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Research summary: This study analyzes how the divestitures that are impelled by activist investors in their campaigns against public corporations affect shareholder value. Using hand-collected data on the activist campaigns that were launched against and the divestitures that were undertaken by Fortune 500 companies between 2007 and 2015, we find that activist-impelled divestitures are more positively associated with immediate and longer-term measures of shareholder value than comparable managerled divestitures. These performance differences persist for nearly two years after the completion of these deals. Our results empirically test the idea that firms with agency problems unlock shareholder value when they divest, and support the notion that activist investors fulfill an important external governance function. Our work also opens new research opportunities and offers practical implications as well. Managerial summary: This study investigates how divestitures that are undertaken at the behest of activist investors affect shareholder value. We find that divestitures that were undertaken under pressure from activist investors are associated with more positive shareholder returns than comparable divestitures that were undertaken voluntarily by managers. These performance differences persist for nearly two years after the completion of these deals, alleviating concerns about the purported shorttermism of activist investors. Our findings suggest that activist investors may fulfill an important governance function by inducing managers to undertake strategies that they might not otherwise pursue, thereby unlocking shareholder value.

The phenomenon of “raiding,” i.e., the unlawful establishment of control over the property or governing boards of an enterprise, as well as the seizure of its shares, has been reported in all countries of the world for many decades. This phenomenon has the most dangerous forms in the states with the underdeveloped economy and legal system, particularly in Ukraine. The paper aims to determine the areas for counteracting and overcoming corporate raiding in Ukraine and to provide proposals for improving the legislative framework for reliable protection against attacks on the enterprises’ property.The information in the paper, including the geography of raider attacks, indicates a greater vulnerability of enterprises in the most economically developed regions, with extensive transport infrastructure and the prospects for various industries and sectors of the economy development. The state should take some steps to increase the level of enterprises protection against raider attacks. Thus, to improve the quality of preventing and combating corporate raiding, this paper argues the need to develop and adopt the Corporate Property Protection Code of Ukraine. The introduction of the raider attacks register will be an effective measure to warn potential investors and counterparties about the dangers of cooperation with certain companies. The state register should be bilingual (Ukrainian and English) and contain information on the attempts and cases of raider attacks on property and corporate business rights. Also for further innovations in starting a business, Ukraine must pay attention to New Zealand’s and Finland’s experience.

Social animals display a wide range of behavioural defences against infectious diseases, some of which increase social contacts with infectious individuals (e.g. mutual grooming), while others decrease them (e.g. social exclusion). These defences often rely on the detection of infectious individuals, but this can be achieved in several ways that are difficult to differentiate. Here, we combine non-pathogenic immune challenges with automated tracking in colonies of the clonal raider ant to ask whether ants can detect the immune status of their social partners and to quantify their behavioural responses to this perceived infection risk. We first show that a key behavioural response elicited by live pathogens (allogrooming) can be qualitatively recapitulated by immune challenges alone. Automated scoring of interactions between all colony members reveals that this behavioural response increases the network centrality of immune-challenged individuals through a general increase in physical contacts. These results show that ants can detect the immune status of their nest-mates and respond with a general ‘caring’ strategy, rather than avoidance, towards social partners that are perceived to be infectious. Finally, we find no evidence that changes in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles drive these behavioural effects.

The conflict between humans and wildlife often arises from crop raiding and has a significant impact on both subsistence humans’ livelihoods and long-term wildlife survival in developing countries. The study aimed to identify crop-raiding wild animals, the prevalence of crop damage, and the conflict resolution mechanism. Data were collected by questionnaire, interview, and direct field observation to estimate the extent of the crop loss and species of an animal involved in crop-raiding. The findings identified Anubis Baboon (Papio anubis), Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), and Grivet Monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) as the major crop pests, followed by Porcupines (Hystrix cristata), Birds and Mongoose (Helogale hirtula). Foraging typically Maize (Zea may) followed by Teff (Eragrostis tef), Enset (Ensete ventricosum), and Barley (Hordeum vulgare). Deforestation, illegal agricultural activities, and farmland distance to the forest were identified as causes of the conflict. In addition, scarecrow, chasing, and permanent guardians have been identified as traditional crop damage prevention techniques of the local people of the area. Therefore, to alleviate the existing impact of crop damage or loss by crop-pest or crop-raiding animals in the area adopting various most suitable approaches along with the awareness and involvement of local farmers would be a critical step.

