Text in English / Restricted files have not been uploaded / The thesis commences by elaborating on the concept of vertical envelopment as a form of military manoeuvre and defining airborne operations as comprising parachute, helicopter and air-landed actions. It goes on to describe strategy and tactics as they apply to the discussion before briefly tracing the development internationally of vertical envelopment and the thinking of the South African military about airborne operations during the Second World War. Events leading up to the decision by the South African military to acquire helicopters and to train paratroopers in 1960 are examined and the early operational employment of helicopters is analysed. The establishment of 1 Parachute Battalion is discussed in the light of the absence of a clear understanding of how it should be employed. Moving on to the commencement of the conflict known as the Southern African Thirty Year War, the issue of strategic versus tactical application of an airborne capability during operations in Namibia, Angola and Rhodesia is defined. Strategic application is then illustrated by specific independent airborne strikes, and the requirement for an airborne brigade to plan and conduct such operations is highlighted. The establishment of 44 Parachute Brigade and the difficulties experienced in its development are reviewed before scrutinising the tactical use of airborne forces in support of other ground forces. The high point in organisation and capability of the airborne forces of the South African Defence Force at the time of the ending of the Thirty Year War is appraised and the unfulfilled potential of the capability is elucidated. Faced with change and uncertainty, the employment of the paratroopers in urban operations during the height of the civil unrest is examined. This is followed by probing the response of the paratrooper organisation to severe budget cuts, enforced reorganisation and relocation, the ending of conscription and integration into the new South African National Defence Force following the country’s first democratic elections in 1994. The thesis concludes with an evaluation of the airborne actions during the incursion by South Africa into Lesotho in 1998 and an assessment of the implications of the loss of a strategic airborne capability. / History / D. Litt. et Phil. (History)

ESSAY 1We examine the effect of governance environment on the composition of a country's external capital structure, specifically foreign equity investment. In addition to the absolute quality of the host country's governance environment, we consider the host country's governance quality relative to that of the source (investor) country. Unlike previous studies, which utilize country totals, we examine foreign investment positions between pairs of individual countries. Our sample includes 3,891 bilateral investment positions among 49 source countries and 69 host countries for years 2009 through 2011. We find that relative governance, rather than absolute governance, plays a role in foreign investment. Specifically, a host country with lower governance quality relative to the source country (a greater difference) attracts less FDI as a share of foreign equity investment. Our results suggest that prior studies, which identified absolute governance as a significant factor, were evaluating an incomplete picture. When the focus is solely on the host country, the policy prescription appears rather straightforward--all countries should pursue higher governance quality to attract more foreign investment from all sources. We challenge this notion by showing that: a) different source countries evaluate host-country governance differently; and b) this evaluation is influenced by the difference between the governance environments of the two countries. ESSAY 2Highly publicized governance failures in recent years have renewed research efforts to investigate the consequences of specific governance mechanisms. A better understanding of executive compensation contracts, specifically golden parachutes, is especially critical given their notorious status in the corporate governance debate. Instead of examining the explicit incentive role of golden parachutes (GPs) in influencing managerial behavior, we study their role as a tool for screening and recruiting reputable CEOs in a situation where recruitment would otherwise be difficult--severe financial distress that eventually leads to Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If GPs enable distressed firms to recruit reputable CEOs, there should be an observable link between the presence of GPs in employment contracts for newly hired CEOs and value-preserving firm outcomes. For our sample of firms, all of which filed for bankruptcy, this can be measured by the outcome of the bankruptcy proceedings, specifically the avoidance of liquidation. Thus, we hypothesize a negative relationship between the presence of GPs for newly hired CEOs and the probability of liquidation in bankruptcy. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that firms led by newly hired CEOs with GPs are liquidated less often than other firms. This suggests that, regardless of their efficacy as corporate governance mechanisms, GPs can create value for shareholders.

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World War II affected individuals across the nation, both on the home front and on the front lines. Manti, Utah received a new industry, a parachute plant, in connection with the war. Hundreds of women from Sanpete County and neighboring counties were employed through the duration of the war in everything from sewing and inspection to supervision of production. Some of the women utilized childcare facilities, some formed a union, and many found community and familial support. For many of them, this wartime wage work provided a welcomed alternative to the work usually found in rural areas, such as farm work, housework, and café work. Women were primarily motivated to work out of patriotic duty and economic opportunity. In many wartime industries, women were in previously male-dominated occupations and lost their jobs at the conclusion of the war. In contrast, the parachute plant offered its women workers the opportunity to continue working when the plant began manufacturing clothing after the war, and the surrounding rural community was largely supportive of its working women. This study makes a case for the long-term impact of wartime work upon individual women. Work experience outside the home affected the women's estimation and definition of themselves. The war period was a crucial event in women's lives, not just an important passing stage. Oral histories allow interpretation in the context of their adult lives from a long-term perspective. By delving into community and family situations and looking at these women on an individualized basis in the long-term, this study goes deeper than surveys and makes substantive contributions to our understanding of the war's influence. The period of wartime work, when viewed in the long-term context of the women's lives, was significant especially in that women had additional economic resources at their disposal and acquired new-found confidence and skills. Women's work experiences provoked desire for future work and served as a source of confidence to them. Personal, individualized victories for women, often ignored or concealed by aggregate statistics on women's work during and immediately following the war, were a reality for women in Manti and likely elsewhere in America.

