In the first of the three chapters in this thesis, the effects of overlapping board directorships on executive compensation are analyzed. In particular the possibility of more or less explicit agreements to reciprocally increase compensation levels, or the possibility that the personal relationships of board members and CEOs determine compensation levels are examined, with suggestive results. The second chapter documents the existence of economically important halo effects in the Australian consumer real estate marker. The final chapter evaluates the effects of blackout (or silent) periods in the UK on corporate insider behavior. Joakim Bång's main research interests are in empirical corporate finance, and in particular in executive compensation, corporate governance and behavioral finance. He is currently teaching at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, 2011

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In the media today, remuneration programs to CEO’s are frequently discussed. Media are usually focusing on the large amounts paid out rather than why the companies use the programs. The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether the conflict of interest presented by the Principal Agent Theory is affected by a CEO remuneration program. To reach the purpose, an inductive method has been used. Questionnaires have been send out by e-mail and phone interviews have been carried out with two sample groups, one with remuneration programs, and one that do not use remuneration programs. The main theoretical framework used is Principal Agent Theory. With the help of other supporting and complementing theories the authors have been able to analyze the empirical findings gathered, and come to a conclusion. The authors were able to come to the conclusion that an effective remuneration program can to some extent steer a CEO’s behavior in the short term, and thereby affect the conflict of interest going on between principals and agents according to Principal Agent Theory. At the same time the authors have come to the conclusion that it is more difficult to make any clear connections between remuneration programs and being able to steer CEO’s behavior in the long run. However the long run reason for a remuneration program is to create a loyalty between the owners and managers. It has also been seen that companies without a remuneration plan tend to apply a Stewardship relationship rather than a principal agent relationship, and are thereby managing to decrease the conflict of interest between the two parties. / Bonusprogram är ofta diskuterade i media idag. Fokus ligger oftare på storleken på beloppen som betalas ut snarare än varför företagen väljer att använda sig av programmen. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka huruvida intressekonflikten presenterad i Principal Agent Teori påverkas av ett bonusprogram till VD. För att uppnå syftet har en induktiv metod används. Frågeformulär har skickats ut via e-post och telefonintervjuer har genomförts med två olika urvalsgrupper, en där företagen använder sig av bonusprogram till sin VD och en där företagen inte använder sig av bonusprogram till sin VD. Den huvudsakliga teorin som använts är Principal Agent Teori. Med hjälp av andra stödjande samt kompletterande teorier har författarna kunnat analysera det empiriska materialet som samlats in och på så sätt lyckats komma fram till en slutsats. Författarna kom fram till slutsatsen att ett effektivt bonusprogram kan till viss del styra en VD:s beteende på kortsikt, och på så sätt påverka den intressekonflikt som pågår mellan principal och agent enligt Principal Agent Teorin. Samtidigt har författarna kommit fram till slutsatsen att det är svårare att se något klart samband mellan bonusprogram och möjligheten att styra en VD:s beteende på långsikt. En annan anledning för att använda ett bonusprogram är att skapa en lojalitet mellan ägare och chefer på långsikt. Det har även framkommit att företag som inte använder sig av ett bonussystem tenderar att ha en Stewardship relation snarare än en principal agent relation mellan ägaren och VD. På så sätt lyckas dessa företag minska intressekonflikten mellan de två parterna.

<p>This dissertation explores the role of executive compensation in determining the capital structure decisions of a firm. CEOs experience a large personal cost of default that interacts through the risk adjusted probability of default with their compensation contract. Since default happens in a particularly costly state of the world for a CEO whose compensation contract consists primarily of pay for performance elements, i.e. a CEO who has a large personal equity stake in the firm, a large pay performance sensitivity is negatively and significantly associated with firm leverage choice. I document this effect in detail for the first time, and I show that it is both statistically robust and significant in magnitude, approximately 1\% of firm value. I show that this effect is driven by the stock holdings of the CEO, not the option holdings. I provide a simple principal agent model that explains the observed negative relationship and makes additional predictions on the relationship of other firm characteristics to pay performance sensitivity and leverage. I then test and confirm these predictions empirically using a standard OLS framework and an instrumental variable approach to control for endogeneity in the compensation contract. I also look at leverage adjustment speeds and show that CEOs with higher pay performance sensitivity adjust leverage upwards towards target values more slowly and downwards more quickly than their peers, and I interpret this as direct evidence that CEOs are actively managing personal risk through firm leverage choice.</p> / Dissertation

