capital markets are dominated by few large firms accounting for most of the market’s capitalization and trading volume. Moreover, the concentration of control is very high. First, 85% of all officially listed AGs have a dominant shareholder (controlling more than 25% of the voting rights). Second, few large blockholders control several deciding voting blocks in listed corporations, while the majority controls only one block

Mitigating the water footprint of export cut flowers from the Lake Naivasha Basin, Kenya

Kenya’s cut-flower industry has been praised as an economic success as it\ud contributed an annual average of US$141 million foreign exchange (7$ 352 million in 2005 alone. The industry also provides employment, income and infrastructure such as schools and hospitals for a large population around Lake Naivasha. On the other hand, the commercial farms have been blamed for causing a drop in the lake level, polluting the lake and for possibly affecting the lake’s biodiversity. The objective of this study is to quantify the water footprint within the Lake Naivasha Basin related to cut flowers and analyse the possibility to mitigate this footprint by involving cut-flower traders, retailers and consumers overseas. The water footprint of one rose flower is estimated to be 7–13 litres. The total virtual water export related to export of cut flowers from the Lake Naivasha Basin was 16 Mm3/yr during the period 1996–2005 (22 % green water; 45 % blue water; 33 % grey water). Our findings show that, although the decline in the lake level can be attributed mainly to the commercial farms around the lake, both the commercial farms and the smallholder farms in the upper catchment are responsible for the lake pollution due to nutrient load. The observed decline in the lake level and deterioration of the lake’s biodiversity calls for sustainable management of the basin through pricing water at its full cost and other regulatory measures. Pricing water at full marginal cost is important, but the conditions in Kenya are unlikely to result in serious steps to full-cost pricing, since many farmers resist even modest water price increases and government is lacking means of enforcement. We propose an alternative in this study that can be implemented with a focus on sustainable water use in flower farming around Lake Naivasha alone. The proposal involves a water-sustainability agreement between major agents along the cut-flower supply chain and includes a premium to the final product at the retailer end of the supply chain. Such a ‘water sustainability premium’ will raise awareness among flower consumers and—when channelled back to the farmers—facilitate the flower farms to install the necessary equipment and implement the right measures to use water in a sustainable manner. The collected premiums will generate a fund that can be used for financing measures to reduce the water footprint and to improve watershed managemen

Shareholding Cascades: The Separation of Ownership and Control in Belgium

This paper analyses the control of Belgian listed companies. The analysis reveals that control of listed companies in Belgium is highly concentrated. Business groups, holding companies, and voting pacts, play an important role in bringing about this concentration. The main characteristics of the Belgian corporate ownership and equity market can be summarised as follows : (i) few - merely 140 - Belgian companies are listed on the Brussels stock exchange, (ii) there is a high degree of ownership concentration with an average largest direct shareholding of 45%, (iii)holding companies and families, and to a lesser extent industrial companies, are the main investor categories whose share stakes are concentrated into powerful control blocks through business group structures and voting pacts, (iv) control is levered by pyramidal and complex ownership structures and (v) there is a market for share stakes.Ownership;control;corporate governance

Suppression of Subsynchronous Vibration in the SSME HPFTP

Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) High Pressure Fuel Turbopump (HPFTP) hot-fire dynamic data evaluation and rotordynamic analysis both confirm that two of the most significant turbopump attributes in determining susceptibility to subsynchronous vibration are impeller interstage seal configuration and rotor sideload resulting from turbine turnaround duct configuration and hot gas manifold. Recent hot-fire testing has provided promising indications that the incorporation of roughened damping seals at the impeller interstages may further increase the stability margin of this machine. A summary of the analysis which led to the conclusion that roughened seals would enhance the stability margin is presented along with a correlation of the analysis with recent test data

Runoff modelling in glacierized Central Asian catchments for present-day and future climate

A conceptual precipitation–runoff model was applied in five glacierized catchments in Central Asia. The model, which was first developed and applied in the Alps, works on a daily time step and yields good results in the more continental climate of the Tien Shan mountains for present-day climate conditions. Runoff scenarios for different climates (doubling of CO2) and glacierization conditions predict an increased flood risk as a first stage and a more complex picture after a complete glacier loss: a higher discharge during spring due to an earlier and more intense snowmelt is followed by a water deficiency in hot and dry summer periods. This unfavourable seasonal redistribution of the water supply has dramatic consequences for the Central Asian lowlands, which depend to a high degree on the glacier melt water for irrigation and already nowadays suffer from water shortages

Corporate Governance and Control

Corporate governance is concerned with the resolution of collective action problems among dispersed investors and the reconciliation of conflicts of interest between various corporate claimholders. In this survey we review the theoretical and empirical research on the main mechanisms of corporate control, discuss the main legal and regulatory institutions in different countries, and examine the comparative corporate governance literature. A fundamental dilemma of corporate governance emerges from this overview: regulation of large shareholder intervention may provide better protection to small shareholders; but such regulations may increase managerial discretion and scope for abuse.

