Corporate governance (CG) is the set of rules and regulations through which organisations account to their stakeholders. An effective CG system promoting the efficient use of organisational resources is instrumental in the economic growth of a country. Based on the existing literature, this research identifies board structural features i.e., 'Board Independence', 'CEO Duality', 'Board Diversity', 'Number of Board Committees' and 'Audit Committee Independence' as key variables of an effective CG system. Previous studies have largely examined the direct relationship between CG systems and firm performance. This research develops a multi-theoretical model that links the Board structural characteristics with firm performance measured in Tobin's Q, Return on Assets and Return on Equity, via two crucial mediating variables, 'Board Size' and the 'Frequency of Board Meetings', and two additional moderating variables, 'Code of Corporate Governance' and 'Ownership Concentration'. The conceptual model that is developed is tested with the help of an econometric study based on a comprehensive set of balanced panel data of 265 companies listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange for a period of six years. The first panel (2009-2011) represents the time-period before the implementation of the revised Code, and the second panel (2013-2015) covers the time-period following the implementation of the revised Code. The results show that the Number of Board Committees (discussing strategic issues) is significantly related to performance and the 'Size of Board' significantly mediates the relationship between the number of board committees and performance. The relationship is also moderated by the Code of Corporate Governance and ownership concentration held by the largest shareholder. The results also show that the links between additional Board structural variables (board independence, CEO duality, board diversity and audit committee independence) and the financial performance are positive but not significant to draw conclusive result. Comparison between pre-and post-implementation of the revised Code of CG suggests that the intervening relationship between the board variables and the performance is stronger after the implementation of the revised Code. This research is a significant milestone in the country context of Pakistan that reflects the socio-economic set of several emerging economies. A key implication of this research is that the corporate sector in Pakistan needs to move away from the tick-box culture of CG. The sector needs to implement CG as a tool to mitigate business risks, appoint and empower non-executive directors to achieve an effective monitoring of management. The companies also need to establish their own ethical and governance principles applicable to the Board of Directors in order to deal with factors that are likely to reduce Directors' efficiency. The research offers new insights and conceptual framework for further research in this area.

Esta dissertação investiga alguns aspectos da história das bebidas no século XVIII. A partir de uma caracterização inicial do processo de domesticação da embriaguez na Europa moderna, fornecemos a descrição de elementos do moralismo lusitano respeitantes à questão dos usos de vinho e aguardentes. Disso extraímos a hipótese de que a moderação teria sido o valor que orientou o comportamento alcoólico na sociedade portuguesa. Já na sociedade colonial, examinada nos dois capítulos finais, defendemos que o referido valor cumpriu a função ideológica de mascarar a experiência etílica dos habitantes daquelas paragens, experiência esta marcada por diferentes formas de beber e de embriaguez. Numa sociedade organizada para a expropriação de recursos valendo-se de mão-de-obra escrava, o beber moderado entrou em choque com as diversas circunstâncias apresentadas aos colonizadores nos trópicos. / This study investigates some aspects of the history of drinks in the eighteen century. From an initial characterization of the domestication process of being drunk in the modern era, provides the key element of moralism Lusitanian relating to the question of the uses of wine and spirits. From this we extract the hypothesis that moderation would be the value that guided the alcoholic behavior in Portuguese society. In the colonial society, examined in the last part, we argue that the value of the ideological function served to mask the experience of the inhabitants of those areas, this experience marked by different forms of drinking and drunkenness. In a society organized for the expropriation of resources by availing itself of slave labor, moderate drinking has clashed with the different circumstances presented to the colonists in the tropics.