<p>Abstract</p><p>DNA replication is an integral part of the cell cycle. Every time a cell divides, the entire genome has to be copied once and only once in a timely manner. In order to accomplish this, DNA replication begins at many points throughout the genome. These start sites are called origins of replication, and they are initiated in a temporal manner throughout S phase. How these origins are selected and regulated is poorly understood. Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe have autonomously replicating sequences (ARS) that can replicate plasmids extrachromosomally and function as origins in the genome. Metazoans, however, have shown no evidence of ARS activity.</p><p>DNA replication is a multistep process with several opportunities for regulation. Potential origins are marked with the origin recognition complex (ORC), a six subunit complex. In S. cerevisiae, ORC binds to the ARS consensus sequence (ACS), but no sequence specificity is seen in S. pombe or in metazoans. Therefore, factors other than sequence play a role in origin selection.</p><p>In G1, the pre-replicative (pre-RC) complex assembles at potential origins. This involves the recruitment of Cdc6 and Cdt1 to ORC, which then recruits MCM2-7 to the origin. In S phase, a subset of these pre-RC marked origins are initiated for replication. These origins are not fired simultaneously; instead, origins are fired in a temporal manner, with some firing early, some firing late, and some not firing at all.</p><p>The temporal firing of origins leads to wide regions of the genome being copied at different times during S phase. , which makes up the replication timing profile of the genome. These regions are not random, and several correlations between replication timing and both transcriptional activity and chromosomal landscape. Regions of the genome with high transcriptional activity tend to replicate earlier in S phase, and it is well know that the gene rich euchromatin replicates earlier than the gene poor heterochromatin. Additionally, areas of the genome with activating chromatin marks also replicate earlier than regions with repressive marks. Though many correlations have been observed, no single mark or transcriptional player has been shown to directly influence replication timing.</p><p>We mapped the replication timing profiles of three cell lines derived from Drosophila melanogaster by pulsing cells with the nucleotide analog bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), enriching for actively replicating DNA labeled with BrdU, sequencing with high throughput sequencing and mapping the sequences back to the genome. We found that the X chromosome of the male cell lines replicated earlier than the X chromosome in the female cell line or the autosomes. We were then able to compare the replication timing profiles to data sets for chromatin marks acquired through the modENCODE (model organism Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements). We found that the early replicating regions of the male X chromosomes correlates with acetylation of lysine 16 on histone 4 (H4K16).</p><p>Hyperacetylation of H4K16 on the X chromosome in males is a consequence of dosage compensation in D. melanogaster. Like many organisms, D. melanogaster females have two X chromosomes while males have one. To compensate for this difference, males upregulate the genes on the X chromosome two-fold. This upregulation is regulated by the dosage compensation complex (DCC), which is restricted to the X chromosome. This complex includes a histone acetyl transferase, MOF, which acetylates H4K16. This hyperacetylation allows for increased transcription of the X chromosome. </p><p>We hypothesized that the activities of the DCC and the hyperacetylation of H4K16 also influences DNA replication timing. To test this, I knocked down components of the DCC (MSL2 and MOF) using RNAi. Cells were arrested in early S phase with hydroxyurea, released, and pulsed with the nucleotide analog EdU. The cells were arrested in metaphase and labeled for H4K16 acetylation and EdU. We found that male cells were preferentially labeled with EdU on the X chromosome, which corresponded with H4k16 acetylation. When the DCC was knocked down, H4K16 acetylation was lost along with preferential EdU labeling on the X chromosome. These results suggest that the DCC and H4K16 acetylation are necessary for early replication of the X chromosome. Additionally, early origin mapping of different cell lines showed that while ORC density does not differ between male and female cell lines, early origin usage is increased on the X chromosome of males, suggesting that this phenomenon is regulated at the level of activation, not pre-RC formation. Other experiments in female cell lines have been unclear about whether the DCC and subsequent H4K16Ac is sufficient for early X replication. However, these results are exciting because this is, to our knowledge, the first mark that has been found to directly influence replication timing.</p><p>In addition to these timing studies, I attempted to design a new way to map origins. A consequence of unidirectional replication with bidirectional replication fork movement is Okazaki fragments. These are short nascent strands on the lagging strand of replicating DNA. Because these fragments are small, we can isolate them by size and map them back to the genome. Okazaki density could tell us about origin usage and any directional preferences of origins. The process proved to be tedious, and although they mapped back with a higher density around ORC binding sites than randomly sheared DNA, little information about origin usage was garnered from the data. Additionally, the process proved difficult to repeat.</p><p>In these studies, we examined the replication timing program in D. melanogaster. We found that the male X chromosome replicates earlier in S phase, and this early replication is regulated by the DCC. However, it is unclear if the change in chromatin landscape directly influences replication or if the replication program is responding to other dosage compensation cues on the X chromosome. Regardless, we have found one the first conditions in which a mark directly influences the DNA replication timing program.&#8195;</p> / Dissertation

We introduce normal coordinates in Riemannspaces as a tool to construct color-weak compensation methods.We use them to compute color stimuli for a color weakobservers that result in the same color perception as theoriginal image presented to a color normal observer in the sensethat perceived color-differences are identical for both. Thecompensation is obtained through a color-difference-preservingmap, i.e. an isometry between the 3D color spaces of a colornormaland any given color-weak observer. This approach usesdiscrimination threshold data and is free from approximationerrors due to local linearization. The performance is evaluatedwith the help of semantic differential (SD) tests. / Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research through grant IIS11-0081. / European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 - Challenge 2 Cognitive Systems, Interaction, Robotics - under grant agreement No 247947 - GARNICS.

