In a 1994 survey, on incidence rates of musculoskeletal injuries among private industries within the U.S, nurses ranked first nationally. Patient handling tasks are considered to be a precipitating factor in the development of many musculoskeletal injuries. For many decades personnel training has been an intervention widely used for the nursing back problem. Inconsistency regarding the effectiveness of many personnel training programs, lack of controlled research among existing studies, and a primary focus only on long term reduction of injury rates makes the interpretation of the success of personnel training programs a difficult one. This study is based on the assumption that, if a training program is to be effective as a means of reducing musculoskeletal injuries, it must first modify worker behaviors and biomechanical stresses to a measurable degree. This research investigated the effects of training (Video and Lecture/Practice) on modifying working behaviors and biomechanical stress. Two tasks were examined (wheelchair to bed and lift up in bed) with two types of assistance (one-person or two-person) and two levels of patient's dependence (semi-dependent or dependent). Changes in behaviors were examined immediately following training (1-2 days delay) and after a short period of time (4-6 weeks) and evaluated using the criteria of subjective ratings of exertion, and postural and biomechanical measures. Results indicated that training led to several significant changes in the knee, hip, elbow and torso angles, whole body, shoulders and low back RPE, shear forces and shoulder moments. No differences were observed in these measures after a short period of time, suggesting retention of the information presented during the training programs. Results as a whole suggest that training can positively affect the working postures and biomechanical stress during common patient handling tasks. All the postural changes and biomechanical measures were advantageous in terms of reducing musculoskeletal stress. It was also found that after a short period of time (4-6 weeks) still retained the information presented during the training programs. Training using a combination of lecture and practice in some cases achieved better results than Video-based training. / Master of Science

O risco é um aspecto importante a ser considerado nas avaliações empresariais e, diante das crises financeiras globais, os ratings divulgados pelas agências de classificação de riscos são fundamentais para o gerenciamento de riscos nas empresas, bem como para a tomada de decisão dos investidores ao escolher em qual empresa investir. Diante do exposto, o presente trabalho se propôs a identificar os fatores que podem explicar as atribuições dos ratings com especial atenção ao impacto do uso de derivativos. A partir disso, a principal novidade apresentada nesta pesquisa foi a de averiguar o reflexo do uso de derivativos juntamente com as posições de proteções assumidas pelas empresas nas classificações de créditos - ajudando a suprir, assim, essa lacuna na literatura da área. Para isso, foram utilizados 2.090 ratings e analisadas as empresas não financeiras da B3 entre os anos de 2010 e 2016 por meio de análise dos dados em painel, conferindo maior robustez às análises e aos achados. Os resultados indicaram que as empresas que utilizam instrumentos financeiros derivativos não recebem os melhores ratings. Esses resultados contestam a teoria de que o uso de derivativos é visto positivamente pelos investidores. No entanto, apesar de nenhum impacto significativamente estatístico ter sido encontrado nos ratings das empresas que utilizam derivativos, observou-se que as empresas que usam derivativos e possuem os maiores valores nocionais foram as que receberam as melhores notas da agência Moody\'s. / Risk assessment is an important aspect concerning business valuation and, considering the global economic crisis, the information disclosed by rating agencies is essential to developing a risk management plan and making investment decisions. The purpose of the present study is therefore to identify the factors that may explain the attribution of risk ratings, focusing on the impact of derivatives. Thereafter, ascertaining the effects of derivatives combined with protective business behaviors regarding credit ratings is innovative and assists in filling knowledge gaps in research and literature. In this study, 2.090 ratings were considered and B3\'s non-financial companies were examined between 2010 and 2016 by using panel data analysis, which lends robustness to the analysis and the findings. Results indicate that companies that use derivative instruments are not attributed the best ratings, thus opposing the theory that the use of derivatives attracts investors. Although ratings showed no significant statistical impact on companies that use derivatives, companies with the highest notional values, which also use derivatives, were attributed the best ratings by Moody\'s.

by Yow Nga-Yee. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-36). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLE --- p.v / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Market Structure --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- VALUATION OF CREDIT RISK --- p.9 / Introducing CreditMetrics --- p.10 / Credit rating anomalies --- p.15 / Application of bond analysis to the Hong Kong Market --- p.15 / Chapter III. --- METHODOLOGY OF HONG KONG BOND RATING --- p.18 / Rating at a Global Perspective --- p.19 / Country risk: Emerging markets --- p.22 / Chapter III. --- COMPARISON BETWEEN HONG KONG BOND AND US BOND OF SAME CREDIT RATING --- p.26 / Methodology --- p.26 / The result --- p.27 / Discussion of the data set --- p.29 / Explanations of the result --- p.30 / Chapter IV. --- CONCLUSION --- p.33 / BIBILIOGRAPHY --- p.48

