Gorm Gabrielsen

Managerial Ownership, Information Content of Earnings, and Discretionary Accruals in a Non–US Setting

This study employs Danish data to examine the empirical relationship between the proportion of managerial ownership and two characteristics of accounting earnings: the information content of earnings and the magnitude of discretionary accruals. In previous research concerning American firms, Warfield et al. (1995) document a positive relationship between managerial ownership and the information content of earnings, and a negative relationship between managerial ownership and discretionary accruals. We question the generality of the Warfield et al. result, as the ownership structure found in most other countries, including Denmark, deviates from the US ownership configuration. In fact, Danish data indicate that the information content of earnings is inversely related to managerial ownership.

A longitudinal study of prisoners on remand: psychiatric prevalence, incidence and psychopathology in solitary vs.non‐solitary confinement

Objective: To compare two levels of stress (solitary confinement (SC) and non‐SC) among remand prisoners as to incidence of psychiatric disorders in relation to prevalent disorders.

Prevalence of mental disorders among 15–17-year-old male adolescent remand prisoners in Denmark

Objective:  To determine the past year prevalence of mental disorders of 15–17‐year‐old adolescent remand prisoners in east Denmark.

Determinants of Executive Compensation in Privately Held Firms

We examine what determines executive compensation in privately held firms. Our study is motivated by the fact that most studies in this area rely on data from publicly traded firms. Further, the few studies that are based on data from privately held firms only examine a limited number of determinants of executive compensation. Our findings indicate that the pay-to-performance relation is weak. Board size and ownership concentration are the only corporate governance characteristics that explain variations in executive compensation. Executive characteristics like skills, title and educational attainment all explain variations in executive compensation. Contrary to our expectations, we do not find a stronger pay-to-performance relation in firms with better designed bonus plans.

The organization of the psychiatric service and criminality committed by the mentally ill.

INTRODUCTION Over the past 40 years, a marked deinstitutionalisation in favour of social and community psychiatry has taken place in many countries. During this same period of time, there has been an increase in the number of mentally ill criminals. The purpose of this study is to analyse the correlations between the reorganization of the psychiatric treatment system, the growing number of forensic patients and the increase in serious crime, homicide, arson and violence associated with the mentally ill. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using registers and other data sources, we estimated the annual positive or negative growth rate of consumed psychiatric beds and in social and community psychiatry (explanatory variables) and in prevalence and incidence of forensic patients, homicide, arson and violence (response variables) from 1980 to 1997 for each of the Danish counties. We analysed the immediate effect of the changing treatment structure by relating response variables to explanatory variables. The long-term effect was analysed in the form of between county analysis with both single and multiple regressions. RESULTS Bed closure had no immediate effect on either the number of forensic patients or serious criminality. The between county analysis shows, however, that over time the (negative) growth rate in number of consumed beds is significantly correlated with the (positive) growth rates for forensic patients, homicide and arson. Social and community psychiatry have little effect, if any. DISCUSSION The study is based on historical data, but the results are still valid. We have used two sets of data firstly the number of forensic patients and, secondly the reported number of crimes associated with the mentally ill. The uniformity of the results leads us to consider them for certain: That the decreasing effort invested in inpatient treatment is causing an increase in the crime rate among the mentally ill. CONCLUSION Many forensic patients suffer from schizophrenia. These patients are not only offenders, but also the victims of an inadequate treatment system. Modern inpatient treatment facilities should be established.

Food labels – an exploratory study into label information and what consumers see and understand

The food industry develops tasty and healthy food but fails to deliver the message to all consumers. The consumers’ background knowledge is essential for how they find and decode relevant elements in the cocktail of signs which fight for attention on food labels. In this exploratory study, we find evidence for dividing consumers into two profiles: one relying on general food knowledge and another using knowledge related to signpost labels. In a combined eyetracking and questionnaire survey we analyse the influence of background knowledge and identify different patterns of visual attention for the two consumer profiles. This underlines the complexity in choosing and designing the ‘right’ elements for a food package that consumers actually look at and are able to make rational use of. In spite of any regulation of food information provided by authorities, consumers will still be confronted with information which puzzles them. Given that the notion of being mislead must refer to information printed on the packaging and which has actually caught the given consumers visual attention, this exploratory study intends to pave the way for using eyetracking tools to better understand the link between regulations, package information, and consumer understanding. Implications and further research are discussed.

