On the timeliness of price discovery

Price discovery is the process whereby value-relevant, private information becomes impounded or reflected in a stock's publicly-observable market price. The timeliness of price discovery refers to how quickly that process takes effect. There is no reason to believe either that all private information is discovered equally quickly or that price discovery is equally speedy for all firms. The latter observation suggests it would be worthwhile knowing why the timeliness of price discovery differs across firms, even the more so in an environment where all listed companies by law must disclose most material price-sensitive information as soon as they become aware of it. The other observation, that not all private information is discovered equally quickly, implies we should focus on a material, periodic event when we compare timeliness across firms. A good candidate is the announcement of the company's annual results, since for many years is has been known that annual earnings alone captures at least half the value-relevant information released by the average firm over the 12 months leading up to this date. We use various approaches to explore measures of timeliness and what they can tell us. We review a number of studies that have considered various aspects of timeliness in different countries and extend and contrast their findings. We also examine the relationship between the timeliness of price discovery and analogous measures based upon firms' formal disclosures to the share market and upon analysts' consensus earnings forecasts. Finally, we report on an issue of major concern to regulators and market operators, namely the influence of corporate governance on the timeliness of price discovery

The ‘Millionaire’ method for encouraging participation

Encouraging students to participate during class time is important to facilitate the learning process and encourage deep learning to take place. However, students with certain cultural and education backgrounds are often reluctant to participate in class discussion. This article provides some initial insight into the use of the Personal Response System (PRS) to encourage class participation at the postgraduate level. I found that students' participation levels were increased when using the PRS, and further class discussion and debate was stimulated as a result

Corporate governance and the informativeness of disclosures in Australia:a re-examination

We re-examine the association between corporate governance and disclosures reported by Beekes and Brown (2006), using an extended time series of Australian data. Since the ASX corporate governance guidelines were introduced in 2003, firms generally have increased their disclosure frequency and demonstrated an improvement in the timeliness of bad news relative to good news, indicating a levelling of disclosure practices and greater transparency. Better governed firms have become more cautious in their disclosure practices. However they continue to be more balanced with respect to good and bad news timeliness. Changes to disclosure laws have also influenced company practices

Factors influencing quality threatening behaviour in a big four accounting firm

We investigate the determinants of employee dysfunctional behaviour, focusing on how functional area and hierarchical level affect behavioural outcomes. This is an empirical study based upon results obtained from a company based web survey in a Big Four accounting firm in the UK. Our results show dysfunctional behaviour increases when performance evaluation focuses on the achievement of pre-set targets. However such behaviours are reduced as organizational commitment, perceptions of fairness and interactions with superiors increase. Our results show that the strength of these effects differs across hierarchical levels. We also provide some preliminary evidence of differences in behavioural responses in the non-audit section of the firm. Our results confirm hierarchical level is an important contextual factor affecting the use of performance management systems

Financial integration and the transparency of firms in emerging capital markets

We examine the association between financial integration and capital market transparency of emerging-market firms. We use four intra-year price timeliness measures derived from the Beekes and Brown (2006, 2007) methods as indicators of the firm’s transparency. The sample comprises 57,465 firm-year observations on listed companies in 24 emerging economies over the period 1995-2010. As expected, we find that greater financial integration is associated with greater transparency, and that the effect is more pronounced when the news about the firm is bad. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), we find evidence of a mechanism through which financial integration enhances the information environment: improved corporate governance

Relevance of the regional lymph node in scrapie pathogenesis after peripheral infection of hamsters

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The exact role of the lymphoreticular system in the spread of peripheral prion infections to the central nervous system still needs further elucidation. Against this background, the influence of the regional lymph node <it>(Ln. popliteus</it>) on the pathogenesis of scrapie was monitored in a hamster model of prion infection <it>via </it>the footpad.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Surgical lymphadenectomy was carried out at different time points after infection, or prior to inoculation, in order to elucidate the impact of the lymph node on lethal neuroinvasion.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The <it>Ln. popliteus </it>did not show an influence on pathogenesis when a high dose of infectivity was administered. However, it was found to modulate the interval of time until the development of terminal scrapie in a subset of animals lymphadenectomized after low-dose infection. In additon, lymphadenectomy performed four weeks before inoculation prevented cerebral PrP^TSEdeposition and development of disease during the period of observation (314 days) in the majority of hamsters challenged with a very low dose of scrapie agent.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggest the regional lymph node as a potentially facilitating or even essential factor for invasion of the brain after peripheral challenge with low doses of infectious scrapie agent. The invasive <it>in vivo </it>approach pursued in this study may be applied also to other animal species for further elucidating the involvement of lymphoid tissue in the pathogenesis of experimental and natural TSEs.</p

Corporate governance and transparency in Japan

Corporate governance (CG) reformists typically presume better-governed companies are more transparent to investors. We focus on CG and transparency in Japan, where CG has been an ongoing issue. Using local ratings of Japanese companies’ CG, and data on corporate disclosures and their associated stock returns, we do find better-governed Japanese companies have made more frequent and timelier disclosures, and that their share prices have reflected value-relevant information earlier. While these results hold for good news, they do not hold for bad. Consequently, governance guidance in Japan may not have resulted in both timelier and more balanced release of newsworthy information

Propagation of CJD Prions in Primary Murine Glia Cells Expressing Human PrPc

There are various existing cell models for the propagation of animal prions. However, in vitro propagation of human prions has been a long-standing challenge. This study presents the establishment of a long-term primary murine glia culture expressing the human prion protein homozygous for methionine at codon 129, which allows in vitro propagation of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) prions (variant CJD (vCJD) and sporadic CJD (sCJD) type MM2). Prion propagation could be detected by Western blotting of pathological proteinase K-resistant prion protein (PrPSc) from 120 days post exposure. The accumulation of PrPSc could be intensified by adding a cationic lipid mixture to the infectious brain homogenate at the time of infection. Stable propagation of human prions in a long-term murine glia cell culture represents a new tool for future drug development and for mechanistic studies in the field of human prion biology. In addition, our cell model can reduce the need for bioassays with human prions and thereby contributes to further implementation of the 3R principles aiming at replacement, reduction and refinement of animal experiments.Peer Reviewe

Testing a student generated hypothesis using student data

We describe an activity that allows students to experience the full process of a statistical investigation, from generating the research question, to collecting data and testing a hypothesis. Implementation of the activity is described both with and without use of clickers, handheld remotes that allow instant data collection.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91094/1/j.1467-9639.2010.00452.x.pd