While the MPAA’s Classification and Ratings Administration – or CARA – has generally expanded the freedoms of filmmakers since its 1968 inception, the economic failure of the NC-17 rating has led to substantial inconsistencies in the rating system. Because of the CARA model, filmmakers have been able to probe the extremes of violence under the R rating while they have been unable to do the same for screen sexuality. Through the NC-17 rating, CARA has been able to repress non-pornographic sexual portrayals by rating a given film NC-17, thus forcing contractually obligated directors to make edits that are sometimes inconsistent and arbitrary. Though cinema used to have significant thematic and visual freedoms over television, NC-17 level paid cable programming has surpassed what is allowed under CARA’s R-rating, allowing for more complex and mature viewpoints on sexuality than is currently allowed to regularly reach film audiences.

Despite the recognized importance of the bond rating industry, little academic work has been done to investigate the determinants of the standards these firms employ to assign credit ratings to individual firms. There is an ongoing debate in the literature arguing whether the decline in the percentage of highly rated firms is because rating standards have become more stringent over time or whether the credit quality of firms in the economy has declined. We investigate this question in this dissertation. Our first contribution is to address several empirical problems in prior literature. This study uses a combination of structural models of default and econometric model of ratings to study the determinants of rating standards and, by doing so, overcome the earlier methodological shortcomings. Our second contribution is to test new theory which hypothesizes that the standards of a rating agency are conditional upon the distribution of default risk in the economy at the time. The results are robust no matter which structural models of default we employ. The evidence suggests the standards are relative to the default risk distribution and there has been a secular increase in the stringency in the assignment of ratings over time. A third way we extend the literature is by examining the accuracy of the assignment of ratings. Theoretical models suggest rating agencies have incentives to purposefully add noise to the assignment of ratings. We conduct an empirical analysis of the classification errors using receiver operating characteristic analysis. The results suggest that error rates have decreased at the extreme ends of the rating spectrum (AAA vs. AA and below; B and below vs. BB and above) over time while it has increased in the middle rating categories. This error rate is directly related to the distribution of default risk across firms at any point in time. These findings not only strengthen our result that standards are relative and time varying, but also suggest there is more noise in the assignment of ratings at exactly the time when there is more uncertainty regarding the credit risk of firms in the economy – i.e., during a credit crisis.

The goals of the current study were to examine the antecedents and boundary conditions of a new construct called unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) defined as behaviors that are unethical but at the same time helping the organizations (e.g., giving a low performing employee a letter of recommendation to help him/her find a job in another organization). Drawing from social exchange theory, antecedents such as leader-member exchange, perceived organizational support, idiosyncratic deals, and leader-member exchange were hypothesized to be positively related to UPB Three moderators of the impact of the social exchange variables on UPB: were also investigated: moral identity, psychological entitlement, and supervisor's embodiment of the organization. Data was collected in a cross-sectional survey from 269 employees and 144 supervisors. The hypotheses were tested using correlations and moderated multiple regressions. The results indicate that none of the hypotheses were supported. However, there were some interesting unexpected findings as some social exchange variables were found to correlate negatively with UPB. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Bank loan ratings are employed to investigate the interrelationship between the rating agencies and banks. Valuation effects of rating announcements on investors in the market are also examined. Similar functions are performed by rating agencies and banks, however, it is found that investors perceive information provided by rating agencies and banks differently. In the first essay, the results indicate that investors recognise the value of rating agencies in the presence of banks as information providers and monitors. The value of rating agencies relies on their recognition of deteriorating prospects in a firm's financial position, as the market reacts significantly to bank loan rating announcements of placement on CreditWatch with negative implications and downgrades. In the second essay, the results indicate that investors recognise the value of high quality banks in the presence of rating agencies as information providers and monitors. When the deteriorated firms are associated with high quality banks, the negative reaction toward announcements of negative placement and downgrade is mitigated. This indicates that investors are willing to trust high quality banks' speciality in information and monitoring, and reassess the value of deteriorated firms. In the third essay, the results show that the value of rating agencies; via announcements of negative placement and downgrade; also expands to non-rated firms smaller than the rated firms, in the same industry. Announcements of negative placement indicate firm-specific deterioration and, therefore, smaller rival firms benefit from the change in competitive balance. From the announcements of downgrade, however, smaller rival firms experience contagion effect.

