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The purpose of this paper is to assess the determinants of the early termination of infrastructure projects implemented under public–private partnerships (PPP), concessions or privately managed divested assets.

Cross-section and duration model estimations were applied to a sample of 2,655 infrastructure projects implemented in Latin America and the Caribbean for the period 1993–2017. Estimation techniques consist of a logistic model and cox proportional hazards model (CPHM) applied to alternative specifications, including diverse causal factors.

Evidence is found that early termination of infrastructure projects is determined by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Among the intrinsic factors, the main characteristics of projects that increase the likelihood of failure are the size or scale of the project, the sector in which the project is developed (transport and water and sanitation) and being investments in divested assets. Extrinsic factors that showed a negative impact on the risk of early termination are good regulatory quality and domestic macroeconomic stability. Likewise, external real and financial shocks also contribute importantly to explain the likelihood of early termination of infrastructure projects.

The results reveal that particular care must be put in design and supervision of large-scale projects, either in transport or water and sanitation. As well, risks associated with external shocks must be explicitly acknowledged in project design, with appropriate remedies and safeguards. The prevalence of relatively high rates of early termination in projects in divested assets in contrast with PPP suggests the importance of introducing simpler way out mechanisms for concessionaires. Finally, the results show the key importance of institutional factors like regulatory quality in determining project failure on economic performance of infrastructure projects.

In contrast to the previous literature, the analysis shows the decisive role played by financial external factors and institutional factors of Latin American and Caribbean countries in early termination of private participation in infrastructure projects. As well, the finding of a higher likelihood of failure in projects that involve investments in divested assets versus concession or PPP suggests the need of investigate further the tradeoffs regarding the balance that must exist among guarantees offered to investors in infrastructure projects and the need to keep contractual decisions in line with market signals.

This paper empirically examines the direct and indirect effects of perceived termination severity on customers' behavioral reactions via betrayal and justice. It also examines the moderating effects of attitude toward complaining (ATC).

This paper employs a quantitative method approach using a scenario-based experiment in a banking setting.

The results show that a more severe termination approach results in higher customer negative reactions. Betrayal is shown to be a key driver of customers' behavioral reactions, and ATC moderates these effects.

Future studies should examine the effects of different termination strategies in markedly different cultures and should also examine other boundary conditions such as prior warning, relationship quality and service importance in influencing customers' negative behavioral responses.

This paper contributes to the service termination literature by shedding light on the impact of termination severity on customers' reactions. It also unveils the mechanism that explains customers' reactions to service termination. Further, it reveals that ATC moderates customers' public (but not private) complaining behaviors.

In M&A markets, acquirers face a hold-up problem of losing the value of investments they make in due diligence, negotiations, and post-acquisition planning if targets would pursue the options of waiting for better offers or selling to an alternative bidder. This chapter extends information economics to the literature on M&A contracting by arguing that such contracting problems are more likely to occur for targets with better outside options created by the information available on their resources and prospects. We also argue that acquirers address these contracting problems by using termination payment provisions to safeguard their investments. While previous research in corporate strategy and finance has suggested that certain factors can facilitate an acquisition by reducing a focal acquirer’s risk of adverse selection (e.g., signals, certifications), we note that these same factors can make the target attractive to other potential bidders and can exacerbate the risk of hold-up, thereby leading acquirers to use termination payment provisions as contractual safeguards.

Early termination of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in China is caused by various risk factors, resulting in significant losses. This study aimed to clarify the key factors and identify the causal relationships among these factors.

Social network analysis (SNA) was used to analyze 37 risk factors that were summarized from 97 early terminated PPP cases and to identify the relationships among these key risk factors. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) was conducted to explore the causal relationships. Data were collected from case documents, questionnaires and interviews.

A total of 17 key risk factors were identified and distributed in a hierarchical structure with six tiers. Among these key risk factors, the root causes affecting the early termination of PPP projects were government oversight in decision-making, local government transition, policy and law changes and force majeure. The direct cause was insufficient returns. Furthermore, local government and private sector defaults were essential mediating factors. Local government transition and the low willingness of the private sector were highlighted as potential key risks.

