Unpacking the black box of trade credit to socially responsible customers

We investigate whether suppliers value customer firms’ socially responsible activities by examining the relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firms’ access to trade credit. We posit that firms with better social performance are more likely to receive trade credit because suppliers view customers’ CSR activities as a signal of trustworthiness and of the capacity to meet financial obligations. In addition to this direct channel, we describe other channels: a) trade credit opens the possibility for suppliers to secure a share of their customers’ future business opportunities, which are expected to be higher for socially responsible firms, and b) the risk associated with the diffusion of negative shocks through the supply chain due to trade credit is lower for socially responsible firms, making them more attractive partners for suppliers. Consistent with our predictions, we find that socially responsible customers receive more trade credit from suppliers. This relation is more pronounced in situations where the aforementioned channels are more relevant: namely, when the financial health of a customer is of greater importance to its suppliers; when there are greater information asymmetries between suppliers and customers due to a lack of close transactional relationships; when socially responsible activities are more likely to generate growth; and when suppliers are exposed to higher risk in the customer-supplier relationship. We also document that during the global financial crisis, socially responsible customers offered backward liquidity provision to suppliers by reducing their use of trade credit, which represents an extra benefit of having socially responsible customers in production networks.We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ECO2012-36559, ECO2015-68715-R-MINECO/FEDER, PGC2018-097187-B-I00, ECO2013-48328, ECO2016-77579 and WRDS-UC3M: Infrastructure for large scale data processing, FEDER UNC315-EE-3636), from a Comunidad de Madrid grant (EARLYFIN-CM, #S2015/HUM-3353), from Copenhagen Business School and from the EU's European Social Fund

The relation between segment disclosure and earnings quality

We investigate the relation between segment disclosure and earnings quality. Using a US sample for the period 2001-2006, we find a positive relation between earnings quality and the quantity of segment disclosures. We use lead-lag tests to examine the flow of causality, and our results show that current segment disclosure is positively related to prior levels of earnings quality, while current earnings quality scores are not related to prior levels of segment disclosure. Thus, the causality flows from earnings quality to segment disclosure. Our results hold for both business and geographic segment disclosure.We acknowledge financial assistance from the Spanish Ministry of Innovation and Science (ECO2010-19314, ECO2008-06238-C02-01/ECON, SEJ2007-67582-C02-02/ECON, ECO2009-10796 and Consolider Grant #2006/04046/002), the European Commission INTACCT Research Training Network (MRTN-CT-2006-035850), and the government of the autonomous Community of Madrid (Grant # 2008/00037/001)

Segment disclosure and cost of capital

We investigate whether segment disclosure influences cost of capital. Improved segment reporting is expected to decrease cost of capital by reducing estimation risk. However, in a competitive environment segment disclosure may also generate uncertainties about future prospects and lead to a larger cost of capital. Asset-pricing tests confirm that segment disclosure is a priced risk factor. Also, segment disclosure reduces ex-ante estimates of cost of equity capital and other measures connected to risk. These results suggest a negative relation between segment disclosure and cost of capital. Our results also show that competition reduces, but does not eliminate, the previous relationship.We acknowledge financial assistance from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ECO2013-48328-C3-3-P, ECO2010-19314, ECO2009-10796 and, ECO2012-36559), the European Commission INTACCT Research Training Network (MRTN-CT-2006-035850), the Fundación Ramón Areces, and the government of the Autonomous Community of Madrid (Grant # 2008/00037/001)

Garlic derivatives (PTS and PTS-O) differently affect the ecology of swine faecal microbiota in vitro

A number of in vitro experiments were designed to evaluate the effects of two different industrial products, namely PROALLIUM-S-DMC and PROALLIUM-SO-DMC (DMC Research Center, Granada, Spain), obtained from garlic (Allium sativum) on the faecal microbiota of pigs. The effects of three different concentrations (50, 200 and 400 ppm) of the active compounds (PTS and PTS-O, respectively) from both industrial products on the gastrointestinal microbiota of pigs were tested. Growth medium without any additive (0 ppm) was used as control. Predominant bacterial groups (total aerobes, total anaerobes,lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, coliforms, enterobacteria, bacteroides and clostridia) were studied. Results showed that both PTS and PTS-O have significant (P < 0.01) antimicrobial activity against every group studied, although enterobacteria and coliforms were the most affected populations (P < 0.01). Time kill curves for Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, two common pathogens of pigs, showed that both compounds had a bactericidal effect against these strains. For the bacterial groups here studied, the antimicrobial effect of PTS-O was significantly (P < 0.001) stronger than that of PTS. Trials in vivo are in course to study the potential use of these products as alternatives to antibiotics in pig feeds.Peer reviewe

