Business failure and mass media: An analysis of media exposure in the context of delisting event

It is understood that the mass media are a pervasive force in shaping the public's perceptions. This paper incorporates agenda-setting theory to explore whether and to what extent that the mass media can signal business failure. In an analysis of news coverage relating to Chinese underperforming listed firms over the period 2006–2017, it is demonstrated that firms whose stocks are put under “special treatment” status due to consecutive annual losses experience (*ST) greater news volume and lower news sentiment relative to other firms in the quarter in which the “delisting risk warning” announcements are made. Furthermore, *ST firms which are eventually delisted have a greater volume of news than other *ST firms, but we find no evidence that the sentiment of news relates to termination of listing. Our findings offer insights into the informativeness of the mass media and their agenda-setting effects in the business failure context

COVID-19 publications: Database coverage, citations, readers, tweets, news, Facebook walls, Reddit posts

© 2020 The Authors. Published by MIT Press. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00066The COVID-19 pandemic requires a fast response from researchers to help address biological, medical and public health issues to minimize its impact. In this rapidly evolving context, scholars, professionals and the public may need to quickly identify important new studies. In response, this paper assesses the coverage of scholarly databases and impact indicators during 21 March to 18 April 2020. The rapidly increasing volume of research, is particularly accessible through Dimensions, and less through Scopus, the Web of Science, and PubMed. Google Scholar’s results included many false matches. A few COVID-19 papers from the 21,395 in Dimensions were already highly cited, with substantial news and social media attention. For this topic, in contrast to previous studies, there seems to be a high degree of convergence between articles shared in the social web and citation counts, at least in the short term. In particular, articles that are extensively tweeted on the day first indexed are likely to be highly read and relatively highly cited three weeks later. Researchers needing wide scope literature searches (rather than health focused PubMed or medRxiv searches) should start with Dimensions (or Google Scholar) and can use tweet and Mendeley reader counts as indicators of likely importance

Energy Alarmism: The Myths That Make Americans Worry about Oil

Many Americans have lost confidence in their country's "energy security" over the past several years. Because the United States is a net oil importer, and a substantial one at that, concerns about energy security naturally raise foreign policy questions. Some foreign policy analysts fear that dwindling global oil reserves are increasingly concentrated in politically unstable regions, and they call for increased U.S. efforts to stabilize -- or, alternatively, democratize -- the politically tumultuous oil-producing regions. Others allege that China is pursuing a strategy to "lock up" the world's remaining oil supplies through long-term purchase agreements and aggressive diplomacy, so they counsel that the United States outmaneuver Beijing in the "geopolitics of oil." Finally, many analysts suggest that even the "normal" political disruptions that occasionally occur in oil-producing regions (e.g., occasional wars and revolutions) hurt Americans by disrupting supply and creating price spikes. U.S. military forces, those analysts claim, are needed to enhance peace and stability in crucial oil-producing regions, particularly the Persian Gulf. Each of those fears about oil supplies is exaggerated, and none should be a focus of U.S. foreign or military policy. "Peak oil" predictions about the impending decline in global rates of oil production are based on scant evidence and dubious models of how the oil market responds to scarcity. In fact, even though oil supplies will increasingly come from unstable regions, investment to reduce the costs of finding and extracting oil is a better response to that political instability than trying to fix the political problems of faraway countries. Furthermore, Chinese efforts to lock up supplies with long-term contracts will at worst be economically neutral for the United States and may even be advantageous. The main danger stemming from China's energy policy is that current U.S. fears may become a self-fulfilling prophecy of Sino-U.S. conflict. Finally, political instability in the Persian Gulf poses surprisingly few energy security dangers, and U.S. military presence there actually exacerbates problems rather than helps to solve them. Our overarching message is simply that market forces, modified by the cartel behavior of OPEC, determine most of the key factors that affect oil supply and prices. The United States does not need to be militarily active or confrontational to allow the oil market to function, to allow oil to get to consumers, or to ensure access in coming decades

The best of times, the worst of times: A bio-cultural analysis of the Ferguson District, 1892-1909

