Operational Flexibility and Market Valuation of Earnings

This paper examines the association between the stock returns and accounting earnings of firms that have different levels of operational flexibility. Operational flexibility is a firm\u27s ability to respond profitably to environmental fluctuations by shifting factors of production within a multinational network of subsidiaries. The geographic breadth and depth of a firm\u27s multinational network are used as indicators of operational flexibility. We find there is a significantly greater coefficient between stock returns and accounting earnings for multinational firms that operate in many countries, but limit their concentration in any one foreign country, than for other multinational firms or domestic firms. This coefficient is significantly smaller for multinational firms whose foreign subsidiaries are highly concentrated in a few countries. When all multinational firms are pooled together, we find their earnings-returns association does not differ from that of domestic firms

Proxy War to Proxy Peace; Strategic Insights: v.2, issue 8 (August 2003)

This article appeared in Strategic Insights (August 2003), v.2 no.8During his visit to Kashmir on 18 April 2003, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee made a new peace offer to Pakistan. Pakistan's Prime Minister Zaffarullah Khan Jamali responded to this offer by making a telephone call to Mr. Vajpayee on 20 April 2003, thereby setting in motion speculation on the possibility of high-level engagement between the two countries. During recent months, both sides have made positive moves toward a fresh rapprochement, including a set of India-centered confidence building measures undertaken by Pakistan, both countries restoring normal diplomatic ties, and also announcing restoration of air and land transportation links between the two countries. Furthermore, both sides have avoided indulging in heightened euphoria about an immediate start of bilateral dialogue, preferring a cautious and weighted approach with a better prospect of leading towards meaningful communication. Despite heightened expectations caused by the talk of talks between the two countries, the progress in that direction has been rather tardy. This Strategic Insight argues that Pakistan's political response to India's peace offer is a proxy response, and that the real stakeholders in Pakistan are still undecided on final contours of the Pakistan-India relationship

Emerging Reconciliation Amidst Continuing Military Impasse ; Strategic Insights, v. 1, issue 6 (August 2002)

This article appeared in Strategic Insights, v.1, issue 6 (August 2002). It appeared with a companion piece, Pakistan's Challenges and the Need for a Balanced Solution" by Brigadier Feroz Hassan Khan. Both pieces appeared under a header: India and Pakistan at the Precipice: Two ViewsHigh level U.S. political engagement during the last two months has resulted in a visible easing of tensions between India and Pakistan. During the visit of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to Pakistan on 6 June 2002, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf pledged to end cross-border infiltration from Pakistan into Indian-controlled Kashmir on a permanent basis. India responded with a series of diplomatic and military steps, and acknowledged that the level of cross-border incidents had decreased. Pakistan, however, dismissed the steps taken by India as merely "cosmetic." During his visit to India on 12 June, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that the United States would want to convert this initial positive movement into a virtuous cycle of mutually reinforcing actions that would reduce tensions and create the conditions for political dialogue between the two adversaries.Center on Contemporary Conflict;Department of National Security Affairs;Naval Postgraduate Schoo

The Mediterranean diet: socio-cultural relevance for contemporary health promotion

In biomedical literature, The Mediterranean Diet describes a healthy eating model, based on epidemiological findings on the predominant eating practices in Crete and Southern Italy in the 1960s. At the time, the level of life expectancy in this region was amongst the highest worldwide and rates of cardiovascular disease were amongst the lowest. Medical research has since given increasing attention to this dietary pattern and its potential health benefits. The various components of The Mediterranean Diet are fast becoming a paradigm for healthier lifestyles as well as potential model for weight loss. In 2010 UNESCO recognised The Mediterranean Diet as an intangible cultural heritage of Italy, Spain, Greece and Morocco and the diet has moved away from a uniquely biomedical model to a cultural representation. This has led to increased recognition of the importance of social and cultural context in the dietary model, particularly the idea of conviviality, the pleasure of shared meals. It has also brought to light the debate over the cultural legitimacy of The Mediterranean Diet and its ability to represent the cultural diversity of the region. This literature review consolidates interdisciplinary perspectives on the cultural context of the Mediterranean Diet. A literature search was conducted using both biomedical and social science databases to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the article. This review explores the relevance o

High pressure studies on properties of FeGa3: role of on-site coulomb correlation

High pressure X-ray diffraction measurements have been carried out on the intermetallic semiconductor FeGa$_3$ and the equation of state for FeGa$_3$ has been determined. First principles based DFT calculations within the GGA approximation indicate that although the unit cell volume matches well with the experimentally obtained value at ambient pressure, it is significantly underestimated at high pressures and the difference between them increases as pressure increases. GGA + U calculations with increasing values of U$_{Fe(3d)}$ (on-site Coulomb repulsion between the Fe 3d electrons) at high pressures, correct this discrepancy. Further, the GGA+U calculations also show that along with U$_{Fe(3d)}$, the Fe 3d band width also increases with pressure and around a pressure of 4 GPa, a small density of states appear at the Fermi level. High pressure resistance measurements carried out on FeGa$_3$ also clearly show a signature of an electronic transition. Beyond the pressure of 19.7 GPa, the diffraction peaks reduce in intensity and are not observable beyond $\sim$ 26 GPa, leading to an amorphous state

Uranium concentration in drinking water samples using the SSNTDs

Uranium concentrations in the drinking water samples collected mainly from hand pumps along the Amritsar to Bathinda track are presented. Uranium concentration values in these samples show a wide range of variation depending upon different factors like source, location, depth and local geology etc. The observed uranium content in water samples has been found to be varying from 0.9 ± 0.08 to 63 ± 0.21 ppb and even the radon activity in ground water observed in our earlier survey carried out in this area has been found to be increasing from Amritsar towards Bathinda. The higher values were observed from the ground water samples particularly of the areas falling in belt from Zira to Maur towards the Haryana border. The values observed at certain locations are found to be higher than the highest recommended value of 15 ppb [1]. The high uranium concentration observed particularly in certain areas along this track can be attributed due to interaction of ground water with the soil formation of this region and the local subsurface geology of the region.Harmanjit Singh*, Joga Singh, Surinder Singh and B S Bajwa Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar-143 005, Punjab, India E-mail : [email protected] of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar-143 005, Punjab, Indi