OTELO survey: optimal emission-line flux determination with OSIRIS/GTC

Emission-line galaxies are important targets for understanding the chemical evolution of galaxies in the universe. Deep, narrow-band imaging surveys allow to detect and study the flux and the equivalent widths (EW) of the emission line studied. The present work has been developed within the context of the OTELO project, an emission line survey using the Tunable Filters (TF) of OSIRIS, the first generation instrument on the GTC 10.4m telescope located in La Palma, Spain, that will observe through selected atmospheric windows relatively free of sky emission lines. With a total survey area of 0.1 square degrees distributed in different fields, reaching a 5 \sigma depth of 10^-18 erg/cm^2/s and detecting objects of EW < 0.3 A, OTELO will be the deepest emission line survey to date. As part of the OTELO preparatory activities, the objective of this study is to determine the best combination of sampling and full width at half maximum (FWHM) for the OSIRIS tunable filters for deblending H\alpha from [NII] lines by analyzing the flux errors obtained. We simulated the OTELO data by convolving a complete set of synthetic HII galaxies in EW with different widths of the OSIRIS TFs. We estimated relative flux errors of the recovered H\alpha and [NII]6583 lines. We found that, for the red TF, a FWHM of 12 A and a sampling of 5 A is an optimal combination that allow deblending H\alpha from the [NII]6583 line with a flux error lower than 20%. This combination will allow estimating SFRs and metallicities using the H\alpha flux and the N2 method, respectively.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures. Some authors added. Accepted for publication in PAS

Luxación radiocarpiana con fractura asociada de la apófisis estiloides radial

Presentamos un caso de luxación dorso lateral del carpo con fractura asociada de la estiloides radial en una mujer de 28 años tras accidente de tráfico. No existieron complicaciones neurovasculares. El tratamiento consistió en reducción y fijación de la estiloides radial con agujas de Kirschner. Después de seis meses de evolución la paciente estaba libre de secuelas

A fundamental plane for field star-forming galaxies

Star formation rate (SFR), metallicity and stellar mass are within the important parameters of star--forming galaxies that characterize their formation and evolution. They are known to be related to each other at low and high redshift in the mass--metallicity, mass--SFR, and metallicity--SFR relations. In this work we demonstrate the existence of a plane in the 3D space defined by the axes SFR [log(SFR)(M_sun yr^-1)], gas metallicity [12+log(O/H)], and stellar mass [log(M_star/M_sun)] of star-forming galaxies. We used star--forming galaxies from the "main galaxy sample" of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey--Data Release 7 (SDSS-DR7) in the redshift range 0.04 < z < 0.1 and r-magnitudes between 14.5 and 17.77. Metallicities, SFRs, and stellar masses were taken from the Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics-John Hopkins University (MPA-JHU) emission line analysis database. From a final sample of 44214 galaxies, we find for the first time a fundamental plane for field galaxies relating the SFR, gas metallicity, and stellar mass for star--forming galaxies in the local universe. One of the applications of this plane would be estimating stellar masses from SFR and metallicity. High redshift data from the literature at redshift ~2.2 and 3.5, do not show evidence for evolution in this fundamental plane.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 4 pages, 4 Figures, and 2 online figure

Resurgence of minor pests following the implementation of mating disruption against Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in Sherry vineyards (Spain)

The implementation of the mating disruption technique against the grape berry moth, Lobesia botrana (Denis and Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae), in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Sherry vineyards (Andalusia, South-western Spain) reduced the number of chemical treatments required to manage this serious pest. In order to verify the long term consequences of this type of management on the minor pests of vineyards, a study was carried out over nine years to compare the population levels of four phytophagous insect species (Altica ampelophaga, Planococcus citri, Jacobiasca lybica, Aphis gossypii) in plots where L. botrana was managed with conventional chemical treatments or using mating disruption. Field data on secondary pests were collected on randomly chosen vines at different times on different plant organs such as leaves, shoots and bunches, depending on the type of pest, according to the ATRIA procedure (Andalusian IPM procedure). Results showed a significant increase of grapevine infestation by all four secondary pest species in the plots managed with grape berry moth mating disruption. These findings represented a limitation for the implementation of this technique in Andalusian vineyardsWe want to thank J. L. Jiménez García, Academia de San Dionisio de Ciencias, Artes y Letras of Jerez de la Frontera; J. Alcón González, Servicio de Protección de los Vegetales of Jerez de la Frontera and AECOVI JERE