Henk von Eije

Renewable Energy Production Capacity and Consumption, Economic Growth and Global Warming

This chapter estimates the interrelationships between growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in interaction with the consumption of fossil fuel and renewable energy consumption in a global context. In such a system the variable of renewable energy production capacity is introduced. It is found that growth in this variable has a significant effect on the growth of renewable energy consumption. This is the case for instantaneous unilateral regressions as well as for a vector error regression model. For the latter model the finding is that renewable capacity reduces fossil fuel use in the long run, while it also reduces economic growth. This suggests a difficult trade-off between applying renewables capacity for CO2 reductions, while also trying to maintain economic growth.

Do European Acquisitions in China Outperform

We examine bidder returns for European acquisitions in China. In particular we study whether the bidder returns in the Chinese emerging economy are larger than those in the United States. For both target countries no significant cumulative abnormal bidder returns are found and we do not find significant differences between acquisitions in China and in the USA, except for a significant lower standard deviation of bidder returns in China. Regression analysis confirms that acquisitions in China do not outperform those in the USA. Univariate tests indicate that acquisitions in China perform worse if the target is a private company or when the acquirer comes from the European continent, but this result is not confirmed with regression analysis. These results suggest that Chinese targets are normal targets in the world of cross-border acquisitions. The only relative benefit of acquisitions in China is that it is significantly less likely to result in fierce negative reactions of investors.

Multinational cash management in Europe towards centralisation and disintermediation: the Philips case

Liberalisation and deregulation of financial markets, lower currency volatility and the introduction of the euro have reduced transaction and bankruptcy costs for multinationals in Europe. Internal European transfers of cash have become easier and cheaper. This has enabled the centralisation of cash management activities. The centralisation at headquarters of multinational enterprises has also opened the road to financial disintermediation. These trends may have helped to create conglomerate benefits in Europe. The case of the cash management at the Netherlands‐based Royal Philips Electronics is used to illustrate these tendencies.