This study concerns an analysis of the Ferguson District, a late 19th-early 20th century gold mining district in southeastern Lincoln County, Nevada. Historical events are reconstructed for the boom years between 1892-1909 and critical bio-cultural variables investigated. The hypothesis that silicosis ( miner\u27s consumption ) was the leading cause of death in the District during this period is tested. Mortality and morbidity rates in the study area are compared with similar data from two other Nevada mining regions; The results of the study indicate that infectious and chronic diseases of the respiratory system accounted for over 25 percent of the Ferguson District mortality. The hypothesis that silicosis was the leading cause of death among all District residents was not supported by the available evidence. Comparative data from the other mining regions suggest that conditions in the Ferguson District did not pose significantly more hazards to health and survival

Town and hinterland: Kingman and Mohave County, Arizona, 1860--1940

This work examines the complex socioeconomic relationship between a northwestern Arizona town and its hinterland from 1860--1940. During this time, Mohave County, Arizona experiences the impact of three industries: mining, ranching, and railroaDing After 1882, mining boomtowns in the hinterland stimulate the growth of the Kingman railsiding, making it the only viable transshipment point in the county. The town\u27s development relies on economic activities within its hinterland, national trends, and the character of its hardworking inhabitants, including its diverse racial and ethnic groups. Separate demographic profiles from 1900--1940 of Kingman and Mohave County\u27s composition demonstrate changes that occur. Following the Crash of 1929, New Deal programs further energize the town\u27s economy. The relationship between Kingman and its hinterland throughout the town\u27s evolution from a nineteenth century rail transshipment point to a twentieth century service center for trucking and tourism is a critical factor in the urbanization of northwestern Arizona

The earth and the elements: multi-screen documentary and how the cinema migrates

This research explores responses to global ecological issues via an intercultural and multi-screen approach that focuses on the resources exchange between China and Australia. The project reflects on the proposition that Australia and China are equally implicated in climate change. Drawing on case studies of the work of Bill Viola, Isaac Julian and Yang Fudong, the project begins from a critical enquiry into intercultural documentary and experimental cinema. It proposes the “intercultural” as a key mode through which artists might approach the parallel aesthetic histories found in the treatment of nature and landscape—in both Australian and Chinese contexts. The final chapter examines the history of ecological art making in Australia, locating this practice within the boundaries of ecological thought and documentary film. In the creative component of this project, Daoism provides a framework for a multi-screen installation by offering working metaphors for environmental and cultural interconnectedness. In the creative work, five channels of video explore the movement of coal and mineral ores across the two continents through the elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. The “stories” told through these elemental perspectives concern environmental impacts, with particular emphasis on climate change and Australia’s fragile landscape. The architecture of this five-channel installation works in parallel with the non-linearity of the video. This creates a space that contemplates ecological issues in relation to globalisation and the resources relationship between China and Australia

Human rights and the effluxion of time; Canada's Chinese immigration act as illustrative of the need for judicial remedies for human rights violations of the distant past

In the post-World War II era, the concept that all humans possess certain fundamental rights has achieved widespread acceptance. While no geographic limitations are acknowledged to the universality of human rights and the availability of remedies for the violation of those rights, temporal limitations seem to persist. That is, even very serious human rights violations of the distant past have often failed to attract remedies, particularly judicial remedies. The result can be lingering societal discontent. One example has been the case of Chinese immigration Canada who for many decades were required to pay a "head tax" and were for a further period banned altogether. An examination of the history of Canada's Chinese Immigration Act provides evidence of the need for courts to be able to effectively consider and, where appropriate, provide remedies for human rights violations of the distant past. Recommended changes that would facilitate this include: recognition that at least some human rights exist independently of the legislative instruments that have been created to protect them, and can be given judicial effect without recourse to those legislative instruments; recognition that the policy grounds underpinning judicial remediation of human rights violations are essentially the same as those underpinning judicial remediation of criminal offences; and development of a reasoned approach by which to distinguish between those cases for which the courts should provide remedies and those for which they should not