Suchergebnisse

Diese Dissertation befasst sich mit aktuellen Fragestellungen rund um Investitionen in Private Equity. Der erste Artikel bietet Investoren einen strategischen Ansatz zur Erreichung der gewünschten Asset Allokation. Es wird empfohlen, neue Commitments einzugehen in Höhe der 1) Ausschüttungen, 2) der nicht mehr abgerufenen Commitments, beide gewichtet mit dem inversen Investitionsgrad, sowie der Differenz zur gewünschten Asset Allokation im Portfoliokontext. Historische Simulationen belegen, dass mit diesem Ansatz ein Investitionsgrad in der Höhe von 0.7 bis 0.8 erreicht werden kann. Der zweite Artikel beschäftigt sich mit der Auswahl der Fondsmanager und dem Ansatz, in Fonds mit der besten Performance in der Vergangenheit zu investieren. Empirische Untersuchungen zeigen gemischte Resultate. Die praktische Umsetzung stellt Investoren vor Herausforderungen, da die Performance von vorhergehenden Fonds oft erst nach der Lancierung nachfolgender Fonds festgestellt werden kann. Ein gründlicher Due Diligence Prozess bietet Investoren vor diesem Hintergrund die beste Einsicht in die Erfolgsfaktoren der Fondsmanager und hat die vielversprechendsten Aussichten, Fonds mit der besten Performance zu eruieren. Investoren sind nicht nur auf der Suche nach den besten Fonds, auch die geografische Diversifikation nimmt einen zunehmenden Stellenwert ein: Der dritte Artikel untersucht die Erfolgsfaktoren der Private Equity Aktivität und zeigt Unterschiede in Asien als führendem Entwicklungsland für Private Equity im Vergleich zu entwickelten Ländern auf. Verkaufsopportunitäten sowie der Anteil der zur Verfügung gestellten Bankkredite stellen sich als wichtigste Faktoren heraus. Entgegen der Situation in entwickelten Ländern sind die Entwicklungsländer negativ korreliert mit Bankkrediten.

Smart information and communication technologies are finding their way into public administration. Today, there are numerous initiatives in the public sector, promising a new model for the public services: smart government. In this article, we seek to identify success factors for smart government initiatives. We provide a selected review of the current literature on the motivations, goals, and processes behind smart government so as to provide a conceptual and analytical basis for the analysis. Based on desk research, interviews, and workshops, our qualitative analysis reveals institutional (political commitment, clear governance, legal agility, digital awareness, and IT infrastructure), organizational (structure and processes, capabilities, values, and human resources), and leadership/strategy success factors that must be considered when implementing smart government initiatives. We discuss our findings and conclude by emphasizing the limitations as well as implications for praxis and future research.

High symmetry epitaxial quantum dots (QDs) with three or more symmetry planes provide a very promising route for the generation of entangled photons for quantum information applications. The great challenge to fabricate nanoscopic high symmetry QDs is further complicated by the lack of structural characterization techniques able to resolve small symmetry breaking. In this work, we present an approach for identifying and analyzing the signatures of symmetry breaking in the optical spectra of QDs. Exciton complexes in InGaAs/AlGaAs QDs grown along the [111]B crystalline axis in inverted tetrahedral pyramids are studied by polarization resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy combined with lattice temperature dependence, excitation power dependence and temporal photon correlation measurements. By combining such a systematic experimental approach with a simple theoretical approach based on a point-group symmetry analysis of the polarized emission patterns of each exciton complex, we demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a strict and coherent identification of all the observable spectral patterns of numerous exciton complexes and a quantitative determination of the fine structure splittings of their quantum states. This analysis is found to be particularly powerful for selecting QDs with the highest degree of symmetry ( C 3 v and ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/1367-2630/17/10/103017/njp519062ieqn1.gif] $D_3h$ ) for potential applications of these QDs as polarization entangled photon sources. We exhibit the optical spectra when evolving towards asymmetrical QDs, and show the higher sensitivity of certain exciton complexes to symmetry breaking. ; Funding agencies: Swiss National Science Foundation; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU) [2009-00971]

Validated in vitro methods for skin corrosion and irritation were adopted by the OECD and by the European Union during the last decade. In the EU, Switzerland and countries adopting the EU legislation, these assays may allow the full replacement of animal testing for identifying and classifying compounds as skin corrosives, skin irritants, and non irritants. In order to develop harmonised recommendations on the use of in vitro data for regulatory assessment purposes within the European framework, a workshop was organized by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health together with ECVAM and the BfR. It comprised stakeholders from various European countries involved in the process from in vitro testing to the regulatory assessment of in vitro data. Discussions addressed the following questions: (1) the information requirements considered useful for regulatory assessment; (2) the applicability of in vitro skin corrosion data to assign the corrosive subcategories as implemented by the EU Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation; (3) the applicability of testing strategies for determining skin corrosion and irritation hazards; and (4) the applicability of the adopted in vitro assays to test mixtures, preparations and dilutions. Overall, a number of agreements and recommendations were achieved in order to clarify and facilitate the assessment and use of in vitro data from regulatory accepted methods, and ultimately help regulators and scientists facing with the new in vitro approaches to evaluate skin irritation and corrosion hazards and risks without animal data. -® 2011 Elsevier Inc.