Corporate design: a tool for testing

Affirms the great need for corporate designs, yet states that the tests most frequently used are certainly not comprehensive. The reasons for these “partial” tests are explored (focusing on incorrect assumptions, as well as research design and methodology). Concludes that data collection was not completed, and that the next steps are to complete the testing of the current designs.

Alcohol-Intoxicated Homicides in Copenhagen, 1959-1983

Many homicide offenders are intoxicated by alcohol at the time of their crime (Gillies, 1976; Langevin, Paitich, Orchard, Handy, & Russon, 1982; Wolfgang, 1958). Gillies expressly named alcohol as the cause of the crime in about half the cases of homicide in the West of Scotland. Arguments for a direct causal relationship between alcohol and violence have been sought in aggregate data studies. For instance, Skog (1986, 1988) has shown that changes in Norwegian total alcohol consumption corresponded to changes in rates of accidents and criminal violence. During the 1960s and 197Os, the Danish rate of criminal violence doubled; the homicide rate increased from about 0.75 per 100,000 population in 1960 to about 1.5 in 1980 (Criminal Statistics, 1960-1980). During the same period, the average alcohol consumption increased from about 5 to about 12 liters (pure) alcohol per year per person older than 14 years (Statistics of Denmark 1960-1984). However, conclusions on a direct connection between alcohol consumption and violence can not always be drawn. For instance, in 1917 the Danish alcohol consumption decreased dramatically because of increased taxation, and the decrease in consumption was followed by decreases in rates of homicide, rape, and other violent crimes. These rates, however, had already been well on their way down during the preceding decades when the alcohol consumption was still very high (Christiansen, 1960). And still more evidence of the complexity of the connection between alcohol consumption and violence has been found (Christiansen, 1960; Lester, 1980). Obviously, very few alcohol-drinking situations end in homicide. Therefore, the question of why homicide-when eventually occurring so often committed in the presence of alcohol cannot be studied directly. However, a closer look of the connection between homicide and alcohol than aggregate data studies allow, may be attempted. In the present study, a sample of 25 years’ homicide defendants in Copenhagen has been investigated, not to see how or why alcohol leads to homicide, but the other way around so to speak, in an

Heroin dependence: Consequences and precursors related to route of administration

Two random samples of Danish prisoners on remand (solitary confinement (SC) and non-SC)) were examined using semistructured and standardized psychiatric and social interviews, cognitive tests, and questionnaires. Heroin dependence was divided into injection heroin dependence (IHD) and smoke heroin dependence (SHD). Comparisons corrected for confounders were made with regard to IHD versus SHD and dependent versus non-dependent subjects. Thirty-two per cent of the sample had lifetime heroin dependence, and the IHD versus SHD ratio was 3:1. The IHD subjects were more severely strained than SHD with regard to somatic complications (blood-transferred infections), early social strain, psychiatric comorbidity (mood disorders), personality dimensions (introversion), and cognitive performance (low performance scale score). The IHD subjects were considered more vulnerable than SHD subjects, both premorbid and during the dependence. SHD subjects may be recruited from other groups than the traditional (that is, IHD) ...

Paired comparisons and designed experiments

Paired comparisons can be a very effective way of performing measurements of preferences. The statistical analysis can be carried out as an ANOVA although the explanatory variables are not categorical variables. Explanatory variables of subjects and objects can be included in the ANOVA if the experiment is carefully designed. It is often feasible or necessary to reduce the number of comparisons to be performed by subjects, however, such structure can be included in ANOVA if comparisons to be performed are carefully selected.