This dissertation contains four essays on various topics in the fields of corporate finance and corporate governance. The first essay, entitled Corporate Governance and Ownership, presents an overview of the causes and consequences of, and possible remedies for, the separation of ownership and control in corporations. In particular, the essay addresses the costs and benefits of ownership concentration. A specific purpose is to put the role of ownership into perspective, while bringing the reader up to date with some recent developments. Essay number two, Shareholder Gains from Equity Private Placements: Evidence from the Stockholm Stock Exchange, contains an empirical investigation of the stockmarket’s reaction to announcements of equity private placements and rights issues. The essay sets out to test a range of hypotheses put forward in the literature. Extensive cross-sectional analyses of private placement discounts and abnormal returns are performed. The third essay is named Optimal Deterrence and Inducement of Take-overs: An analysis of Poison Pills and Dilution. This essay models how the ex ante wealth of shareholders could be increased with customized contractual provisions that affect takeover probabilities and premia. The proposed provisions resemble anti-takeover defense measures in the form of poison pill plans, and conversely, voluntary dilution schemes in the fashion prescribed by Sanford Grossman and Oliver Hart (1980). Finally, the fourth essay models the wealth effects of a particular takeover regulation, The Mandatory Bid Rule. This rule requires a potential bidder for a control position in a target firm to extend the offer to include any or all of the outstanding shares. Although the mandatory bid rule is aimed at the protection of minority shareholders, the essay argues that this regultion is not generally in the best interest of the shareholders. Each essay is self-contained and could, in principle, be read in any order chosen by the reader. However, for readers less familiar with the corporate finance literature, the first essay may also serve as a helpful introduction to the following three essays. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 380-396). Also available on the Internet.

The Middle Horizon Occupation of the Julio C. Tello Complex, Cajamarquilla SiteThis paper presents results obtained by the Cajamarquilla Archaeological Project at the monumental urban center of Cajamarquilla, in the Rimac Valley, central coast of Peru. The 1996-1997 excavations in the Architectural Group Julio C. Tello exposed important burials and funeral contexts from Middle Horizon Epochs 1 and 2 as well as a room with offerings dating to Epoch 1. These remains demonstrate that Huari influences were not very significant in the origin, the development and the prestige system of the Cajamarquilla city. / El presente artículo trata sobre las investigaciones que el Proyecto Arqueológico Cajamarquilla viene desarrollando en el sitio urbano monumental de Cajamarquilla, valle del Rímac, costa central del Perú. Se exponen los resultados más importantes obtenidos durante el periodo 1996-1997 en el conjunto arquitectónico Julio C. Tello. Particularmente destaca el hallazgo de varios contextos funerarios de las épocas 1 y 2 del Horizonte Medio y un recinto con pozos de ofrendas de la Época 1. A partir de esta evidencia, los autores sostienen que las influencias huari no parecen haber sido demasiado trascendentes en el origen, funcionamiento y prestigio del sitio.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine if there are any significant abnormal returns arising when companies announces an upcoming rights offering on the Stockholm exchange. The thesis also considers possible reasons as to why the market react in different ways by examining the offerings’ underlying motives. The thesis adopts a quantitative approach, implemented by adeductive strategy. An event study has been used to study the market movements throughout the RO-announcement. The abnormal return is calculated according to the CAR-model which is later tested for its significance. A multiple linear regression is conducted in order to discover relations between the abnormal return and different independent variables. The main frame of theoretical reference is the Signalling Hypothesis as well as the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The study is also inspired by previous research on the subject, all of which are presented in the chapter. These include both recent and older studies on both American, Asian and European markets. Results conclude a significant negative abnormal return during the event window. There is a significant relationship between the underlying motive of the rights offerings and its abnormal return. However, no significant relationship can be stated between the frequency of the rights offering and its abnormal return. Underlying motive and frequency of RO’s explain theabnormal return by 10,11%.