Physical activity (PA) has been labelled the miracle drug (Pimlott, 2010) and participating in regular PA has ample physical and mental wellbeing benefits. However, physical inactivity remains a critical public health concern, particularly across adolescence. In England the proportion of adolescents aged 13-15 years meeting the recommended guidelines for PA decreased significantly from those at a younger age (Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2009; 2012; 2015). The adolescent years (13 18 years) have been identified as the age of greatest decline in PA, although it is possible that large declines can also be seen at younger ages (Sallis, 2000). Among girls the decline in PA is greater at younger ages (9 12 years old) and among boys it is greater at older ages (13 16 years old) (Dumith, Gigante, Domingues, & Kohl, 2011). Thus, examining behaviour of early adolescents (aged 11-13 years) is a primary focus of this thesis. Researchers have called for a more comprehensive grasp of PA correlates and determinants and their impact on behaviour (Biddle & Mutrie, 2001, 2008). This broader picture needs to incorporate longitudinal study designs to accurately portray developmental changes (Evenson & Mota, 2011). This thesis aims to work towards a better understanding of associations among variables across aspects of the ecological model in relation to PA behaviour during early adolescence. Early adolescents within their first year of secondary school (year 7, aged 11 12 years) were recruited through schools across the East Midlands, United Kingdom (UK). These participants completed various measures across an 18 month period to compile all data required for the thesis. The thesis begins with a focus on active transport as a means of commuting to school which can significantly contribute to overall PA levels (Aibar, Bois, Generelo, Bengoechea, & Paillard, 2015; Slingerland, Borghouts, & Hesselink, 2012). The distance from home to school is an important influence on the decision to use active transport; however, ecological perspectives would suggest this variable may interact with individual, interpersonal and environmental factors. Therefore, the first study of this thesis investigates whether the relationship between distance to school and active transport is moderated by (i) gender, (ii) biological maturation, (iii) perceived family support for PA and (iv) multiple deprivation. Cross-sectional results from the baseline data collected demonstrated that the relationship between distance to school and the likelihood to actively travel to school is moderated by biological maturation, multiple deprivation and family support of PA in adolescents. Further analysis revealed that late-maturing children, those from less socio-economically deprived backgrounds and children with low family support of PA are less likely to actively commute to school as distance to school increases. Due to the interaction between these variables described above, the second study focused on the variables collectively using a person-oriented approach, which aimed to classify distinct profiles of early adolescents based on correlates of PA. The outcome variables were also broadened to include active transport and overall PA across two time points. Findings from this second study illustrate that the highly supported, shortest commuters produced the highest levels of self-reported PA and that affluent, short commuters were the most likely to use active transport to travel to school. The affluent, short commuters lived a relatively short distance to school in areas of the lowest deprivation and had relative moderate family support of PA. The highly supported, shortest commuters were characterised by the highest family support of PA and lived the shortest distance to school in areas of low deprivation. Study 1 evidenced an association between biological maturation and PA behaviour; however, study 2 displayed that biological maturation did not meaningfully contribute to the class characteristics, and were not a predictor of PA. Previous evidence as to whether early, average or late maturing adolescents are more likely to disengage from PA is mixed and tends to focus on one gender only (Sherar, Cumming, Eisenmann, Baxter-Jones, & Malina 2010; Bacil, Mazzardo, Rech, Legnani, & Campos, 2015). Thus for the third study a more focused inspection of biological maturity was undertaken. Biological maturity status was investigated as a predictor of PA behaviour at two subsequent time points (6 9 months after baseline and 12 18 months after baseline) and whether there was variation across genders. Findings displayed that biological maturity status does not predict subsequent PA, with no distinction across genders. To conclude, the final study examined additional forms of PA behaviour. For children to develop and maintain healthy PA behaviours, their PA during the school day, particularly during physical education (P.E) classes is important (Owen, Smith, Lubans, Ng, & Lonsdale, 2014). Self-reported PA was divided into school-time PA (during P.E. lessons, break and lunchtimes) and leisure-time PA (after school, during evenings and weekends). The final study fully utilised the longitudinal data collected and utilised longitudinal growth modelling to describe the changes in PA behaviour across 12-18 months during early adolescence. Results displayed that school-time PA and leisure-time PA are distinct. Males; those from less deprived backgrounds and individuals with higher family support of PA all separately reported more school-time PA than their counterparts (females, those from higher deprived backgrounds and individuals with lower family support of PA) at baseline. Males and those with higher family support of PA also reported more leisure-time PA than their respective counterparts at baseline. On average, both genders decreased in school-time PA across 18 months yet for leisure-time PA, on average, there was no change over time and no significant difference in the rate of change between genders. There were no observed significant differences in the rate of change between multiple deprivation status and biological maturation across the 18 months for both behaviours. For family support, on average school-time PA decreased over time and results showed significant difference in the rate of change between individuals with lower or higher levels of family support of PA across the 18 months. On average, there was no change over time for leisure-time PA yet there was a significant difference in the rate of change between individuals and their family support of PA across 18 months. Further analysis demonstrated if an individual s family support increases, so does their leisure-time PA and vice versa. These overall key findings demonstrate the complexity of PA behaviour throughout early adolescence. This thesis works towards predicting individuals, correlates and determinants that may be susceptible to physical inactivity and/or a decrease in activity over time. Results can be used to target and direct PA intervention work.