Die Rolle von RNA-bindenden Proteinen bei der pathogenen Entwicklung von Ustilago maydis

Ustilago maydis ist der Erreger des Maisbeulenbrands. Eine erfolgreiche Infektion der Maispflanze durch den phytopathogenen Basidiomyzeten ist abhängig von zahlreichen morphologischen Transitionen, wie beispielsweise die pheromoninduzierte Bildung von Konjugationshyphen, der Wechsel zum dikaryotischen Wachstum nach der Fusion zweier kompatibler Sporidien und das verzweigte Wachstum des Myzels nach dem Eindringen des Pilzes in die Wirtspflanze. Unter Verwendung einer bioinformatischen Analyse konnten im Vorfeld dieser Arbeit bereits 24 offene Leserahmen (ORF) identifiziert werden, die für potenziell RNA-bindende Proteine kodieren und den Ausgangspunkt dieser Arbeit darstellten. In dieser Arbeit wurde der Einfluss von 3 PUM-, 4 KHD- und 11 RRM-Proteinen auf die Entwicklungsprogramme über einen revers-genetischen Ansatz untersucht. Durch eine extensive phänotypische Analyse konnte für die Genprodukte dreier ORFs ein Einfluss auf die Entwicklung von U. maydis festgestellt werden; die Proteine wurden mit Khd1, Khd4 bzw. Rrm4 bezeichnet. Während die Deletion von khd1 zu einem kältesensitiven Verhalten führt, hat die Deletion von khd4 Veränderungen der Sporidienmorphologie, Wachstumsrate, Pheromonantwort sowie der Pathogenität zur Folge. Die Deletion von rrm4 führt zu einem Verlust des schnellen polaren Wachstums und zu einer reduzierten Virulenz. Die Domänenarchitektur von Rrm4 zeigt Ähnlichkeiten mit Proteinen der ELAV-Familie (embryonic lethal and abnormal vision). Neben den drei für ELAV-Proteine typischen Modulen der RRM-Domäne im N-Terminus, besitzt Rrm4 eine zusätzliche C-terminale PABC-Domäne (poly[A]-binding protein C-terminal domain), die als Proteininteraktionsdomäne bekannt ist. Rrm4 akkumuliert PABC-abhängig in zytoplasmatischen Partikeln, die sich bidirektional entlang des Mikrotubulizytoskeletts bewegen. Bei der Untersuchung des Transportmechanismus konnte eine indirekte Beteiligung des konventionellen Kinesins Kin2 gezeigt werden, weshalb die Beteiligung eines weiteren Motorproteins am plusendgerichteten und des Dyneins am minusendgerichteten Partikeltransport vermutet wird. Darüber hinaus lassen Mutationsstudien an den RRM-Domänen eine Beteiligung der ersten beiden RRM-Domänen an der RNA-Bindung vermuten. Die Bedeutung von Rrm4 auf die Pathogenität von U. maydis und die Bewegung des RNA-bindenden Proteins entlang des Mikrotubulizytoskeletts deuten auf eine wichtige Funktion von RNA-Transport während der pathogenen Entwicklung von U. maydis hin

Sub-Scale Testing and Development of the J-2X Fuel Turbopump Inducer

In the early stages of the J-2X upper stage engine program, various inducer configurations proposed for use in the fuel turbopump (FTP) were tested in water. The primary objectives of this test effort were twofold. First, to obtain a more comprehensive data set than that which existed in the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) historical archives from the original J-2S program, and second, to supplement that data set with information regarding the cavitation induced vibrations for both the historical J-2S configuration as well as those tested for the J-2X program. The J-2X FTP inducer, which actually consists of an inducer stage mechanically attached to a kicker stage, underwent 4 primary iterations utilizing sub-scaled test articles manufactured and tested in PWR's Engineering Development Laboratory (EDL). The kicker remained unchanged throughout the test series. The four inducer configurations tested retained many of the basic design features of the J-2S inducer, but also included variations on leading edge blade thickness and blade angle distribution, primarily aimed at improving suction performance at higher flow coefficients. From these data sets, the effects of the tested design variables on hydrodynamic performance and cavitation instabilities were discerned. A limited comparison of impact to the inducer efficiency was determined as well