Cette thèse traite des statues d’animaux dédiées dans les sanctuaires de Grèce continentale, des îles égéennes et de la côte d’Asie Mineure des périodes archaïque à hellénistique. Les statues, les bases de statues et les éventuelles informations épigraphiques découvertes dans des sanctuaires grecs sont rassemblées dans un catalogue archéologique. Les statues d’animaux mentionnées par les auteurs anciens dans leurs descriptions de sanctuaires font l’objet d’un second catalogue littéraire. Une première partie introductive définit le vocabulaire de l’offrande et présente le thème de l’animal dans l’Antiquité. La deuxième partie consiste en une étude contextuelle divisée en plusieurs chapitres, chacun dédié à une catégorie animale figurant au nombre des anathemata statuaires du catalogue archéologique ou littéraire. Chaque catégorie d’animaux a été analysée de manière systématique : l’étude s’intéresse d’abord aux caractéristiques des animaux vivants, leur existence à l’état sauvage ou domestique, leurs utilisations et fonctions au sein de la société et les interactions entre les humains et les animaux. La place des animaux de chaque catégorie dans la littérature ancienne et la mythologie est aussi étudiée, et les diverses représentations d’animaux dans les sanctuaires et dans d’autres contextes sont prises en compte. Les entrées des catalogues archéologique et littéraire ainsi que matériel épigraphique sont présentés de manière typologique à la fin de chaque chapitre de l’analyse contextuelle. Une introduction aux sanctuaires où ont été offertes des statues animales accompagne la présentation des anathemata, et les offrandes sont classées par sanctuaire et par ordre chronologique. Chaque chapitre se clôt sur des interprétations sur le sens des offrandes de statues d’animaux de la catégorie traitée. Le dernier chapitre de l’analyse contextuelle présente brièvement les animaux qui sont souvent représentés dans les sanctuaires mais pas sous forme de statues individuelles – leur absence peut en effet aider à comprendre la présence des animaux représentés. Une partie sur la sculpture suit l’analyse contextuelle et s’intéresse à l’esthétique des statues animales, aux matériaux utilisés, aux prix des anathemata statuaires, aux conditions pratiques de réalisation et d’acheminement, au coût du transport, ainsi qu’à l’identité et la spécialité des artistes qui les exécutaient. Enfin, dans une quatrième et dernière partie, les données observées dans les deux catalogues sont présentées et analysées de manière systématique afin d’en extraire des informations sur le sens des offrandes de statues animalières. Les liens entre les sanctuaires abritant des statues animales, les liens entre les offrandes animalières et les divinités honorées, les implications géographiques et les évolutions diachroniques sont analysés dans cette partie. La place physique des statues animales dans les sanctuaires et le choix des animaux représentés sont aussi étudiés. Les auteurs d’offrandes publiques et privées connus grâce aux inscriptions et sources écrites sont également présentés et comparés ; grâce à ces informations, les offrandes sont étudiées au-delà de leur portée religieuse. Les motivations politiques des offrandes publiques et les implications sociales des offrandes privées, qui varient selon la fortune, le genre et le statut des offrants, permettent de mieux comprendre les raisons implicites qui se cachent derrière les offrandes de statues animalières dans les sanctuaires grecs. / This dissertation focuses on the freestanding statues of animals set as offerings, or anathemata, in Greek sanctuaries of the mainland, the Aegean islands and the coast of Asia Minor from the Archaic to the Hellenistic periods. The surviving statues found in sanctuaries corresponding to the geographical and chronological frames are gathered in a catalogue, and so were the statue bases on which animal statues stood and the epigraphic material linked with freestanding animal dedications. A second catalogue lists the animal statues recorded by ancient travelers in their visits of Greek sanctuaries. A contextual study on each of the animal categories recorded as freestanding anathemata in archaeological or written sources is a necessary step to understanding why these animals were chosen to be represented in statues offered to the gods. Each animal category was systematically analyzed.Their characteristics as live animals, their existence in the wild or in a domestic context, their use and function in society, the existing