In 1958 the United States and United Kingdom signed the Mutual Defense Agreement which allowed the two countries to share information and technology concerning nuclear weapons. This paper examines the history of this agreement and the Polaris and Trident Sales agreements which followed. The main focus of the paper is the motivating interests of both countries to maintain these agreements today.

This study analyzes recent developments in U. S.- Iranian relations during the Nixon administration and attempts to portray the principal objectives of the United States and Iran vis-a-vis each other. Complex Interdependence is the model for development of the arguments. Due to the circumstances, however, the study substantially draws on Realism as well. Chapter I discusses methodology. Chapter II focuses on the Nixon Doctrine and its impact on U. S.-Iranian relations. Chapter III discusses the evolution of mutual interests between the two nations in the Gulf area. Chapter IV drawing on the previous chapters, concludes that an interdependent relation between the two nations has developed to the extent that in some areas policy of one nation would have an impact on the other, i.e., increase in the price of oil.

"The purpose of this study was to show the position of Texas in the relations between the United States and Mexico from 1876 to 1910. With this thought in mind, the general problem has been to link the two countries through Texas. The Texas border relations between the United States and Mexico during this period were interesting because they showed the continued success of the efforts of the past years in building up better principles of settlement. " --leaf 129

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

INTRODUCTION: Chemical exposures to US pregnant women have been shown to have adverse health impacts on both mother and fetus. A prior paper revealed that US pregnant women in 2003-2004 had widespread exposure to multiple chemicals. The goal of this research is to examine how environmental chemical exposures to US pregnant women have changed from 2003 to 2010 and to look further at the extent of simultaneous exposure to multiple chemicals in US pregnant women using biomonitoring data available through NHANES (the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey). METHODS: Using available NHANES data from the following cycles (2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2007-2008, 2009-2010), we analyzed how environmental chemical exposures changed over time. Covariates were used and data was weighted to reflect the population of pregnant US women. Each cycle was then compared to the 2003-2004 cycle in order to assess how exposures have changed over time. We then looked at the data in an entirely different fashion. We examined the total number of chemicals detected in a given pregnant woman by chemical group. Finally, we looked at the total number of detects across various chemical groups and used the Fisher Exact Test to study how the distribution of detections changed in 2009-2010 compared to 2003-2004. RESULTS: While at least one-third of the chemicals analyzed showed one cycle that differed, exposure rates of individual chemicals were generally not increasing from 2003-2010. Median number of detections over chemical groups also did not show much difference over time. However, analysis of the change in frequency distributions revealed that, for some chemical groups, the frequency of detects in US pregnant woman significantly increased in 2010 compared to 2003. CONCLUSIONS: Widespread chemical exposures were seen in US pregnant women from 2003 through 2010. The number of chemical analytes detected in US pregnant women’s bodies is rising. Many chemicals studied had similar mechanisms of action and/or similar adverse health outcomes upon exposure which is known to result in a cumulative health effect. This research suggests that we need to focus not only on exposure rates of individual chemicals but also on the overall number of chemicals detected when assessing the overall picture of environmental chemical exposures to pregnant women in the US.

The following dissertation contains two distinct empirical essays which contribute to the overall field of Financial Economics. Chapter 1, entitled “The Determinants of Dynamic Dependence: An Analysis of Commodity Futures and Equity Markets,” examines the determinants of the dynamic equity-commodity return correlations between five commodity futures sub-sectors (energy, foods and fibers, grains and oilseeds, livestock, and precious metals) and a value-weighted equity market index (S&P 500). The study utilizes the traditional DCC model, as well as three time-varying copulas: (i) the normal copula, (ii) the student’s t copula, and (iii) the rotated-gumbel copula as dependence measures. Subsequently, the determinants of these various dependence measures are explored by analyzing several macroeconomic, financial, and speculation variables over different sample periods. Results indicate that the dynamic equity-commodity correlations for the energy, grains and oilseeds, precious metals, and to a lesser extent the foods and fibers, sub-sectors have become increasingly explainable by broad macroeconomic and financial market indicators, particularly after May 2003. Furthermore, these variables exhibit heterogeneous effects in terms of both magnitude and sign on each sub-sectors’ equity-commodity correlation structure. Interestingly, the effects of increased financial market speculation are found to be extremely varied among the five sub-sectors. These results have important implications for portfolio selection, price formation, and risk management. Chapter 2, entitled, “US Community Bank Failure: An Empirical Investigation,” examines the declining, but still pivotal role, of the US community banking industry. The study utilizes survival analysis to determine which accounting and macroeconomic variables help to predict community bank failure. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve Bank data are utilized to compare 452 community banks which failed between 2000 and 2013, relative to a sample of surviving community banks. Empirical results indicate that smaller banks are less likely to fail than their larger community bank counterparts. Additionally, several unique bank-specific indicators of failure emerge which relate to asset quality and liquidity, as well as earnings ratios. Moreover, results show that the use of the macroeconomic indicator of liquidity, the TED spread, provides a substantial improvement in modeling predictive community bank failure.

The diploma thesis focuses on intangible assets especially from IFRS point of view. Then principles of IFRS are compared with principles of US GAAP and Czech regulation. This thesis provides theoretical base which is explained on practical examples. Finally, the study on goodwill from business combinations and its impairment is carried out. Author evaluates its results and he is trying to clarify cause of high recorded goodwill.

