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The efficient management of a diverse truck fleet presents a significant challenge within the realm of logistics and transportation management. The primary objective revolves around optimizing fleet efficiency by assigning the most suitable truck type to each task, all while accommodating an array of constraints such as delivery time windows, capacity limits. In this study, we introduce a Mixed Integer Non Linear Programming (MINLP) model tailored for the optimization of heterogeneous truck fleets, facilitating the precise allocation of trucks to their respective roles. Employing the CPLEX as our decision-making tool, we conduct computational experiments that underscore the effectiveness of our MINLP model and CPLEX solver in enhancing the operational efficiency of heterogeneous truck fleets while adhering rigorously to various constraints and compare the solution with Genetic Algorithm. The findings convincingly demonstrate the potential of our proposed methodology to furnish logistics and transportation managers with invaluable insights, ultimately contributing to the sustainability and efficiency of modern logistics and transportation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the relation between analyst recommendations and the cost of equity implied by current stock price and earnings forecasts. Contrary to expectations, previous-year recommendation upgrades are associated with increases in the current cost of equity; and past increases in the cost of equity are associated with current recommendation downgrades. Furthermore, changes in the implied cost of equity and changes in analyst recommendations jointly explain as much as 31% of the variation in 1-year holding period returns, where most of the variation (28%) is explained by the implied cost of equity alone. We document that when forming recommendations, analysts underestimate the role of the cost of equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing a sample of 13,917 US firm–years from 1991 to 2006, we find that more innovative firms demonstrate high corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance subsequent to a successful innovation. These high-CSR innovative firms enjoy significantly higher val- uation post-innovation. These findings imply that firms with demonstrated potential growth opportunities, as evi- dent from the number of registered patents and their cita- tions, benefit by strategically investing more in CSR activities; that is, CSR investment entails ‘doing well by [strategically] doing good.’ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests the relationship between industry-level mergers and business cycle using panel tests that allow us to control for macro-economic and industry-level determinants of merger activity. We find robust evidence that both related and unrelated industry-level mergers are pro-cyclical. However, the evidence is asymmetric between related and unrelated mergers. We also find strong evidence in support of two major theories of merger activity that have been proposed and tested in the existing literature, namely, neoclassical theory and behavioral theory. The proxies of both neoclassical and behavioral theories explain merger activity in general; however, the pro-cyclicality of mergers is not fully captured by any of these proxies, individually or collectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research emphasizes that corporate governance becomes critical during economic crises, when the incentives for expropriation of minority shareholders increase. Using the high-profile Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 and a sample of 566 firms from eight East Asian countries over 1996-1999, we examine the link between family control and agency costs evident in the cost of equity financing for firms. We find that, before the crisis, family control is unrelated to firms' equity financing costs, whereas, following the crisis, family control is related to a higher cost of equity. This suggests that the crisis made investors aware of the potential entrenchment of controlling families, prompting them to require a higher-equity premium from family firms. Our results are robust to various models of the cost of equity capital, additional firm- and country-level governance traits, and additional alternative explanations, including the presence of other types of large shareholders and potential survivorship bias. Our study contributes to our understanding of the corporate governance of family-controlled firms, especially during economic crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report describes the natural history of the Segond fracture and documents the radiographic appearance of the healed Segond fracture. The clinical and radiographic records of 129 patients with acute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries were reviewed. Four (3.1%) of these patients had Segond fractures. On follow-up radiographic examination, seven patients demonstrated a characteristic bone excrescence arising 3-6 mm inferior to the lateral tibial plateau. In four of the five patients for whom acute injury films were available this excrescence arose at the site of the earlier Segond fracture. Healing of such fractures is associated with a characteristic bone excrescence distinct from an osteophyte. This excrescence implies significant internal derangement of the knee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]