This study aims to further understand the mechanisms through which work interference with family (WIF) influences important attitudinal, behavioral, and well-being outcomes. First, the study expands the content of employees' psychological contract through creating a measure of Work-Family Psychological Contract Breach (WFPCB). The study also examines the mediating role of WFPCB in the relations between WIF and work-related outcomes. Finally, the study explores potential cultural influences by looking at the moderating role of individualism-collectivism on the relations between WIF and WFPCB as well as between WFPCB and the outcomes. Research was carried out in three stages: 1) telephone interviews were conducted to understand the content of work-family psychological contract; 2) the WFPCB measure was piloted; and 3) a final survey study was carried out to test the main hypotheses. Data were collected in both the U.S. and China, resulting in 20 participants each for the interview study, over 60 participants each for the pilot study and over 200 respondents each for the final stage. Support was found in both samples for the link between WIF and WFPCB, and some of the direct paths with the outcomes, especially the attitudinal variables. Full mediation effect of WFPCB was found for organizational commitment in the U.S. and for job satisfaction in China. Evidence for partial mediation was also found for the other attitudinal variables. The moderating role of individualism-collectivism at the individual level was only found in the Chinese sample for organizational commitment, such that the negative relationship between WIF and commitment was stronger when individualism was high. A country comparison of the hypothesized direct effect was posed as research questions. The present study contributes to the psychological contract and work-family literature by introducing the psychological contract theory and shedding some light on the potential mechanism through which work interference with family affects important outcomes such as employee job attitudes and well-being.

There is convincing support for the link between family composition and adolescents’ problem behaviors. What is less clear is the extent to which these relations exist for African-American adolescents. Previous studies have demonstrated that this relation varies by gender. However, there is limited evidence to suggest the potential moderating influence of adult support. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of family composition on adolescents’ physical aggression, delinquency, and substance use. The study comes from secondary analyses of a larger study that evaluated the effectiveness of a violence prevention program. The current study included 1,116 African-American middle school students from an urban setting who endorsed living with their biological mother and considered her to be their parent. Results indicated that among adolescents who identified their nonresidential biological father as their parent, those in stepfather families reported lower levels of delinquency than those in single-mother families. Support was not found for similar differences in self-report of delinquency and substance use, and teacher-report of adolescents’ physical aggression. No other differences in family composition were found for adolescent problem behavior. Support was also not found for the moderating roles of gender or adult support. However, self-report of delinquency and substance use, and teacher-report of physical aggression were negatively related to adult support. This was not the case for self-report of physical aggression. These findings suggest that interventions may need to provide additional resources that would help both parents and adolescents within single-parent families.