interactions between humans and animals are addressed. The place of animals in ancient Greek literature and mythology is also studied, and so are their artistic representations, within sanctuaries and in other contexts. The catalogue entries and typology corresponding to the surviving and literarily recorded freestanding anathemata of each animal category are presented at the end of each chapter of the contextual analysis, and so are their inscriptions and dedications, when known. A presentation of the receiving sanctuaries accompanies the presentation of the anathemata, which are classified by chronology and sanctuaries. Interpretations on the meaning of the offerings of animals per category comes at the end of each of the chapters of the contextual analysis. The last chapter of the contextual study gives an overview of the animals which are often represented in sanctuaries but absent from the present catalogues – as their absence might help understand the significance of the animals that are represented. Observations on ancient sculpture follow the treatment of each animal per category and focus on the aesthetics of animal statues, the materials used, the price of the anathemata, the practicalities and cost of their transport, and the identity and specialties of the artists who made them. Lastly, data drawn from the catalogues are presented and analyzed in a systematic manner in order to extract information about the significance of the offering of freestanding animal statues at sanctuaries. The links between the sanctuaries where animals were offered, the links between the dedication of animals and the receiving deities, the geographical implication and the diachronic evolution of the anathemata are analyzed. The physical place of the animal statues within the sanctuaries and the choice of animals are also studied. The public and private dedicators known through inscriptions and written sources are also presented and compared. Beyond the religious gesture, the political motives of public dedications are discussed. The wealth, gender and status of private dedicators enables the understanding of social implications connected to the dedication of animal statues. / Αυτή η διατριβή εστιάζει στα ανεξάρτητα αγάλματα ζώων που παρουσιάζονται ως προσφορές ή αναθήματα σε ελληνικά ιερά της ηπειρωτικής Ελλάδας, των νησιών του Αιγαίου και των παραλίων της Μικράς Ασίας από την Αρχαϊκή μέχρι την Ελληνιστική περίοδο. Τα εναπομείναντα αγάλματα που εντοπίστηκαν στα ιερά που βρίσκονται στο γεωγραφικό και χρονολογικό πλαίσιο που αναφέρθηκε, οι βάσεις πάνω στις οποίες στηρίζονταν αγάλματα ζώων καθώς επίσης και το επιγραφικό υλικό που σχετίζεται με αφιερώσεις ζωικών αγαλμάτων, συγκεντρώθηκαν σε έναν κατάλογο. Ένας δεύτερος κατάλογος απαριθμεί τα ζωικά αγάλματα που καταγράφονται από τους αρχαίους περιηγητές στις επισκέψεις τους στα ελληνικά ιερά. Για να γίνει κατανοητός ο λόγος για τον οποίο τα ζώα αυτά επιλέχθηκαν να αναπαρασταθούν σε αγάλματα και να αφιερωθούν στους θεούς, θα πρέπει να πραγματοποιηθεί μια έρευνα για το πλαίσιο μέσα στο οποίο εντάσσεται κάθε κατηγορία ζώου που αποτελεί ανεξάρτητο ανάθημα, είτε σε αρχαιολογικές, είτε σε γραπτές πηγές. Έτσι, κάθε κατηγορία ζώων έχει συστηματικά ερευνηθεί και αναλυθεί: τα χαρακτηριστικά τους ως έμψυχα όντα, η ύπαρξή τους στην άγρια φύση ή ως κατοικίδια, η θέση και η αξία τους στην κοινωνία, η αλληλεπίδρασή τους με τον άνθρωπο. Η θέση των ζώων όπως εμφανίζεται στην αρχαία ελληνική γραμματεία και μυθολογία, καθώς και οι καλλιτεχνικές τους αναπαραστάσεις στα ιερά και σε αλλού, τίθενται επίσης υπό ανάλυση. Οι καταχωρίσεις στον κατάλογο και η τυπολογία που αντιστοιχεί στα διασωθέντα και καταγεγραμμένα στις πηγές ελεύθερα αναθήματα κάθε κατηγορίας ζώων, παρουσιάζονται στο τέλος κάθε κεφαλαίου της ανάλυσης, όπως επίσης και οι επιγραφές ή αφιερώσεις, όταν αυτές είναι γνωστές. Μια παρουσίαση των ιερών συνοδεύει την παρουσίαση των αναθημάτων, τα οποία έχουν κατηγοριοποιηθεί ανά χρονολογία και ιερό. Οι ερμηνείες για τη σημασία των προσφορών ζώων ανά κατηγορία εκτίθενται στο τέλος κάθε κεφαλιού της ανάλυσης. Το τελευταίο κεφάλαιο της αναλυτικής μελέτης παρέχει μια επισκόπηση των ζώων που συνήθως εκπροσωπούνται σε ιερά, αλλά εκλείπουν από τους καταλόγους -κι αυτό διότι η μνεία τους θα μπορούσε να βοηθήσει στην κατανόηση της σημασίας των ζώων που εκπροσωπούνται. Ακολουθούν παρατηρήσεις σχετικά με την αρχαία γλυπτική, που επικεντρώνονται στην αισθητική των ζωικών αγαλμάτων, τα υλικά που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν, την τιμή των