Dodd-Frank represents a federal intervention in corporate governance, which had previously been an issue for the states.The most prominent state in this respect is Delaware because of its favorable treatment of corporate interests.Although Delaware’s regulations are too lenient to encourage responsible risk management practices, the federal law is normally driven by populist outrage and anti-corporate sentiments that impair lawmakers’ abilities to write rational, efficient reforms.The climate of political pressure does not foster a thoughtful review of the best ways to affect risk management practices. This paper thus explores the role of leverage in the financial crisis, the shortcomings of Dodd-Frank’s capital requirements, the ways in which reform could have encouraged more responsible leverage positions, and the nature of federal corporate governance regulation.

Ce mémoire présente la mise en oeuvre d'oscillateurs haute stabilité et pureté spectrale pour les applications en bande X qui imposent de disposer de résonateurs à fort coefficients de qualité compatibles avec les électroniques d'asservissement développées par les partenaires du projet NOVAE. Notre approche consiste à privilégier la réalisation de résonateurs à modes harmoniques aussi appelés HBAR (High-overtone Bulk Acoustic Resonator) alliant l'intérêt des couches minces piézoélectriques pour l'excitation de résonances hautes fréquences et la propagation d'ondes acoustiques dans les milieux de haute qualité cristalline. Des résonateurs HBAR à base de LiNbO3/LiNbO3 mais aussi LiNbO3/Saphir ont été ainsi mis en boucle d'oscillation sur la base d'un montage de Colpitts, et leur bruit de phase mesuré puis comparé à celui d'oscillateurs stabilisé par résonateurs à ondes de surface commercialement disponible. On montre ainsi que les très forts coefficients de qualité mesurés pour la solution niobate-sur-niobate permettent d'atteindre des niveaux de bruit comparable à voire meilleur que ceux obtenus avec les résonateurs à ondes de surface. Le manuscrit montre l'intérêt des résonateurs à ondes de volume harmoniques (HBAR) en termes de facilité de mise en oeuvre et de qualilté des résonances obtenues pour des modes d'ordre élevé. Nous avons ainsi pu montrer qu'il était raisonnablement simple d'atteindre la bande des 1,5 GHz avec des coefficients de qualité élevés (supérieur à 10000) pour des couplages ne dépassant toutefois pas quelques pour mille.

Temperature variation affects most biological parameters from the molecular level to community structure and dynamics. Current studies on thermal biology assess how populations vary in response to environmental temperature, which can help determine how populations differentially respond to climate change. To date, temperature fluctuation effects on endothermic poikilotherms such as the common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) are unknown even though bumblebees are the most important natural pollinators in North America. A cold-acclimation experiment with B. impatiens colonies revealed individuals acclimated to 5°C or 10°C at night did not differ in resting metabolic rate, flight metabolic rate, wingbeat frequency, or morphological measurements, compared to the control group. Moreover, an infrared camera showed that all colonies maintained maximum nest temperature consistently above 36.8°C. A latitudinal sampling of flight metabolic rate and morphological measurements of B. impatiens from four locations spanning Ontario (N 45°; W 75°) to North Carolina (N 34°; W 77°) indicated no latitudinal trend in the measured variables. This study shows that bumblebees are well equipped to face a wide range of environmental temperatures, both in the short term and long term, and can use a combination of behavioural and physiological mechanisms to regulate body and nest temperatures. These results are reassuring on the direct effects of climate change on bumblebee ecology, but further studies on the indirect effect of temperature variation on North American bumblebees are required to predict future ecosystem dynamics.

Occupational injury and illness rates are used by employers and regulatory agencies to monitor the health and safety of workers. Changes in the rates are interpreted to reflect actions taken or not taken by the employer. The purpose of this study was to delineate external factors, those factors outside the control of employers, which influence occupational injury and illness rates. The results of this study are useful in interpreting changes in the occupational injury and illness rates as a function of changes in the external factors. A review of the literature provided information on the type of external forces which would be expected to influence occupational injury/illness rates. The factors selected for the data analysis included economic indicators, regulatory budget and performance measures, firm size, and leniency in workers' compensation claim determination as measured by the proportion of denied claims. Data were collected on the injury/illness incidence, lost workday case incidence, and lost workday rates for the state of Oregon for 1978 through 1987. Multiple linear regression models were constructed for each of the injury/illness rates using a step-down variable selection process to determine the predictor variables for each model. Separate models were constructed for each dependent variable using the values of the predictor variables for the same year and for the preceding year. The results supported the hypotheses that the unemployment rate, gross state product, number of serious violations cited by OSHA, and percentage of claims denied by the Workers' Compensation Board influence occupational injury and illness rates. Total OSHA expenditures and the number of inspections conducted by OSHA in a given year demonstrated positive relationships with lost workday cases incidence and injury/illness incidence rates, respectively; the positive associations were contrary to the hypothesized relationships. Models can be constructed using data on external factors to predict injury/illness incidence, lost workday case incidence, and lost workday rates. The unemployment rate was the most useful variable in predicting occupational injury and illness rates. / Graduation date: 1991