This paper examines the IPO pricing processes of two different markets, each of which employs bookbuilding methods for marketing the IPO shares. For each market we investigate two questions: Does bookbuilding serve mainly as a method for distributing shares, or also as a means for gathering information? And, to what extent do underwriters respond in IPO pricing to any information that they obtain through bookbuilding? We find that a direct comparison of these two markets sheds light on the bookbuilding process in each. For Nasdaq IPOs we find evidence consistent with informational rents being earned by investors for providing information during bookbuilding. On the Neuer Markt there is no such evidence. Instead, we find evidence consistent with rents being paid for information that helps underwriters to set indicative price ranges prior to bookbuilding. The two markets differ further in how underwriters respond to information in pricing IPOs. For the Neuer Markt, this response is severly constrained since underwriters do not set prices above the price ranges. We estimate the total cost of this "restriction" to be approximately one billion Euros for our sample of IPOs. While there are no such apparent restrictions for Nasdaq, we show that also on this market IPO prices are "sticky" in that underwriters respond less to information received later in the pricing process. / Series: Working Papers SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science"

Artificial Neural networks have found many applications in various fields such as function approximation, time-series prediction, and adaptive control. The performance of a neural network depends on many factors, including the network structure, the selection of activation functions, the learning rate of the training algorithm, and initial synaptic weight values, etc. Genetic algorithms are inspired by Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection (“survival of the fittest”). They are heuristic search techniques that are based on aspects of natural evolution, such as inheritance, mutation, selection, and crossover. This research utilizes a genetic algorithm to optimize multi-layer feedforward neural network performance and structure. The goal is to minimize both the function of output errors and the number of connections of network. The algorithm is modeled in C++ and tested on several different data sets. Computer simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can successfully determine the appropriate network size for optimal performance. This research also includes studies of the effects of population size, crossover type, probability of bit mutation, and the error scaling factor.

Research on eye movement control during first language (L1) reading has long since established that (i) words are read most efficiently when the first saccade into the word lands near its center, (ii) words are refixated more often when landing positions deviate from the center of the word, and (iii) relatively proficient readers' saccades land closer to this center position. Eye-tracking studies of second language (L2) reading tend to compare participant groups based on their language background (L1 vs L2) rather than L2 proficiency. As of yet, there has been no comparison of these approaches. This study reports a comparative analysis of the Multilingual Eye-movement COrpus (MECO), which contains data on English text reading and its component skills from 543 participants representing 12 different L1s. Analyses of the distributions of initial landing positions and refixation probabilities establish that the gradient measure of proficiency in English (as L1 or L2) has a greater explanatory power than categorical contrasts between language backgrounds. We also found that English proficiency has a gradient effect on efficiency of saccadic targeting: more proficient readers landed their initial saccades closer to the word's center. However, more proficient readers of English were also less accurate in their saccadic targeting, showing greater dispersion of initial landing positions. We link this puzzling finding to the observation that landing in a suboptimal position comes with a much higher processing cost (refixation probability) for less proficient readers. This study discusses theoretical and methodological implications of the novel findings for reading research. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / When we read text, we do not continuously move our eyes across it, but we make a series of rapid eye fixations on different parts of the text. Scientists know that if we fixate our eyes on a center of a word rather than on its beginning or end, we will understand that word the fastest. Highly skilled readers make the first fixation on any word in a more optimal place compared to less skilled readers. Making such optimal fixations allows highly skilled readers to understand each word they encounter faster, which makes them better readers and leads to more successful outcomes later in life. In this research project we were interested in how reader's proficiency in reading related skills affects the efficiency of their eye-movements during reading English as a first and second language. The results found that more proficient readers were found to have a lighter penalty to the speed of their reading when fixating their eyes farther away from the optimal position in words. Additionally, the results demonstrated that proficiency in reading related skills is a better indicator of the efficient eye-movement behavior than native language of the reader.

Mathematical modeling of physical processes often leads to systems of differential and algebraic equations involving quantities of interest. A computer model created based on these equations can be numerically integrated to predict future states of the system and its evolution in time. This thesis investigates current methods in numerical time-stepping schemes, identifying a number of important features needed to speed up and increase the accuracy of the solutions. The focus is on developing new methods suitable for large-scale applications with multiple physical processes, potentially with significant differences in their time-scales. Various families of new methods are introduced with special attention to multirating, low computational cost implicitness, high order of convergence, and robustness. For each family, the order condition theory is discussed and a number of examples are derived. The accuracy and stability of the methods are investigated using standard analysis techniques and numerical experiments are performed to verify the abilities of the new methods. / Doctor of Philosophy / Mathematical descriptions of physical processes are often in the form of systems of differential equations describing the time-evolution of a phenomenon. Computer simulations are realizations of these equations using well-known discretization schemes. Numerical time-stepping methods allow us to advance the state of a computer model using a sequence of time-steps. This thesis investigates current methods in time-stepping schemes, identifying a number of additional features needed to improve the speed and accuracy of simulations, and devises new methods suitable for large-scale applications where multiple processes of different physical nature drive the equations, potentially with significant differences in their time-scales. Various families of new methods are introduced with proper mathematical formulations provided for creating new ones on demand. The accuracy and stability of the methods are investigated using standard analysis techniques. These methods are then used in numerical experiments to investigate their abilities.