αναθημάτων, τα πρακτικά ζητήματα και το κόστος της μεταφοράς τους, καθώς και στην ταυτότητα και τις ιδιαιτερότητες των καλλιτεχνών που τα δημιούργησαν. Τέλος, παρουσιάζονται δεδομένα από καταλόγους, τα οποία αναλύονται συστηματικά με σκοπό να προκύψουν πληροφορίες σχετικά με τη σημασία των προσφορών των ανεξάρτητων ζωικών αγαλμάτων σε ιερά. Ακόμα, αναλύονται οι δεσμοί μεταξύ των ιερών όπου τα ζώα προσφέρονταν, οι δεσμοί μεταξύ προσφερόμενων ζώων και θεοτήτων που τα δέχονταν, η γεωγραφική εφαρμογή τους και η διαχρονική εξέλιξη των αναθημάτων. Μελετώνται επίσης φυσικός χώρος των ζωικών αγαλμάτων μέσα στα ιερά και η επιλογή είδους ζώου. Οι δημόσιοι και ιδιώτες αφιέρωτες γνωστοί από επιγραφές ή γραπτές πηγές επίσης παρουσιάζονται και συγκρίνονται. Συ ζητώνται -πέραν της αφιέρωσης ως λατρευτικής πράξης- τα πολιτικά κίνητρα των αφιερώσεων. Ο πλούτος, το γένος, το φύλο και η κοινωνική θέση των ιδιωτών αφιερωτών συσχετίζεται με την κατανόηση των κοινωνικών εφαρμογών που συνδέονται με τις αφιερώσεις ζωικών αγαλμάτων.

Depuis les travaux fondateurs de M. Nilsson, on admet que les cultes grecs de l’époque archaïque héritent des pratiques rituelles des Mycéniens. Pendant toute la période qui s’étend du XIIIe au début du Ve siècle, et au delà, sont surtout consacrées par dépôt, par crémation, et par libation, des denrées issues des travaux des hommes, animaux domestiques, végétaux cultivés et liquides provenant de l’agriculture et de l’élevage. Des évolutions majeures affectent cependant l’organisation de la vie religieuse au cours de ces huit siècles ayant connu des crises, des changements de régime, des déplacements de population importants. Il ne convient cependant pas nécessairement d’opposer les aspects statiques et dynamiques : même les héritages les plus anciens ont progressivement été adaptés aux contextes nouveaux, et c’est particulièrement vrai de ceux qui concernent les consécrations d’offrandes alimentaires. Parce qu’elles s’articulent avec les besoins essentiels de l’homme comme « animal politique » autant qu’elles s’en détachent, ces dernières focalisent l’attention du chercheur sur ce que les actes de culte disent de la place du sacré dans les sociétés grecques en mutation. De l’époque mycénienne à la fin de l’époque archaïque les pratiques religieuses sont des enjeux de pouvoir. La répartition des prérogatives au cours des cérémonies, la définition d’un corpus de denrées jugées adéquates pour les consécrations, et la possibilité, ou non, de partager avec le divin, reflètent et cimentent l’organisation socio-politique des communautés. Si les accidents de la vie religieuse accompagnent ceux de la vie sociale et politique, ils témoignent aussi de l’évolution des mentalités. Propice au développement de la science et de la philosophie, l’époque archaïque a particulièrement favorisé les questionnements sur la pratique des cultes, et les réflexions sur la construction d’un espace sacré singulier. / Since M. Nilsson’s work, it is accepted that the Greeks of the Archaic Period have inherited some of their religious habits from the Mycenaean era. From the XIIIth down to the VIth century BCE, the Greeks offered to their gods parts taken from domestic animals, cultivated plants, and drinkable liquids by burning them, depositing them in an appropriate place, or pouring them. Still, during eight centuries where there have been huge crisis, political disruptions, and population displacements, major religious changes took place. Those suggest that even practices that seem to have been the same have enventually been adapted to new contexts. This is especially the case for those associated with food offerings. Because they are closely related to the basic needs of humans, but can still be pretty distant from them, food offerings encourage researchers to focus on what religious practices tell us about how sacred matters were embeded into Greek mutating societies. From the Mycenaean down to the Archaic period, cult is an instrument of power. The social and political organisation of Greek communities was both represented and reinforced by the distribution of religious privileges, the definition of which goods were suitable for the offerings, and the possibility, or impossibility, for everyone to share with the gods. Religion and politic share an intimate relationship, but cult practices also closely reflect how the Greeks thought the world they lived in. New questions about religion and the definition of sacred space naturally followed the development of philosophy during the archaic period.