Denna undersökning har studerat ett lätt infanteriförbands användning av kombinerad bekämpning som metod för verkan under en amfibieoperation samt vilka aspekter som påverkade möjligheten till kombinerad bekämpning p.g.a. operationens amfibiska karaktär. Fallet har utgjorts av Parachute Regiments två bataljoner som under Falklandskriget utkämpade tre slag vid Darwin – Goose Green, Mount Longdon och Wireless Ridge. Som analysverktyg har använts Robert Leonhards teori om den kombinerade bekämpningens tre principer. Indikatorer på principerna har varit syften med verkan hämtade ur teorin om de grundläggande förmågorna. Två av slagen befanns endast delvis kännetecknas av Leonhards två första principer, principerna om kompletterande system och dilemman. Den tredje principen om fördelaktig terräng uppfylldes inte. Det tredje slaget regementet utkämpade kännetecknades helt igenom av Leonhards två första principer medan den tredje delvis beaktades. Undersökningen konstaterar att kombinerad bekämpning som metod för verkan kan utvecklas av ett lätt infanteriförband under en amfibieoperation. Dock ledde ofördelaktig disponering av förbandet i de aktuella fallen till att kombinerad bekämpning tidvis omöjliggjordes. Leonhards tredje princip tenderade att förringas. De specifikt amfibiska aspekterna avseende möjligheten till kombinerad bekämpning utgjordes främst av tillgången till fartygsartilleri, kraven på helikoptertransporterbart fältartilleri samt bristen på lätta trossfordon. / This dissertation has investigated how a light infantry force has used combined arms during an amphibious operation, specific factors related to the operations character affecting the possibility to develop combined arms have also been highlighted. The case chosen for the study was Parachute Regiments actions during the three battles of Darwin – Goose Green, Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge during the Falklands War. As a analytical tool Robert Leonhard’s theory about the three principles of combined arms was used together with indicators borrowed from the theory about the warfighting functions purposes of fires. Two of the battles were found to be only partially characterized by Leonhard’s first two principles, complementary systems and dilemmas. The third principle about favorable terrain was neglected. The third battle was throughout characterized by the first two principles and to a larger extent than the former by the third principle. The dissertation concludes that light infantry can use combined arms during amphibious operations. The battles studied were, however, often characterized by unfavorable disposition of the force which affected the possibilities to use combined arms. Leonhard´s third principle was usually neglected. The most important amphibious aspects affecting the possibilities to combined arms were found to be naval gunfire support, light field artillery and the scarcity of light all-terrain vehicles.

In 1978 the SADF carried out an airborne assault on Cassinga in Southern Angola. The South Africans claimed that Cassinga was a key SWAPO military headquarters, training camp and logistic base. SWAPO claimed it was a refugee camp and that the approximately 600 people who died in the attack were innocent civilians. The SADF said it had dealt SWAPO a significant military blow; SWAPO said the SADF had carried out a brutal massacre of old people, women and children. This dissertation focuses on the military dimensions of the raid, examining first the military situation in southern Angola and northern Namibia at the time, then looking at Cassinga itself before reviewing the airborne capability of the SADF, considering the decision that was made to launch the attack, describing the planning and preparations, the actual assault, a Cuban counter-attack and the extraction of the South African paratroopers. It concludes with the propaganda claims of both sides before assessing the military significance of the action. / History / M.A.

In 1978 the SADF carried out an airborne assault on Cassinga in Southern Angola. The South Africans claimed that Cassinga was a key SWAPO military headquarters, training camp and logistic base. SWAPO claimed it was a refugee camp and that the approximately 600 people who died in the attack were innocent civilians. The SADF said it had dealt SWAPO a significant military blow; SWAPO said the SADF had carried out a brutal massacre of old people, women and children. This dissertation focuses on the military dimensions of the raid, examining first the military situation in southern Angola and northern Namibia at the time, then looking at Cassinga itself before reviewing the airborne capability of the SADF, considering the decision that was made to launch the attack, describing the planning and preparations, the actual assault, a Cuban counter-attack and the extraction of the South African paratroopers. It concludes with the propaganda claims of both sides before assessing the military significance of the action. / History / M.A.

The PhD thesis "Russian Speaking Students (from Russia and Kazakhstan) in the Czech Republic: Educational Migration and the Role of the Family in it", examines the life of Russian speaking students, who come to the Czech Republic to obtain a university degree. It tries to answer several research questions. How is the decision taken to come to the Czech Republic? What kind of role does family play in the decision-making process and in further intentions/plans in the Czech Republic? What are the migration strategies of Russian speaking students in the Czech Republic? How do these strategies change over time? What connections exist between the life cycle of the student and the migration process? This is an anthropological, multisite field research, with participant observation being the core research method. As of 2015, 55 student research participants participated in the research (41 from Russia and 14 from Kazakhstan), with whom formal and informal interviews were made. Transnationalism and migration system theory have been used as theoretical concepts so as to better understand the student migration process.

The PhD thesis "Russian Speaking Students (from Russia and Kazakhstan) in the Czech Republic: Educational Migration and the Role of the Family in it", examines the life of Russian speaking students, who come to the Czech Republic to obtain a university degree. It tries to answer several research questions. How is the decision taken to come to the Czech Republic? What kind of role does family play in the decision-making process and in further intentions/plans in the Czech Republic? What are the migration strategies of Russian speaking students in the Czech Republic? How do these strategies change over time? What connections exist between the life cycle of the student and the migration process? This is an anthropological, multisite field research, with participant observation being the core research method. As of 2015, 55 student research participants participated in the research (41 from Russia and 14 from Kazakhstan), with whom formal and informal interviews were made. Transnationalism and migration system theory have been used as theoretical concepts so as to better understand the student migration process.