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It is shown i) that the under-investment problem is caused by the debt-equity mix of the financing rather than the investment itself and that a transfer of value (from shareholders to debt-holders) can be reversed by a post-investment adjustment in capital structure that restores the pre-investment gearing ratio. This simple, low-cost solution is preferable to reducing debt maturity (as in Myers (1977)) or gearing; ii) that transfers in value from debt-holders to shareholders to promote over-investment are not sustainable since investors will seek to avoid being disadvantaged by demanding higher returns, greater restrictions on the company or both; and that information asymmetry that restricts the issue of new shares can be managed by using several alternatives such as bridge financing in ways that remove the rationale for the pecking order theory; and iii) that managers have incentives to engage in empire building which is facilitated by a capital structure that reflects the degree of concentration among the other companies in the sector: faced with a low (high) degree of concentration, companies have lower (higher) gearing. The implications of these outcomes are empirically investigated using an extensive sample and robust estimating procedures providing strong support for the hypotheses tested.

The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which cultural preferences in music in the UK have changed as a result of personalised social media. It is an exploration of the extent to which the boundaries of musical subcultures, and other such cultural groupings have been smudged by a customised Internet, and by the quotidian routine of using social media sites led by influential algorithms, designed to offer us an experience tailored to our own tastes. It also investigates the ways in which a person’s need to use their taste as an outward display of identity or subcultural capital (Thornton 2006) has altered, now that every aspect of life can be advertised on Facebook, Twitter and other such websites. With the rise of technologies such as ‘online recommenders’ this research evaluates whether the new technology, rather than helping, has hindered our ability to predict the tastes of an individual, and instead, whether it shepherds us through the abundance of data now readily available to us at the touch of a button. It examines, also how the filtering of accessible information, deemed relevant for us by such technologies affects our tastes and behaviour. In terms of primary research, an Investigation is conducted, focussing on a target group of individuals linked by a Facebook fan Page, following a mixed methods approach, consisting of an in-depth, self-completion questionnaire designed to collate quantitative data on the demographic, an observation by means of analytical tracking software, written specifically for this thesis examining the online behaviour of the participants as they create and recommend a musical playlist, and also a series of more open, qualitative interviews. The thesis concludes by acknowledging that musical taste is affected both implicitly by our habitus (Bourdieu 1984) and explicitly by means of algorithmic personalisation in a pincer movement, narrowing our tastes and channelling our musical choices.

In the developed world we are surrounded by man-made objects, but most people give little thought to the complex processes needed for their design. The design of hand knitting is complex because much of the domain knowledge is tacit. The objective of this thesis is to devise a methodology to help designers to work within design constraints, whilst facilitating creativity. A hybrid solution including computer aided design (CAD) and case based reasoning (CBR) is proposed. The CAD system creates designs using domain-specific rules and these designs are employed for initial seeding of the case base and the management of constraints. CBR reuses the designer's previous experience. The key aspects in the CBR system are measuring the similarity of cases and adapting past solutions to the current problem. Similarity is measured by asking the user to rank the importance of features; the ranks are then used to calculate weights for an algorithm which compares the specifications of designs. A novel adaptation operator called rule difference replay (RDR) is created. When the specifications to a new design is presented, the CAD program uses it to construct a design constituting an approximate solution. The most similar design from the case-base is then retrieved and RDR replays the changes previously made to the retrieved design on the new solution. A measure of solution similarity that can validate subjective success scores is created. Specification similarity can be used as a guide whether to invoke CBR, in a hybrid CAD-CBR system. If the newly resulted design is suffciently similar to a previous design, then CBR is invoked; otherwise CAD is used. The application of RDR to knitwear design has demonstrated the flexibility to overcome deficiencies in rules that try to automate creativity, and has the potential to be applied to other domains such as interior design.

An assessment and comparison are made of two separate methods of parametrizing the boundary-layer processes in a general circulation model. The first method is based on the use of eddy diffusivities. By using the framework of asymptotic similarity theory to describe the boundary layer as observed: and as predicted by single-column models, an objective assessment is made of formulations of the eddy diffusivities. Idealised neutral. conditions and diabatic conditions are examined separately. A formulation based on the specification of the mixing-length is recommended.

This is an investigation into the methods and techniques used by Lord Denning in pursuit of his notion of doing justice to the case in front of him. The thesis examines Denning’s upbringing and biography to attempt to identify incidents and influences on his character which may have shown themselves in his later judicial career. The thesis then examines his judicial style and philosophy to attempt to isolate a theory of adjudication which accounts for some of his decisions. The theory of the interstitial spaces within the law wherein judges are entitled to exercise their discretion in coming to judgement is examined. This is then set against Denning’s actions in three cases which are examined at length to analyse his methods of obtaining the space to exercise his discretion and then the way he actually exercised that discretion is examined and analysed. There is in analysis of the legitimacy of each of these exercises of discretion and the legacy of each of them (if any). The conclusion pulls all these threads together and expounds a theory of adjudication that may fit these decisions and his judicial style and then analyses this theory against the background of modern jurisprudential thought.

Over the last 250 years, insurance law has become insurer biased to the detriment of consumers and modern business. Codification of judicial precedents and business practices resulted in the Marine Insurance Act 1906. There have been two attempts since the late 1950s to recommend changes, with reviews made by the English Law Reform Committee and the Law Commission in 1980. In the late 1970s, the insurance industry bought itself out of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. In 1981, non-legal changes came gradually with the introduction of the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau, which took account of the law but followed best practice. With each decade that has passed, changes in practice have deviated away from the strict legal position. The insurer no longer has an agent to arrange policies, collect premiums and complete claims forms. The late 1980s and early to mid-1990s saw the introduction of distance selling via the telephone. The late 1990s, and early into 2000, saw the massive boom in Internet sales, with search engines focused on finding the best competitively priced quotes from insurers; however, the reforms that were needed still did not occur. The Marine Insurance Act 1906 still applied and formed the basis of insurance law for many common law countries which copied the statue verbatim. As a result, these countries also had similar problems as those suffered by the insured in the UK; however, some have undergone bold reforms, as in the case of Australia, unlike the UK, which has lagged behind significantly. The Scottish Law Commission and the Law Commission instigated a joint root-andbranch review of insurance law in 2006, as a result of a British Insurance Law Association paper (Insurance Contract Law Reform and Recommendations to the Law Commission (2002)) that highlighted the discrepancies in the law towards the insured. Unfortunately, however, the Commissions chose to focus on only certain areas. This thesis does not cover these aspects. It is concerned, however, with what could broadly be termed 'good faith', the corresponding duties vis-à-vis the insured and the insurer pre- and post-contract where the insured suffers disproportionately due to the way the law has developed pro-insurer biased. This body of work supporting the award of a PhD examines these corresponding duties where the articles form a basis of a contemporary, critical examination of these duties, and develops suggestions as to how the joint Law Commissions of England and Scotland should have approached changes.