For start-up businesses, the source of outside capital can be retrieved from the venture capital industry. The venture capital industry has grown substantially over the past 50 years, reaching its pinnacle during the internet bubble in the 1990s and serves as an important contributor to the economy. After some time, and optimally when the start-up has matured into a successful business, venture capitalists want to receive money in return for their investments. Most commonly, the exiting of venture capital investments is retrieved through an IPO. An IPO refers to the transition from a private corporation to a public corporation and occurs when a private corporation offers its shares to the public for the first time. The existing literature of IPOs is commonly associated with the depiction of abnormal returns. More precisely, the offer price is often underpriced in comparison to the closing price on the first day of trading. In addition, the returns 1 to 5 years after going public are often subject to subsequent declines (Miller & Riley, 1987; Ritter, 1998). A part of the underperformance of IPOs is anchored in the type of capital structure, venture capital. Thus, this study examines the relationship between venture capital backed IPOs and IPO performance. Furthermore, the relationship between the degree of venture capital, the amount of capital held by the venture capital firm in the IPO, and IPO performance are examined in order to discover eventual correlations. Concerning the performed analysis, the study concludes that there is no clear positive relationship between venture capital backing and IPO performance in the short run. However, one could interpret that being a VC-backed IPO can be prosperous for long-term performance since VC has a positive impact on ROA. Regarding the degree of venture capital, it had a negative impact on the ROA, i.e., the level of degree of venture capital does not have a positive impact on the IPO performance.

The increasing use of natural resources and the pollution it causes calls for new ways of addressing customer needs. Additionally, a more uncertain and complex world also presents new challenges. In this thesis, these new challenges are tackled through inter and transdisciplinary research, which require more interaction across disciplines to tackle complex phenomena. The manner in which companies address customer needs starts from the designing (a multiplestakeholder perspective) of offerings where companies rely on different types of support (guidelines, standards, methods and tools). In this thesis, these offerings, include products, services, systems, and solutions. This plays an important role in the use of natural resources and its impact on the environment. In this Licentiate, I present results to show initial cues on how to design resource-efficient offerings, and more specifically their analysis and evaluation in the early stages of the design process. This type of offerings is suggested to be crucial for the circular economy, which can be understood as a paradigm shift towards sustainability. In this paradigm shift, designing is carried out by taking into account reuse, remanufacture and recycling of products as strategies by multiple stakeholders and companies. Other strategies include providing services, a function or a solution through dematerialization and transmaterialization. The methods used in this research are narrative and systematic literature reviews, thematic analysis and a case study. The results show a lack of interdisciplinary research in the academic literature in subjects relevant to the design of resource-efficient offerings. The results also show a need to clarify what transdisciplinary research entails. Moreover, current practice shows that support used by companies needs to consider several factors for it to be useful, for example, the vision of the company, participation of potential users of the support and everyday operations, among other characteristics. Finally, more practical support coming from academia is necessary to improve its use in industry. / <p>Information om opponent och seminarium saknas</p>

