Who Speaks for the Investor? An Evaluation of the Assault on Merit Regulation

Merit regulation is under attack from critics who allege that it unnecessarily delays or inhibits capital formation. The author draws on his experience as both a state and federal securities regulator and as a private securities practitioner to examine the scope of merit regulation, analyze the criticisms, explain why the quantitative studies of the regulatory system have failed to prove its value, and recommend changes that would lead to a more effective administration of merit standards

Employee voice : the roles of organizational identification, informational justice and power distance

Partnering with a non-profit organization located in the United States of America, we investigate the effect of organizational identification and information justice on employee voice intentions. In order to provide depth to our study we will investigate the moderation effect of power distance on these two variables and their relationship to employee voice intentions. Findings indicate that organizational identification and information justice positively relate to employee voice intentions, however we did not find that power distance had a significant moderation effect. We conclude that organizational identification and informational justice are antecedents of employee voice behaviors and discuss limitations of the study.Em parceria com uma organização sem fins lucrativos localizada nos Estados Unidos da América, investigamos o efeito da identificação organizacional e da qualidade da informação prestada aos colaboradores sobre as opiniões expressadas por esses mesmos colaboradores. A fim de dar profundidade ao nosso estudo, vamos investigar o efeito de moderação da distância ao poder sobre estas duas variáveis e a relação dessas variáveis com opinião expressa pelos colaboradores. Os resultados indicam que a identificação organizacional e a qualidade da informação se relacionam positivamente com a expressão de opinião. No entanto, não encontrámos um efeito de moderação significativo por parte da distância ao poder. Concluímos que a identificação organizacional e a qualidade da informação são antecedentes dos comportamentos do colaborador em relação à expressão da sua opinião e discutimos limitações do estudo

Examination of topography and soil properties and their relationship to corn yield stability in central Iowa agricultural fields

Croplands in the North Central region are managed for high crop yields that are stable across years and fields. Nevertheless, yields fluctuate from year to year. Moreover, the magnitude of these fluctuations can vary across the field such that yield in some portions of the field is relatively stable and relatively variable in other portions of the field. Previous research has found that yield stability can be partially explained by topographic variables, but potential relationships between yield amount, yield stability, topography and soil health indicators are poorly understood. The objective of this research is to explore the relationship between corn yield, topography, and soil health indicators in conventionally managed central Iowa agricultural fields. Collaborating with independent growers, five fields with variable yields and topography were selected for this study. The participating growers provided 3 to 9 years of spatially resolved corn yield history from GPS-linked combine yield monitors. Using ArcGIS Pro 3.1.0, yields were standardized for each year and the fields were analyzed on a 10 m x 10 m grid for average yield (yield amount) and yield standard deviation (yield stability) across years. A three-meter digital elevation model, derived from Lidar data, was used to analyze each field for topographic variables including aspect, slope, hillslope position, and topographic wetness index. Based on the yield and topographic parameters, 200 soil sampling points were identified for each field and five 0-15 cm soil cores were collected at each point. One homogenized soil sample for a random subset of 50 soil samples in each field were analyzed for potential nitrogen mineralization, mineralizable carbon, percent of total carbon mineralized, permaganate oxidizable carbon, water holding capacity, ACE Protein, C:N, total carbon and total nitrogen. Results indicate that topographic variables, specifically topographic wetness index, slope, and hillslope position, have a strong correlation to average yield and yield stability across all fields in this study. Soil health indicators however were inconsistent in their correlation to yield. None of the soil health indicators had a significant correlation to average yield or yield stability consistently across fields analyzed in this research

An Apparatus for the Study of the Kinetics of Thermal Decompositions

For kinetic studies accurate control of the temperature of the reaction flask is required. The reaction flask was placed in a furnace which was constructed in a large metal container A. Forty-four turns of #22 nichrome wire were wound about a 12 x4½ refractory cement core. To insure uniform distribution of heat, the flask was immersed in a bath of molten tin