The cases and experts were all from China, and outcomes in other countries or cultures may differ from those of this study. Therefore, further studies are required.

This research provides knowledge regarding the key risk factors leading to the early termination of PPP projects and guidance on avoiding these factors and blocking the factors' transmission in the project lifecycle.

This study contributes to the knowledge of risk management by emphasizing the importance of local government transition, the low willingness of the private sector and project cooperation and operation, whose significance is ignored in the existing literature. The proposed ISM clarifies the role of risk factors in causing early termination and explains their transmission patterns.

This study aims to investigate crack propagation in a moisture-preconditioned soft-termination multi-layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) during thermal reflow process.

Experimental and extended finite element method (X-FEM) numerical analyses were used to analyse the soft-termination MLCC during thermal reflow. A cross-sectional field emission scanning electron microscope image of an actual MLCC’s crack was used to validate the accuracy of the simulation results generated in the study.

At 270°C, micro-voids between the copper-electrode and copper-epoxy layers absorbed 284.2 mm/mg³ of moisture, which generated 6.29 MPa of vapour pressure and caused a crack to propagate. Moisture that rapidly vaporises during reflow can cause stresses that exceed the adhesive/substrate interface’s adhesion strength of 6 MPa. Higher vapour pressure reduces crack development resistance. Thus, the maximum crack propagation between the copper-electrode and copper-epoxy layers at high reflow temperature was 0.077 mm. The numerical model was well-validated, as the maximum crack propagation discrepancy was 2.6%.

This research holds significant implications for the industry by providing valuable insights into the moisture-induced crack propagation mechanisms in soft-termination MLCCs during the reflow process. The findings can be used to optimise the design, manufacturing and assembly processes, ultimately leading to enhanced product quality, improved performance and increased reliability in various electronic applications. Moreover, while the study focused on a specific type of soft-termination MLCC in the reflow process, the methodologies and principles used in this research can be extended to other types of MLCC packages. The fundamental understanding gained from this study can be extrapolated to similar structures, enabling manufacturers to implement effective strategies for crack reduction across a wider range of MLCC applications.

The moisture-induced crack propagation in the soft-termination MLCC during thermal reflow process has not been reported to date. X-FEM numerical analysis on crack propagation have never been researched on the soft-termination MLCC.

The purpose of this paper is to study the implementation of a new open-ended contract termination in 2008 in France, called the rupture conventionnelle (RC), which is a mutually agreed contract termination. More precisely, this paper analyses first the impact of the RC on the employers’ termination decisions (termination or not?). Then it seeks to provide empirical evidence of a substitution between the RC and other contract terminations (if there is termination, what types?).

The approach is first empirical. The author uses two matched firms’ data sets: one relating to the movement of employees and other from accounting data from 2006 to 2009. Using a propensity score matching method, the author creates two similar (from observable characteristics) firms’ groups – those that used RC in 2009 and those not. The author compares the evolution of the employment decisions between the two groups between 2008 and 2009 in order to identify the specific effect of the RC in the user firms.

The results indicate that the introduction of the RC tends to increase workforce exits and does lead to much more job destruction in the user firms, i.e. job destruction would have been weaker in the user firms if the RC had not been implemented. Substitutions with dismissals for personal reasons and for economic reasons also may have appeared, albeit weakly.

The RC seems an important measure to make the labour market more flexible, especially in France where EPL is often criticize for its rigidities. But few studies analyse the consequences of this new institutional rule on firms’ behaviour and with firms’ data set. Then this paper provides first some understanding and assessment of the economic effects of the RC.