This study addressed the underlying mechanisms through which future time perspective (FTP) motivates entrepreneurial career intention. By focusing on entrepreneurship as an important career decision for individual sustainable career development, we argued that the generic use of a learning orientation approach mediates the effect of the presence of an extended FTP on individual entrepreneurial career intention. We also posited that entrepreneurial passion for founding moderates the relationship between learning orientation and individual entrepreneurial career intention. Using a survey data of 416 students attending a Chinese public sector university, we found that FTP enhanced learning orientation, which, in turn, stimulated entrepreneurial career intention. Moreover, the positive relationship between learning orientation and entrepreneurial career intention became strong as entrepreneurial passion for founding increased. Results were discussed in terms of implications for theory and practice.

While the economics of predatory states has been at the center of an emerging discussion, a rich body of literature on predation already exists in the scholarship on post-communist regimes. This paper offers a glimpse into that literature, developing (1) a typology of coercive corporate raiding (“reiderstvo”) and (2) a model for understanding the logic of contemporary predatory states. The typology starts from the original form of reiderstvo, carried out by criminal groups (“black raiding”), and introduces the concepts of “grey” and “white raiding”. We identify “centrally led corporate raiding” as a form of state predation not considered in public choice models, despite the fact that it exemplifies the functioning of contemporary authoritarian regimes. Expanding the models of Leeson (J Inst Theor Econ (JITE) 163:467–482, 2007) and Vahabi (Public Choice 168:153–175, 2016), we show how centrally led corporate raiding can be incorporated into the discussion of predatory states. We provide illustrations by offering two examples from the predatory state of contemporary Hungary, the case of an outdoor advertising company (ESMA) and the case of the banking sector.

Investment Banking (IB) has an aura around itself. Be it The Art of War, Corporate Raiders, or the language of combat and victory, the Wall Street seems to have a special fondness for battle metaphors (Deloitte, 2014). One such intriguing battle is an ongoing contest between the bulge bracket and boutique advisories, played out in the field of investment banking. The bulge bracket banks have always been at the forefront of the launching of any new financial product, with the boutique advisory a comparative smaller bank that focuses on a few specific services that the full service bulge bracket banks can provide (Choudhary, 2016). Among the bulge brackets, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported a total revenue increase of 82.42% in the first quarter of 2021, year on year. With a net margin of 38.03%, the company achieved higher profitability than its competitors (csimarket.com, retrieved on 10.05.21). It was also ranked 17th by total revenue on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations (fortune.com, retrieved on 10.05.21). As of Jan. 2020, the biggest boutique banking firm (basis of market capitalisation) in the U.S. was Lazard Ltd., (bloombergquint.com, retrieved on 15.05.21). It is also the worlds largest independent advisory (lazard.com, retrieved on 15.05.21), operating from 43 cities across 27 countries in North, Central and South America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. This paper revisits the worlds of both bulge brackets and boutique advisories, and ends up comparing the two organisations - one from each category.

‘Outlaw’ is not a common category of archaeological thought but it is perhaps more useful than meets the eye. ‘Outlaws’ are typically viewed as contingent on legal and capitalist systems; they are, I suggest, also material, affective phenomena that draw our attention to how transgression, dissent and disorder are conceived through archaeological thinking. Here, I outline some ways in which ‘outlaw’ figures are ‘good to think with’, particularly for historical and colonial contexts but also for broader, more global frontier situations. Through three sketches of archetypal ‘outlaws’ in southern Africa's recent past, I consider where these disruptive figures draw attention to how mobility, violence, rebellion and state imagination (and the limits thereof) have been imagined through material misbehaviours.

Background and Research Aims Human-wildlife conflict is a significant issue worldwide mainly in developing countries where livestock husbandry and crop production are important aspects of rural people’s livelihoods and income. This study on human-wildlife conflict was conducted in and around Chebera-Churchura National Park from September 2019 to August 2021. The main aim of the study was to investigate the extent of human-wildlife conflict in the study area. Methods Data were collected using semi structured questionnaire and direct observation on crop damage. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the collected data and responses were compared by using chi-square test (χ2) and one-way ANOVA. Results The result indicated that problems encountered by the local people due to wildlife species were crop damage (99.2%), livestock predation (67.8%), disease transmission (28.8%) and human attack (11.9%). According to the report of those who are affected, the average number of livestock predated by wild animals in and around Chebera Churchura National Park was 2.69±0.17 per household per year. Maize was the most highly affected crop type by different raiders in the study area, for instance the average maize loss by olive baboon (Papio anubis) was 303 ETB (Ethiopian Birr) (6USD) per household per year. Generally, the loss of the total estimated cost of all crop types during the study period due to crop raiders was 320,515.00 ETB (Ethiopian Birr) (6410 USD). Conclusion Conflict has occurred in the study area for many years and the rate of conflict is increasing from time to time. Implication for Conservation Integrated conflict mitigation measures should be implemented by the park administration and stakeholders to alleviate the problem and ensure sustainable coexistence of wildlife and human in the area.