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The purpose of this paper is to investigate what is denoted as episodes of concentrated short‐selling activity, or consecutive days of abnormal short‐sale activity in a particular stock. The motivation to do so is two fold. First, US regulators and regulators in other countries have restricted short selling in order to protect the integrity of markets. Second, there is some conflicting academic research determining whether short sellers are manipulative in nature.

After defining these episodes by concentrated short selling, the paper examines returns before and after to determine whether these episodes target struggling stocks and whether these episodes predict negative returns.

Contrary to the argument that episodes of concentrated shorting activity target struggling stocks, it is found that these episodes follow periods of positive returns. Further, it is found that abnormal volatility and high trading volume also predict the occurrence of these episodes. These results suggest that concentrated shorting occurs in stocks that are increasing in price during periods of heterogeneity among investors expectations (Berkman et al.). It is also found that short sellers during bear raids are able to predict when prices reverse as returns become negative the day after the last day of the raid. Combined, the results suggest that bear raids by short sellers are important for the efficiency of markets.

The results from this study have important regulatory implications as well as implications regarding the informational efficiency of stock prices.

In the industrial silylation process, the cost of production can be greatly reduced by reducing the frequency of the replacement of the silane solution. The purpose of this paper is to describe how a method of discontinuous addition of concentrated solution into the KH560 treatment bath was developed, to improve further the effective availability of the silane solution and reduce cost of production.

The preparation and addition of each incremental amount of concentrated KH560 was studied in detail.

The results indicate that adding concentrated silane solution is an effective method of maintaining the target bath concentration.

The paper describes how a method of adding concentrated KH560 was developed to prolong the working time of KH560 solution for silane coating production, and to improve the availability of the KH560 in solution. The results indicated that adding concentrated solution was an effective method of prolonging the working time of the silane solution. The mixture ratio of the concentrated solution, and the volume of each incremental amount, both affected the performance of the KH560 solution.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of industry structure and macroeconomic indicators on return on equity (ROE) of listed financial services firms.

Herfindahl–Hirschman Index concentration scales were used to categorise industries into competitive, moderate and concentrated segments, while Arbitrage Pricing Model principles were used to capture the effect of macroeconomic fundamentals on ROE. Generalised method of moments estimator was used to model random effects which were supported by the Hausman test.

Findings suggest that the influence of macroeconomic fundamentals on ROE deteriorates as one moves from competitive to concentrated industries. ROE is volatile in concentrated markets and less volatile in competitive markets. Concentrated markets generally enjoy monopoly profits. Gross domestic product and interest rates have a positive impact on ROE, while inflation, unemployment and exchange rates have a negative effect.

This study highlights the need to apply appropriate business strategies and policies depending on the structure of the industry. Competitive advantage strategies may assist in sustaining profits of firms in competitive markets. Regulators need to be proactive and stress test the impact of a policy on industry performance before implementation because competitive and concentrated markets react differently to external shocks. Risk tolerant investors may invest in volatile markets such as Russia and South Africa, while risk-averse investors may prefer to invest in less volatile markets such as India and China.

The purpose of this paper is to extend recent literature regarding the effects of competition on racial earnings by examining the effects of global competition on racial wages of union and non‐union workers of different skill levels. Additionally, it is intended that inference be drawn regarding whether global competition is a viable means to eliminate racial wage discrimination.

This paper utilizes quantile regression to examine the effect of global competition on the racial wage gap of workers in high‐ and low‐concentration industries at different points along the earnings distribution. Additionally, the analysis utilizes the highest level of import penetration in each industry over the sample period to examine whether global competition is a viable means to eliminate racial wage discrimination.

In concentrated industries, non‐union whites at most skill levels receive a substantial wage premium compared with their black counterparts. Further, imports reduce racial earnings inequality by significantly decreasing the wages of low‐ and medium‐skill non‐union whites. However, imports cannot mitigate racial earnings discrimination for non‐union workers at most skill levels.

These findings suggest that, if market forces cannot alleviate racial wage discrimination, government anti‐discriminatory policies may be a necessary measure.

No previous study has examined the effect of global competition on the racial wage gap of workers of different skill levels. Further, no study has empirically tested whether international competition is a viable means to eliminate racial wage discrimination.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the design of concentrated winding permanent magnet (PM) machines dedicated to propulsion applications considering both surface‐mounted and flux‐concentrating arrangements of the PMs.

Following the selection of a suitable distribution of the concentrated winding, a derivation of the machine inductances is carried out in order to highlight the increase in the flux‐weakening range gained through the substitution of distributed windings by concentrated ones. Then, mmf and finite element analysis are carried out in order to investigate the air gap flux density and the torque production capability of both surface‐mounted and flux‐concentrating PM machines.

The paper finds that, although both machines provide almost the same average torque, the surface‐mounted PM machine offers lower torque ripple with respect to the flux‐concentrating arrangement: a crucial benefit in electric and hybrid propulsion systems.

The research should be extended to the comparison of the obtained results related to the torque production capability with experimental measurements.

An increase in the efficiency associated with the extension of the flux‐weakening range and a reduction of the volume make the concentrated winding PM machines interesting candidates, especially in large‐scale production applications such as the automotive industry.

The paper proposes an approach to design and performance investigation of concentrated winding PM machines considering both surface‐mounted and flux‐concentrating arrangements of the PMs.

Concentrated ownership implies greater alignment between ownership and control, mitigating the agency problem. However, it may also engender governance challenges such as funds appropriation through related party transactions and the oppression of minority shareholders, especially in the context of weak legal systems. We draw from legal theory (the tradeoff controlling shareholder model and private benefits of control) and from organization theory (socioemotional wealth), to suggest that concentrated ownership can be beneficial in both robust and weak legal systems for different reasons. We advance theory on the effects of controlling shareholders and suggest that the longer-term outlook associated with engaged concentrated ownership can aid the shift of the corporation toward Berle and Means' (1932, p. 355) “third possibility” of corporations serving the interests of not just the stockholders or management but also of society.

The chapter investigates three channels through which private benefits are hypothesized to be extracted in dual class companies: excess executive compensation, excess capital expenditures and excess cash holdings.

With a propensity score matched sample of S&P 1500 dual class and single class companies with concentrated control, the chapter analyzes the relationship between the valuation discount of dual class companies and measures of excess executive compensation, excess capital expenditure and excess cash holdings.

Executives in dual class firms earn greater compensation relative to their counterparts in single class firms. This excess compensation is more pronounced when the executive is a family member. The value of dual class shares is discounted most when cash holdings and executive compensation of dual class are excessive. Excess compensation is highest for executives who are family members of dual class companies. The dual class discount is not related to excess capital expenditures.

The research shows that the discount in the value of dual class shares in relation to the value of closely controlled single class company shares is directly related to the channels through which controlling shareholder-managers can extract private benefits.

Purpose – The main research question of this contribution is whether local market concentration influences R&D and innovation activities of foreign affiliates of transnational companies.

Methodology/approach – We focus on transition economies and use discriminant function analysis to investigate differences in the innovation activity of foreign affiliates operating in concentrated markets, compared to firms operating in nonconcentrated markets. The database consists of the results of a questionnaire administered to a representative sample of foreign affiliates in a selection of five transition economies.

Findings – We find that foreign affiliates in more concentrated markets, when compared to foreign affiliates in less concentrated markets, export more to their own foreign investor's network, do more basic and applied research, use more of the existing technology already incorporated in the products of their own foreign investor's network, do less process innovation, and acquire less knowledge from abroad.

Research limitations/implications – The results may be specific to transition economies only.

Practical implications – The main implications of these results are that host country market concentration stimulates intranetwork knowledge diffusion (with a risk of transfer pricing), while more intense competition stimulates knowledge creation (at least as far as process innovation is concerned) and knowledge absorption from outside the affiliates' own network. Policy makers should focus their support policies on companies in more competitive sectors, as they are more likely to transfer new technologies.

Originality/value – It contributes to the literature on the relationship between market concentration and innovation, based on a unique survey database of foreign affiliates of transnational corporations operating in Eastern Europe.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how concentrated owners add value to Asian firms. While prior research suggests that relational owners (i.e., business groups, top management team, board, government, banks, families, and corporation) may help firms fill institutional voids, this study proposes that it is transactional owners (i.e., foreign and institutional investors) lacking this ability who contribute most to firm performance. As these owners frequently hail from contexts with well-developed corporate governance traditions, they tend to have experience with the design and implementation of such governance practices.

This study involves a meta-analysis covering 276 studies from 17 Asian countries.

This study shows that transactional owners impose effective governance practices such as separating the chief executive officer (CEO) and Chair roles and assuring board independence. These practices promote decisions benefiting all shareholders, such as preventing diversification and financial over-leveraging.

This study contributes to the comparative corporate governance literature by showing that implementing internal governance practices helps improve firm performance in Asia. It also contributes to the owner identity literature by opening the black box of how transactional and relational owners differentially affect firms’ strategic behavior. Overall, this study yields a more nuanced understanding of what transactional owners contribute to Asian firms.

The purpose of this paper is to ask the following question: is there a link between being politically connected, the quality of governance and the company’s ownership structure?

The author then examined Canadian companies from the S&P/TSX index for the year 2015.

Political connectedness is significantly associated with lower quality of governance in relation to shareholders’ rights; ownership concentration is associated with lower quality of governance in relation to the overall governance, board of directors, shareholders’ rights and compensation structure indices; ownership structure does not mediate the relationship between political connections and quality of governance; and number of political connections through the executive is associated with less risky governance practices in relation to compensation structure; in other words, when members of the executive are politically connected, the firm adopts better compensation practices.

The time limitation is the main weakness of this study and probably the cause of observed mitigated results.

The author hope that the results will inform regulators on the need not only to further regulate the business-politics relationship, but also to consider the specific traits of concentrated ownership companies and the most critical aspects of corporate governance in politically connected firms, such as shareholders’ rights, particularly those of minority shareholders. For example, an intriguing case to investigate in the Canadian context would be Pierre Karl Péladeau’s foray into Quebec politics and the controversy ignited by his political bid in light of his position as majority shareholder (75 percent) in communications giant Quebecor Inc.

In fact, the results shown that concentrated ownership firms have lower governance quality than non-concentrated ones. Furthermore, in a concentrated ownership context, the minority shareholders’ rights could be threatened. In this sense, the results also shown that shareholders’ rights seem to be the most critical governance issue for the politically connected Canadian firms. These results are therefore the indication that Canadian financial market regulators must take action about politically connected and concentrated ownership firms in order to further protect minority shareholders’ rights.

This study makes a double theoretical contribution by enriching the literature on corporate governance and by providing one of the first investigations into the direct and comprehensive relationships between political connections, governance and ownership structure.