Depuis 1956, le cinéma britannique a régulièrement utilisé la figure du 'working class hero' pour représenter la culture ouvrière et les aléas socioéconomiques survenus à cette classe au Royaume-Uni, que ce soit pendant la période dite d'abondance ou des Trente Glorieuses (fin des années 1950-fin des années 1970) ou celle des prémisses puis de l'intensification de la crise (début des années 1980-fin des années 2000). A partir d'un corpus d'environ trois cents films, cette étude met en résonance le cinéma et le contexte social, économique et politique contemporains afin de cerner le mode de vie spécifique de la classe ouvrière et les problèmes récurrents qui l'agitent (menace d'embourgeoisement ou de prolétarisation), tout en la replaçant au cœur des débats qui ont irrigué la société britannique depuis cinquante ans et auxquels le héros ouvrier sert de catalyseur (méritocratie, société sans classes, inégalités, place des femmes et des minorités). Par-delà sa représentativité sociologique, l'intérêt suscité par le 'working class hero' au fil des décennies et le fait que son identité repose davantage sur l'exacerbation d'une masculinité en souffrance que sur une conscience de classe clairement établie permettent d'envisager l'émergence d'une véritable figure mythique dans l'imaginaire national britannique. / Since 1956, British cinema has regularly used the figure of the working class hero to represent working-class culture and the social and economic ups and downs it went through whether it was during the so-called Affluent Society (late 1950s-late 1970s) or the early signs of what was then to become an intensifying crisis (early 1980s-late 2000s). Based on a corpus of around three hundred films, this study relates British cinema to its contemporary social, economic and political context in order to attempt a definition of working-class idiosyncrasies and the recurring problems this class has had to face (threat of embourgeoisement or proletarianisation). It also attempts to replace the working class into the heart of all the debates that have stirred British society over the last fifty years and for which the working class hero has become a catalyst (meritocracy, classless society, inequalities, the place of women and minorities in society). Beyond his sociological representativeness, the continuing interest the working class hero has aroused and the fact that his identity rests on an exacerbated portrayal of suffering masculinity rather than a clearly defined class consciousness enable one to contemplate the emergence of a true mythical figure in the British national imagination.

In this paper, we examine the determinants of outward FDI from four major OECD investors, namely, the US, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, to 129 developing countries classified under five regions over the period 1995-2008. Our goal is to distinguish whether the motivation for FDI differs among these investors in developing countries. Rather than relying on specific theories of FDI determinants, we examine them all simultaneously by employing Bayesian model averaging (BMA). This approach permits us to select the most appropriate model (or combination of models) that governs FDI allocation and to distinguish robust FDI determinants. We find that no single theory governs the decision of OECD FDI in developing countries but a combination of theories. In particular, OECD investors search for destinations with whom they have established intensive trade relations and that offer a qualified labor force. Low wages and attractive tax rates are robust investment criteria too, and a considerable share of FDI is still resource-driven. Overall, investors show fairly similar strategies in the five developing regions.

Den ökade globaliseringen av kapitalmarknaden och det faktum att marknader numera integreras oberoende av landsgränser, har bidragit till att en harmonisering av redovisningsregler har blivit allt viktigare. Inkonsekvenser i redovisningen har historiskt resulterat i finanskriser och företagskandaler, som fått allvarliga konsekvenser. I syfte att minimera dessa redovisningsskillnader ingick den internationella standardsättaren IASB tillsammans med den amerikanska standardsättaren FASB ett gemensamt projekt. Projektet går under benämningen Norwalk Agreement och startades år 2002. Idag samarbetar IASB och FASB mot målet att öka jämförbarheten med den internationella redovisningen genom att utveckla en enhetlig uppsättning av högkvalitativa redovisningsstandarder. Som en del i detta projekt publicerade de år 2010 de två första kapitlen i den gemensamt framarbetade föreställningsramen. De har även tagit fram två förslag till nya standarder beträffande leasing och intäktsredovisning samt färdigställt en standard för värdering till verkligt värde.Syftet med studien är att, utifrån den internationella harmoniseringsprocessen, undersöka de likheter och skillnader som finns mellan IASB:s och FASB:s regelverk, hur väl förankrad de kvalitativa egenskaperna är i de gemensamt utvecklade standarderna samt vilka utvecklingstendenser som går att urskilja.Studien har genomförts utifrån en induktiv ansats med en komparativ design. Undersökningsansatsen är av kvalitativ karaktär där fyra områden har valts ut för att studeras närmare. Områdena utgörs av föreställningsram, leasing, värdering till verkligt värde och intäktsredovisning, som valdes ut på grund av deras betydande roll avseende harmoniseringsprocessen.Studiens resultat visar att det (förutsatt att förslagen går igenom) har skett en konvergering på de jure nivå mellan de båda standardsättarnas regelverk. Det kvarstår dock skillnader på de facto nivå som en konsekvens av kulturella och institutionella skillnader. Undersökningen visar även att det finns brister avseende de kvalitativa egenskapernas representativitet i FASB:s och IASB:s förslag på nya standarder. Slutligen går utvecklingen mot en ökad användning av professionellt omdöme, principbaserade standarder och ökad transparens, vilket är att likna IASB:s förhållningssätt. Trots många influenser från FASB går utvecklingen mot att närma sig IASB. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet