Have the Private Benefits in Italian Firms Decreased？

The topic of the paper is the estimate of the benefit of control, according to the Barclay and Holderness method. The reference system of this research is Italy, given that the empirical evidence of the past which had underlined private benefits particularly high among Italian companies and the reference period is 1999-2007. The idea of this research is to demonstrate that, since the Legislative Decree No. 58 of February 24, 1998 （Consolidated Law on Finance, henceforth Consolidated Law）, which has significantly changed the protection of minority shareholders, in Italian, the intensity of private benefits has on average declined sharply. To this end, considering the results of the empirical researches on periods pre-1998 and at the turn of the Consolidated Law, the paper provides evidence that the improvement of minority shareholder protection already shown by these researches is further accentuated over the years, because of the effects that the new regulatory framework has produced. In fact, the basic assumption is that the important laws, as Consolidate Law, require several years to produce the desired results in full. This idea is supported by the findings of research that show an average percentage of private benefits dropped to five percent of the capital. Hence, the investigation is extended to the demonstration of comparability of this estimation with other estimations quoted in literature, verifying the statistical significance of the correlations between the measures estimated and the variables considered as determinants in much of the literature.

Private Benefits of Politicians and Delayed Privatization

The aim of this paper is to consider the problem of politicians＇ control of state-owned enterprises in a transforming economy. The control of a company can be treated as a choice of a strategy pursued by this company. In order to present politicians＇ influence on a company＇s strategy, we consider the case of a firm controlled by the State Treasury （i.e., by politicians） and a company outside politicians＇ control, both functioning in a favorable and an unfavorable state of the economy. We propose the option-to-switch valuation model as a method of measuring politicians＇ private benefits of control. We illustrate the considerations using data concerning Poland＇s printing industry.

Private Benefits of Control,Growth Opportunities and Investor Protection

We develop a model to illustrate that controlling shareholders choose the level of investor protection that maximizes their own interests. Controlling shareholders in companies with complicated control structures can easily extract private benefits and are thus reluctant to enhance investor protection which would necessitate increased transparency. In contrast, controlling shareholders in companies with valuable growth opportunities are willing to improve investor protection so that they can benefit from the increased value resulting from the lower cost of capital. We test this prediction using firm-level data in China. The results show that the level of investor protection increases with decreases in control structure opacity and increases in growth opportunities. The correlation is more significant for enforcement than for the mechanisms of investor protection.

The Private Benefits of Corporate Control:Evidence from China

By analyzing block share transfers in China during 1999-2006,this study provides estimates of the private benefits of corporate control in China.We find that those controlling blocks are usually priced at a significant positive premium compared to those comparable non-controlling blocks.The benefits of corporate control vary with shareholders structure,firm characteristics and institutional variables.In particular,targets with a high intangible asset ratio have less benefits of control,cross-listing in B or H shares curbs the extract of private benefits and companies acquired by private firms are associated with higher private benefits.Moreover,it is found that benefits of control are negatively associated with market economy and factor market development index.We argue that firms with higher private benefits experience more tunneling activities by their controlling shareholders.

An assessment of Charter airline benefits for Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape

Tourism is becoming a vital component for economic development in South Africa. The income generated by the tourism industry is about 6% of the GDP, which is significant but still falls short of the goal set by the White Paper on Tourism in 2000. In the light of South Africa hosting the 2010 Football World Cup, it is important to identify ways of sustainable tourism development that would continue to increase the benefits to the economy long after the event＇s over. The main objective of the research was to explore an idea for increasing the level of tourist income generated in the Port Elizabeth （Eastern Cape） area. The idea was researched by means of conducting a cost-benefit analysis of two tourist related projects. These projects would introduce Charter airline services between Europe and Port Elizabeth. A second objective was to identify constraints on the project or market failures which would prevent their implementation. The economic theory behind the operation of an airline showed that lease costs and aeroplane operating costs are the two most important factors determine Charter airline＇s profitability. In order to offset these costs, airlines must achieve high passenger load factors. Charter airlines have the advantage over scheduled airlines, in that they will only fly if a minimum level of people has pre-booked seats. Two aeroplanes were chosen for comparison purpose： an Airbus A 340-300 and a Boeing 767-300ER. The private benefits calculated were based on load factors between 80 and 95 percent for ticket prices of USD 667 and USD 773. In addition, to private costs and benefits, social benefits were also estimated in the form of additional secondary revenue generated. With the introduction of net social benefits, both projects become profitable. A 50 percent substitution of revenue generated by the Charter tourists reduces the profits for the both projects drastically. A project based on a Boeing 767-300ER is the most efficient project as it has the highest NPV and BCR values. A reduction in the lease cost of the Airbus 340-300 could make projects based on it more competitive. A few constraints on the establishment of a Charter airline operator based in Port Elizabeth are： the lack of adequate runway for the landing of the long-haul carriers and the need of a larger liberalisation of the aviation policy by eliminating protectionism. The cost benefit analysis undertaken in this research does not take into account social costs and benefits to the economy of establishing a Charter airline based in Port Elizabeth, such as an employment, infrastructure development and poverty alleviation. Nevertheless the analysis does suggest that there are strong private and social benefits warranting the establishment of an airline business between Europe and Port Elizabeth. The economic benefits of the tourism industry and its link to airline travel are outlined in section 3. It is shown that the growth of the airline industry is a major component and contributor to tourism growth.

Assessment of Utilizing of the Perception on Environmentally Friendly Products

Nowadays, the majority of people believe that solving the environmental problems should start with the adoption of sufficient and convincing education programs and then enhance environmentally friendly consciousness. This would eventually lead to the final solution. However, the problem solution scenario is not so simple. Naturally, consumers＇ behaviors are difficult to be predicted and they do not always necessarily follow the rational-mind purchasing criteria. When purchasing food, mostly they choose the product because of its taste, quality and price, and lastly maybe due to its environmental friendliness from one hand. From the other hand, the manufacturer＇s priority is for the quantity sold and profit rather than product＇s environmental safety. Recently, is it possible to change consumers＇ mind-set and make them behave and select products in environmentally friendly manner？ The author thinks it＇s possible and the key is the kind of trigger through heart-moving incentive. This paper focuses on the Acorn Point System Project, which incorporates carbon foot print and carbon offset scheme, and argues about methods that can be used effectively and efficiently to facilitate those environmentally unmotivated companies and consumers to adopt environmentally friendly mind-set and shift to more proactive ones. This paper has confirmed that the most effective factors to stimulate unmotivated consumers to better acquire environmentally friendly mind-set, which leads to proactive eco-mind products purchasers and activists, are： （1） non-environmental product benefits must be stressed even for the environmentally friendly products; （2） environment consideration project incubation involves various interest parties and mechanism of shared satisfaction as a team; （3） start with small scale community project, which enables participants to recognize their project contribution.

Ownership Concentration and the Value Effect of Related Party Transactions （RPTs）

This paper investigates 218 related party transactions （RPTs） in Israel, an economy characterized by a high percentage of closely-held finns and identifies a non-linear inverted U connection between the value effect of RPT and the level of finn ownership concentration. This non-linear connection is similar to the worldwide documented quadratic （inverted U） relation between ownership concentration and a finn＇s Tobin＇s Q. The relation becomes even statistically stronger, when measuring ownership concentration using a strategic power approach, in an attempt to identify the source of this puzzling connection.