Counseling professionals are committed to providing multiculturally competent services to the clients they serve. When clients first enter counseling, the therapeutic relationship typically begins by the counselor conducting an initial clinical interview. This initial clinical interview is a critical time to demonstrate cultural competence. Currently, there is no literature that has explored how counselors who work with the substance use population incorporate multicultural considerations during the initial clinical interview. The purpose of this study was to explore whether licensed professional counselors (LPCs) broach (Day-Vines et al., 2007) multicultural considerations during the initial clinical interview with clients who have substance use disorders (SUDs). The exploration of this phenomenon occurred through the use of a qualitative methodology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine LPCs in Virginia. The LPCs shared their lived experiences conducting initial clinical interviews with members of the SUDs population. Four themes and a subtheme emerged related to how LPCs perceive the relevance of identifying multicultural factors in their work with the SUDs population: everyone has culture and it is all encompassing, culture is needed to understand clients (subtheme), multicultural factors impact substance use behavior and patterns, cultural identities emerge during the initial clinical interview, and multiculturalism was an important component in counselor preparation. Three themes emerged related to how LPCs describe the term and concept of broaching: no familiarity with the "broaching" term, broaching defined as initiating a topic, and some degree of understanding of the broaching concept. Five themes emerged related to whether and how LPCs introduce or broach multicultural considerations during the initial clinical interview: broaching approach varies, client introduces multicultural factors, appropriate timing, willingness to be open, and boundaries surrounding broaching. The themes that emerge from this data will help to fill gaps in the literature concerning how counselors broach multicultural considerations, particularly with the SUDs population. Implications for counselors and counselor education are discussed. The limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are provided. / Ph. D.

This thesis is an empirical event study that examines the short-run performance of initial public offerings (IPO), known as underpricing and initial return. I argue that literature which only presents equal weights could potentially give the reader a skewed understanding of the width of the concept. By using a new data set of Nordic IPOs during the period 2009-2018, I provide estimates using equal as well as market capitalization weights consistently to give a more nuanced and fair picture. The equally weighted first-day initial return is estimated to be 4.96% and the value weighted first-day initial return is estimated to be 5.32% during the examined time period. Further, the initial return is examined in relation to firm characteristics as well as quarterly index returns and issuance volume. No statistically significant characteristics that can identify additional levels of underpricing was found. Quarterly average initial returns and quarterly index returns are independent of each other. In line with previous literature the positive relationship of issuance volume and initial return is valid on a quarterly level, indicating that firms tend to go public in times of positive and higher initial returns to a greater extent.

Underwriter need to participate in the process of new issue firms going public. Related reference about Taiwan's underwriter IPOs market share haven't appear. In this study, we expect to find out the relationship between Taiwan's underwriter IPOs market share and some related factors. Then offer issuer, underwriter and investor the conclusion as reference. The IPOs samples are selected during the period 1991 through 2000 in Taiwan. There are 475 newly issued firms in this period. We subtract some incomplete data samples and bank samples.There are 247 IPOs samples in our regression model. Although underwriter IPOs market share is less significantly impacted by IPOs offer price , results imply that when offer price is too low,this would damage issuer's benefit and lead to underwriter IPOs market share decrease. When offer price is too high, this would damage investor's benefit and just lightly lead to underwriter IPOs market share decrease. Results show that there is no industry specialization in Taiwan's underwriter industry. Although underwriter IPOs market share is less significantly impacted by IPOs one year performance,results imply that when underwriter market higher one year return IPOs, this would attract more investors and lead to underwriter IPOs market share increase.Results show that underwriter IPOs market share is significantly impacted by nderwriter's asset and age. The underwriter with larger asset and larger age gains more IPOs market share.