Surface-analysis and treatment apparatus have been variously designed, manufactured, developed, and commissioned or re-commissioned, for characterising the surfaces and efficiency of positron moderators based around 3 µm thick polycrystalline-tungsten foil. These include XPS and AES, based around a CLAM2 hemispherical analyser, electron-beam heating, ion bombardment, mass spectroscopy, UHV sample mounting, UHV manipulation, gas-handling lines, and entry-lock apparatus. The CLAM2 electron spectrometer is additionally adapted for operation as a bipolar charged-particle spectrometer. All control software, and much data-analysis software, is implemented in Labview. Apparatus and techniques for safely storing, handling, transferring into vacuum, and manipulating in vacuo, a nominally 1 mCi 22Na, UHV-compatible positron source, are designed, constructed, and implemented. The efficacy of cleaning and surface-analysis apparatus are demonstrated, with some limitations and instrument malfunction identified, and solutions implemented. Methods for passivating positron-trapping states in polycrystalline tungsten are proposed, based on the current understanding of positron moderation and trapping. Improved moderator geometries have been designed and an alternative, simpler, and easier to implement solid-gas moderator proposed.

This study examined contextual influences on the relationship between peer norms for condom use and risky sexual behavior among African-American men who have sex with men. Analyses assessed the moderating effects of socio-demographic, socio-contextual, and health-related variables. One thousand forty African-American men, who have sex with men, ages 17 to 25 years, were surveyed as part of the Community Intervention Trial for Youth (CITY) from 1999 to 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia. Findings supported the hypothesis that participants who engaged in unprotected insertive anal intercourse, socio-contextual variables moderated the relationship between peer norms and risky sexual behavior. Findings also supported the hypothesis that participants who engaged in unprotected receptive anal intercourse, both socio-demographic variables and a health variable moderated the relationship between peer norms and risky sexual behavior. Findings have implications for intervention, policy, and research, including a need for interventions that recognize the contexts of influence that shape African-American MSM sexual behavior and that support norms for consistent condom use in both steady and casual sexual relationships.

Previous studies have indicated that the creation of outstanding consumer value was for spa hotels to achieve sustainable financial and market success. In this study we identified the key factors that affected consumers¡¦ behavior or purchasing decisions, and the process how consumers chose a particular hotel for spa service, which was appropriate for themselves under such intensely competition among spa hotels in Taiwan. The study aims to assess a relational perspective on the value perception relationships, and to examine the main effects and the processes linking perceived value, its antecedents and willingness to buy in Taiwan spa hotel industry. The economical deduction was adopted to provide the constructs positioning and adequate rationality of the conceptual model. The analysis of Pearson correlation indicated that the recent downsizing economy might be the source that affected the attitude of ¡§leisure service consumption¡¨ in more conservative way because of the weakly significant relationship between perceived value and willingness-to-buy. The hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) was used to assess the main effects and the processes. The HMR analyses revealed that customers separately considered perceived quality and perceived price, the immediate situational factors of benefits and sacrifices, particularly when purchasing a spa service product, which will lead to changes in behavior. Perceived quality totally mediated the price-value relationship, and perceived value partially mediated the quality-willingness and price-willingness relationship. Sex and living location moderated the quality-value relationship. Marriage status and consumptive times moderated the value-willingness relationship. The finding indicated that the perception of customer value was very much dependent upon quality and much less dependent upon risk and price in Taiwan spa hotel industry; management and advertising objective should focus on increasing customer value by improving the customer perceptions of overall product and service quality. The moderation of demographic variables provides managers directions to offer proper packages to potential customers.

The Great Moderation means the reduction in the volatility of aggregate economic activity and here we use GDP growth rate to stand for economic activity. In this paper, we apply a Markov switching model to estimate the timing of the Great Moderation in France. Subsequently, by using a Time-varying structural vector autoregression model to determine which are the main variables that cause the reduction of French GDP growth rate and to see the relationship of these variables we choose.

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