The purpose of this paper is to inform managers about the recent increase in wrongful termination suits and the high price employers can be forced to pay if their company is found guilty of wrongful termination. Although the focus is on common termination errors made in the 1980s and 1990s, some steps are suggested to help prevent and defend against wrongful termination suits. Finally, a new method being considered to deal with wrongful termination is presented, The Model Employment Termination Act. Businesses are now more likely than ever to be sued for wrongful discharge. The increase in wrongful discharge cases is a result of recent changes in employment law, court interpretations of employment law, and the highly litigious climate which now exists. Today, the deck seems to be stacked in favor of the terminated employee. In fact, a recent survey in California revealed that plaintiffs who get jury trials win about 75% of the time, the average award being approximately $300,000. In addition, legal expenses to defend wrongful discharge cases averaged $80,000. If that is not bad enough, the situation is expected to get worse before the pendulum begins to swing back towards the employers. The purpose of this paper is not to go over all the employment laws nor is it to analyze all possible situations. The objective is to highlight common errors committed by managers, recent developments in wrongful termination, and point out steps to reduce the chance of losing a wrongful discharge suit. Most wrongful termination cases involve one or more of the following categories: breach of contract, breach of common law duty by the employer, discrimination, fraud, infliction of emotional distress, defamation, violation of public policy, or violation of personnel policy. They all carry unlimited compensatory and punitive damages. Moreover, because charges can be brought against both company and individuals, managers have their own assets at stake. According to Phillip Perry, employers commonly commit seven errors. (1) Use of implied promises in employee handbooks. (2) Making oral promises. (3) Terminating an employee just before the employee is to be vested. (4) Discharging an employee for failing to take a polygraph test. (5) Creating intolerable working conditions to force an employee to resign. (6) Discharging an employee for refusing to violate public policy. (7) Failure to evaluate employees honestly and put the evaluations in writing.

The steep rise in the cost of palladium metal in the last decade has necessitated significant research and development efforts for using the base metal nickel electrodes in the manufacture of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). Copper termination paste is hence a natural choice for end termination application of MLCCs using nickel electrodes, manufactured employing the base metal electrode (BME) process. The inert nitrogen atmosphere processing of the BME MLCCs has posed many challenges in the selection of organics (vehicles, binders, and additives), copper powders, and glasses for copper termination paste development. The effect of various organics and glasses on the drying as well as fired properties of different copper termination pastes is discussed. The effect of drying temperature and drying time on the fired properties of the copper termination, and the selection criteria for right composition of glass for copper termination paste are discussed. The properties of low and high firing temperature copper termination pastes are also presented.

This paper aims to identify and examine valid project termination reasons and the rebidding strategies of road construction project. Rebidding strategies is one of the measures to restructure terminated/troubled road construction project.

An instrument which comprised 82 items entitled “Project Termination and Rebidding Strategies in Road Construction Projects in Nigeria” (PTRS) was developed to evaluate 60 randomly sampled road projects using qualified project/site managers and engineers as project respondents for the purpose of securing valid information on the terminated and rebid road construction projects. Mean, standard deviation and factor analysis shall be used as analytical tools in identifying valid termination reasons and rebidding strategies and as well as the relationship between them through regression analysis.

The paper’s findings revealed major project termination reasons and rebidding strategies. It further indicated significant relationship between variables which constitutes project termination reasons and rebidding strategies through regression analysis.

The outcome of the paper could be of immense benefits during the procurement phase of public project, especially regarding road construction. Stakeholders involved in the road procurement should seek relevant information concerning the road project reprocurement from the expert prior to contractual obligations.

Major challenges confronting the road construction project involve inappropriate procurement practices which frequently culminate into late deliveries of project. Rebidding strategies serve as a model through which cost, time and quality needs of the project client can be reassured in restructuring a terminated/troubled project.

If a seller fails to deliver the correct quantity, the buyer may reject the goods in accordance with the Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 30(1). The nature of this right to reject is unclear, and whether breach by short delivery will suffice to terminate the contract is also unclear. The purpose of this paper is to clarify this area of law.

The focus is on the combined case‐law and academic commentary on the topic of short delivery, and the broader issue of termination.

The paper suggests that breach by short delivery does terminate the contract. It suggests that the right to cure cannot provide an entirely satisfactory response for victims of short delivery. The paper also proposes a reform of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 to take this into account.

This research mainly focused on the current legal position. Further research on the historical development of the rules on short delivery, which were crystallised in the Sale of Goods Act 1893, will provide valuable insights into this area of law.

The proposal for reform could have a practical benefit in terms of protecting buyers from the danger of short delivery, by providing them with a more secure remedy than what appears to be currently available.

To the extent of the author's knowledge, this is the first dedicated analysis of short delivery in the literature.