Le but de cette thèse est de mieux comprendre le phénomène de renforcement initial pour les voyelles du français : ses mécanismes de réalisations et sa fonction linguistique. Pour cela, cette thèse compare la réalisation acoustique et articulatoire (lèvres et menton) des voyelles orales du français /i, e, ɛ, a, y, ø, œ, u, o, ɔ/ en position strictement initiale de Groupe Intonatif et en position médiane de Groupe Intonatif. Le corpus a été enregistré par quatre locutrices avec deux appareils en simultané : une caméra pour l’analyse de l’aperture et l’étirement des lèvres et un appareil de capture mouvements (Qualisys) pour l’analyse articulatoire de la protrusion des lèvres et de l’abaissement du menton. Une étude acoustique a également été menée (formants, intensité, durée). Cette thèse montre que, d’une part, le renforcement initial modifie des caractéristiques phonétiques des voyelles qui peuvent contribuer, à renforcer les contrastes syntagmatiques en augmentant la sonorité de la voyelle: augmentation de l’aperture et l’étirement aux lèvres pour l’ensemble des voyelles et augmentation d’intensité acoustique pour la plupart. D’autre part, le renforcement initial renforce des caractéristiques acoustiques et articulatoires propres à chaque voyelle. Ces variations contribuent à maximiser les contrastes paradigmatiques entre voyelles : soit par une maximisation de chacune des valeurs du contraste ([+F] et [-F]), soit par une maximisation d’une des deux valeurs du contraste ([+F] ou [-F]). / The goal of this thesis is to better understand the phenomenon of domain-initial strengthening on French vowels: how it is realized and its linguistic function. We compare the acoustic and articulatory variations (on the lips and chin) of the French oral vowels /i, e, ɛ, a, y, ø, œ, u, o, ɔ/ in initial position of Intonational Phrase and in medial position of Intonational Phrase. The corpus was recorded by four female speakers with two different systems simultaneously. Lip aperture and lip width were analyzed from the video data and lip protrusion and lowering of the chin were captured by an optical motion capture system (Qualisys). An acoustic study was also conducted (formants, intensity, duration). Results show that initial strengthening affects phonetic properties of vowels which may contribute to enhance syntagmatic contrasts by increasing their sonority: increased lip aperture and width for all vowels, and increased acoustic intensity for most. Moreover, initial strengthening enhances vowel-specific acoustic and articulatory properties. Consequently, initial strengthening contributes to maximize paradigmatic contrasts between vowels, either by maximizing contrast of each of the values ([+F] and [-F]), either, or by maximizing the value of a single contrast ([+F] or [-F]).

The topic of the submitted thesis is the Economic and legal aspects of IPO (Initial Public Offering) and its purpose is to describe the process of an Initial Public Offering and subsequently apply the findings in the case study of one particular IPO - Pivovary Lobkowicz Group. The thesis is composed of six chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of Initial Public Offering. Chapter One is introductory and defines basic terminology used in the thesis. The chapter is subdivided into five parts. Part One describes the capital market. Part Two deals with IPO history, its subpart One with global history and subpart Two with Czech history of IPO. Part three focuses on securities, its subpart One on securitues in general and subpart Two on shares specifically. Part four explains the share issue. Part five looks at the term Initial Public Offering itself. Chapter Two illustrates the reasons for an IPO. The chapter consists of six parts. Part One focuses on acquiring capital. Part Two investigates the prestige and credibility. Part Three addresses the issue of marketing use and advertising. Part four examines benefits for existing shareholders. Part five describes obtaining information about company value. Part six deals with increasing employees involvement. Chapter Three is subdivided into...

Underprissättning vid en börsintroduktion (Initial Public Offering, IPO) har blivit ett uppmärksammat fenomen inom litteraturen för företagsfinansiering. Tidigare forskning har identifierat en trend att IPO:er är i genomsnitt underprissatta, och graden av underprissättning kan variera kraftigt. Men en enhetlig förklaring till denna variation har ännu inte kunnat fastslås. Fenomenet har studerats på internationella och lokala reglerade marknader, men ingen studie har hittills gjorts på en svensk oreglerad marknad. Syftet med uppsatsen är således att bidra till den existerande forskningen om underprissättning vid en börsintroduktion genom att undersöka huruvida det föreligger ett samband mellan resultatvolatilitet innan en börsintroduktion och graden av underprissättning av en IPO på den svenska marknaden. Urvalet består av 96 företag som noterats på First North Stockholm under åren 2017-2022, och för att undersöka sambandet genomförs en multipel linjär regressionsanalys. Vi kan konstatera att under den studerade tidsperioden var svenska IPO:er som noterats på First North i genomsnitt underprissatta med 6.52 %, och vi finner ett svagt stöd för vår hypotes att det föreligger ett positivt samband mellan resultatvolatilitet innan en börsintroduktion och underprissättning.