Combining products and services into Product-Service Systems (PSS), which are often owned and even operated by the company offering them, is seen as an important element of conducting more sustainable business. The prospective environmental benefits of PSS lie mainly in the improved resource- and operational efficiency. This is achieved by way of a critical shift in incentive structure: If an industrial company assumes responsibility for an offering throughout the lifecycle, the terms on which that company operates are changed substantially in comparison to traditional product sales. Instead of benefiting from a short lifetime through additional sales opportunities or making profit through the sale of spare parts, in highly integrated PSS, each parts exchange, each technicians’ visit and each day the lifetime of the offering is reduced directly affects the bottom line of the provider. Due to that, solely as a result of economic rationality, a provider of these offerings has an incentive to design in such a way that the life of this offering is prolonged, need for spare parts is reduced, service activities are facilitated and simplified, and that the conditions are in place to allow for a second or third life of the offering through remanufacturing. Regardless of this compelling logic, at times, industrial companies fail to establish the preconditions to capturing these benefits as they continue to rely on product and sales-centric design processes even though they provide PSS. This thesis aims to examine this unexploited opportunity from two vantage points. On the one hand, methods conceived in academia to support industry in implementing and executing joint, lifecycle-focused design of products and services, and the use of these methods in practice, are examined. Here, the focus firstly lies on understanding how PSS are designed today, and secondly, on what should change about PSS design methods to improve their implementability and usability in industrial practice, so that they can fulfill their supposed role as facilitators of efficient PSS design and operation. On the other hand, the possible benefits of providing specifically designed and lifecycle-focused PSS as an industrial company are in focus. To this end, the value attained by providers throughout the use phase of PSS is investigated, to then identify possible approaches towards enhancing this value. Eventually, both focus-areas are joined in an effort to examine the interaction between method-supported, lifecycle-oriented PSS design and the value attained by providers of such offerings. As a result of the research, a lacking adaptation of design processes to PSS is identified in the case companies. Further, shortcomings of PSS design methods conceived in academia, e.g. excessive complexity, lacking clarity and rigidity, are found in both literature as well as in a study with an industrial company. To take a first step towards rectifying this issue, six characteristics intended to enhance implementability and usability of PSS design methods, are presented. The value attained by PSS providers has been found to be a complex but important subject. In a case study, value determinants of high relevance to the use phase of the lifecycle have been identified and assessed for their utility as indicators in the evaluation and enhancement of PSS offerings in the design phase. The practitioners involved were supportive of the applicability of the systematic approach presented to capture more value through offering PSS. In joining both the value- and method-oriented approach, the mutual dependency of both aspects is discussed. In order to provide PSS in an economically and environmentally efficient fashion, adapting the existing design processes is imperative. The value attained by the provider can, complementary to existing customer-centric approaches, serve as an important goal for the adaptation of design processes. Ultimately, through understanding the change in incentive structure at the core of PSS, and through implementing a value-driven design process supported by efficient and effective methods aimed at providing both customer value and capturing provider benefits throughout the lifecycle, there is a genuine potential of conducting more sustainable business.

The archaeological site Pigloner Kopf (Vadena/Pfatten, South Tyrol, Italy) has revealed unexpected elements related to the local Bell Beaker culture, like the local production of shaft-hole axes, typologically linked to the Balkans and the Danube region. The site also shows the oldest evidence of ritual burnt offerings in the Eastern Alps. The mostly burnt animal bones, cereals, flint tools and fragments of pottery could be interpreted as the remains of a rock sanctuary with burnt offerings. The site can be considered as a prototype of the alpine places of worship and mountain sanctuaries. These burning rituals were practised from the beginning of the Bronze Age until the late Roman Empire. The aim of the paper is to present the results of the study of materials and their analyses, focussing on the metallurgical industry, composed mostly by objects produced with local copper, like 10 miniaturised shaft-hole axes, 7 awls and a pin and also by imported objects like a dagger blade and spiral ornaments. The deposition of copper tools in hoards in association with burnt offerings suggest a ritual interpretation of the site, dated to the late Copper Age with Bell Beaker elements in lithics and pottery.