[pt] O mercado de capitais das grandes economias mundiais já incorporou o conceito de rating, ou seja, a classificação de risco de crédito, utilizada amplamente nos Estados Unidos há muitos anos. A existência de agências de rating capazes de fornecer classificações de risco de crédito totalmente independentes é uma condição imprescindível para o desenvolvimento de qualquer mercado de dívida. Este estudo tem como objetivo avaliar se as variáveis definidas no contrato de um bônus corporativo afetam o rating determinado por estas instituições para determinada emissão. Foram analisadas as variáveis cupom, preço de emissão, volume de emissão, maturidade e a presença de garantia. Além disso, analisou-se também a influência do risco país representado pelo EMBI +. Quanto ao método de análise, optou-se por comparar o método dos mínimos quadrados ordinários (MQO) com o probit ordenado. Os resultados mostram que não houve diferença de desempenho entre os dois modelos. E quanto às variáveis analisadas, apenas o cupom demonstrou exercer influência sobre o rating da emissão. / [en] The financial markets in the largest economies of the world often utilize rating agencies as a tool for credit risk classification, following the concept introduced in the USA a long time ago. The existence of independent institutions capable of classifying credit risk is a vital condition for the development of debt market. This study aims at analysing whether the variables defined in the indenture of the bond issue affect the rating assigned by rating agencies. The following variables were investigated: coupon, price, issued amount, maturity and the existence of collateral. Furthermore, it was analysed if the country risk, represented by the EMBI+ index, also affected the bond rating. Regarding the methodology, the ordinary least square (OLS) and ordered probit were chosen as the method of analysis. A comparative study was performed and the results indicated no major differences between both models. Concerning the variables analysed, only the coupon has shown some influence on the bond rating.

This dissertation examines the reaction of common stock prices to changes in bond ratings by Moody's Bond Service. The question is whether an announcement of a re-rating by Moody's is new information. There are only two studies of stock price reaction to bond changes and the results are conflicting. Pinches and Singleton (1978) [PS] concluded that any reaction comes well before the re-rating. Griffin and Sanvicente (1982) [GS] found that their portfolio test indicated that rating changes do convey new information. This was particularly true for downgradings. Both studies used monthly data and neither performed a statistical testing of residual reversals. PS provided a graph of the residuals which indicated the presence of a reversal trend. GS provided no information on this topic. This study, using daily data and the cumulative prediction error technique, finds that bond re-ratings offer new information. The results indicate that the market only partially anticipates the bond change. For the downgrades, the excess return on the announcement day is .6% which is statistically significant. The residuals reverse after the announcement day, but are not statistically significant. The upgrades do not have a significant reaction on the announcement day, but have a statistically significant negative reaction from day 1 to 10. The cumulative residual for days 1 to 10 is -2.8% with a test statistic of -3.85. This study finds as PS that there is some anticipation for both upgrades and downgrades. It extends their work by statistically testings the reversals after the announcement date and by testing the announcement day effect. There is significant abnormal return for the downgrades on the announcement day and the upgrades have a significant reversal in their residuals from day 1 to 10. This provides both support and extension of Griffin and Sanvicente's results and suggests that Moody's is offering the market new information.

Firms invest significant resources to improve the quality of their products but also to communicate to consumers about their efforts. However, information regarding quality of product offerings is now increasingly being generated by short or long term users of products or services. The growing popularity of critical reviews has prompted attention from both academics and practitioners alike. Current academic findings do not seem conclusive with respect to the impact critical reviews have on product performance on the market. The current dissertation aims to clarify the role critical reviews have in relation to economic outcomes such as sales, category market share, price premiums and product success. Using four years of cross-sectional data from the automobile market, the first essay of this dissertation conceptualizes consumer and expert ratings as market-based signals and investigates the impact critical reviews have on product performance of new and used automobiles. Results show that both consumer and expert ratings are positively related to market performance (sales and category market share of new automobiles) but they exhibit a non-synergistic interaction. More specifically, at higher levels of consumer ratings, the impact of expert ratings on product performance is decreased and viceversa. Furthermore, results show that critical ratings are significantly associated with the firm's ability to command higher price premiums. Comparatively, a firm-based driver of product performance, product improvement failed to show a significant association with product market performance but it exhibited a non-linear relationship with price premiums. Moreover, the impact of expert ratings proved to be significantly higher for utilitarian products than hedonic products whereas consumer ratings do not have a differential effect across product types. Finally, the results did not show that the impact of consumer ratings on sales of used automobiles is increasing over time. The second essay focuses on expert reviews (entertainment critics) and provides a more nuanced examination of the role of critics and critical reviews and their impact on probability of product success. Based on qualitative data, two types of expert reviews are distinguished to be influential (opinions and evaluations), however, their role differs in importance over time. The hypotheses are tested using data from the fourth season of American Idol. Results show that on average, opinions are significantly impacting the probability of success whereas evaluations do not. Moreover, the numbers of statements that contain evaluation negatively impact the success in early periods. Overall, the results highlight the facts that critical reviews from both experts and consumers should be monitored, that they are a key driver of product market-success and that select expert reviews may influence product success in early stages of product existence.