AN ANALYSIS OF SHAREHOLDER AGREEMENTS

Shareholder agreements govern the relations among shareholders in privately held firms, such as joint ventures and venture capital‐backed companies. We provide an economic explanation for key clauses in such agreements—namely, put and call options, tag‐along and drag‐along rights, demand and piggy‐back rights, and catch‐up clauses. In a dynamic moral hazard setting, we show that these clauses can ensure that the contract parties make efficient ex ante investments in the firm. They do so by constraining renegotiation. In the absence of the clauses, ex ante investment would be distorted by unconstrained renegotiation aimed at (i) precluding value‐destroying ex post transfers, (ii) inducing value‐increasing ex post investments, or (iii) precluding hold‐out on value‐increasing sales to a trade buyer or the IPO market. (JEL: G34)     

Diversity of romantic experiences in late adolescence and their contribution to identity formation

Romance constitutes a central experience in adolescence, which can take several forms including (a) serious romance with a steady partner, (b) casual and short‐lived dating, and (c) pending experiences of romantic thoughts and attempts. Using a three‐way longitudinal design, the present study examined the gender differences and developmental changes of these romantic experiences, and their cross‐lagged associations with identity processes, throughout one year in late adolescence. 389 students (63% girls) filled out questionnaires about their romantic experiences and identity processes. Girls reported more serious romance than did boys, who reported more casual dating and pending experiences. Serious romance increased over the year for both genders whereas casual dating and pending experiences continued to rise only for boys. The cross‐lagged model highlighted that serious romantic experience positively predicted identity commitments and exploration in depth whereas identity exploration in breadth positively predicted casual dating. This pattern was stable over the three time points and across gender and age groups. Overall, this study invites consideration of more diverse romantic experiences than those associated with tangible involvement. We discuss the contribution of romantic experiences to the identity dynamic.     

作为精神分析的聆听——关于中国孤独症儿童家长的精神分析的讲座

2002年12月2日,现任欧洲和中国精神分析互助联合会主席、法国精神分析家米歇尔·吉布尔(MichelGuibal)先生应邀在北京大学就有关中国孤独症儿童家长的精神分析的命题,与北大师生展开了一次学术对话,下面刊发的就是这次讲座的部分内容。——编者     

Wavelet‐based estimators for mixture regression

We consider a process that is observed as a mixture of two random distributions, where the mixing probability is an unknown function of time. The setup is built upon a wavelet‐based mixture regression. Two linear wavelet estimators are proposed. Furthermore, we consider three regularizing procedures for each of the two wavelet methods. We also discuss regularity conditions under which the consistency of the wavelet methods is attained and derive rates of convergence for the proposed estimators. A Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to illustrate the performance of the estimators. Various scenarios for the mixing probability function are used in the simulations, in addition to a range of sample sizes and resolution levels. We apply the proposed methods to a data set consisting of array Comparative Genomic Hybridization from glioblastoma cancer studies.     

Risk aversion in expected intertemporal discounted utilities bandit problems

We consider a situation where an individual is facing an uncertain situation, but may costly alter his knowledge of the uncertainties. We study in this context how risk aversion may modify the individual search behavior. We consider a one-armed bandit problem (where one arm is safe and the other is risky) and study how the agent risk aversion can change the sequence of arms selected. The main result is that when the utility function is more concave, the agent has more chances to select the safe arm. We also discuss how search is affected by risk aversion.     

Modelling and controlling product manufacturing systems using bond-graphs and state equations: Continuous systems and discrete systems which can be represented by continuous models

This paper presents an approach to the modelling and control phases involved in a cooperative process of design and management of the manufacturing systems. Modelling the evolution of the production flow, in the different sections of the system, is based upon the use of the bondgraph methodology in order to reach the state formalism which constitutes one of the modern representations of automation. The class of the systems studied ranges from continuous systems to discrete systems, which can be represented by a continuous approach according to the level of approximation required. The first part of this paper is dedicated to the development of generic models associated with the various basic entities of the manufacturing systems. Then, the bondgraph model of any system is obtained by assembling generic models in relation to the implementation of the means of the studied system, thus guaranteeing a representation which is quite close to the engineering sketches. Finally, switching to the state equation is performed systematically with the easiness provided by this formalism while taking into account the causality principle. An application, involving most of the elementary models developed, concludes the paper.     

Three Lenses on Occupations and Professions in Organizations: Becoming,Doing, and Relating

Management and organizational scholarship is overdue for a reappraisal of occupations and professions as well as a critical review of past and current work on the topic. Indeed, the field has largely failed to keep pace with the rising salience of occupational and professional (as opposed to organizational) dynamics in work life. Moreover, not only is there a dearth of studies that explicitly take occupational or professional categories into account, but there is also an absence of a shared analytical framework for understanding what occupations and professions entail. Our goal is therefore two-fold: first, to offer guidance to scholars less familiar with this terrain who encounter occupational or professional dynamics in their own inquiries and, second, to introduce a three-part framework for conceptualizing occupations and professions to help guide future inquiries. We suggest that occupations and professions can be understood through lenses of “becoming”, “doing”, and “relating”. We develop this framework as we review past literature and discuss the implications of each approach for future research and, more broadly, for the field of management and organizational theory.     

Relations between Theory of Mind and Indirect and Physical Aggression in Kindergarten: Evidence of the Moderating Role of Prosocial Behaviors

The present study examined the association between theory of mind and indirect versus physical aggression, as well as the potential moderating role of prosocial behavior in this context. Participants were 399 twins and singletons drawn from two longitudinal studies in Canada. At five years of age, children completed a theory of mind task and a receptive vocabulary task. A year later, teachers evaluated children's indirect and physical aggression and prosocial behavior. Indirect aggression was significantly and positively associated with theory of mind skills, but only in children with average or low levels of prosocial behavior. Physical aggression was negatively associated with prosocial behavior but not with theory of mind. Each analysis included gender, receptive vocabulary, and the respective other subtype of aggression as control variables. These results did not differ between girls and boys or between twins and singletons. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.