Voluntary Information Disclosure and Corporate Governance : The Empirical Evidence on Earnings Forecasts

This study investigates the determinants of companies' voluntary information disclosure. Employing a large and unique dataset on the companies' own earnings forecasts and their frequencies, we conducted an empirical analysis of the effects of a firm's ownership, board, and capital structures on information disclosure. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the custom of cross-holding among companies strengthens entrenchment by managers. We also find that bank directors force managers to disclose information more frequently. In addition, our results show the borrowing ratio is positively associated with information frequency, suggesting that the manager is likely to reveal more when his or her firm borrows money from financial institutions. However, additional borrowings beyond the minimum level of effective borrowings decrease the management's disclosing incentive.Information disclosure, Earnings forecast, Capital structure, Japan

Voluntary Information Disclosure and Corporate Governance: The Empirical Evidence on Earnings Forecasts

This study investigates the determinants of companies' voluntary information disclosure. Employing a large and unique dataset on the companies' own earnings forecasts and their frequencies, we conducted an empirical analysis of the effects of a firm's ownership, board, and capital structures on information disclosure. Our finding is consistent with the hypothesis that the custom of cross-holding among companies strengthens entrenchment by managers. We also find that bank directors force managers to disclose information more frequently. In addition, our results show the borrowing ratio is positively associated with information frequency, suggesting that the manager is likely to reveal more when his or her firm borrows money from financial institutions. However, additional borrowings beyond the minimum level of effective borrowings decrease the management's disclosing incentive.Voluntary information Disclosure, Corporate Governance, management earnings forecast

Client Service Receipt Inventory as a standardised tool for measurement of socio-economic costs in the rare genetic disease population (CSRI-Ra)

The measurement of costs is fundamental in healthcare decision-making, but it is often challenging. In particular, standardised methods have not been developed in the rare genetic disease population. A reliable and valid tool is critical for research to be locally meaningful yet internationally comparable. Herein, we sought to develop, contextualise, translate, and validate the Client Service Receipt Inventory for the RAre disease population (CSRI-Ra) to be used in cost-of-illness studies and economic evaluations for healthcare planning. Through expert panel discussions and focus group meetings involving 17 rare disease patients, carers, and healthcare and social care professionals from Hong Kong, we have developed the CSRI-Ra. Rounds of forward and backward translations were performed by bilingual researchers, and face validity and semantic equivalence were achieved through interviews and telephone communications with focus group participants and an additional of 13 healthcare professional and university students. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess criterion validity between CSRI-Ra and electronic patient record in a sample of 94 rare disease patients and carers, with overall ICC being 0.69 (95% CI 0.56–0.78), indicating moderate to good agreement. Following rounds of revision in the development, contextualisation, translation, and validation stages, the CSRI-Ra is ready for use in empirical research. The CSRI-Ra provides a sufficiently standardised yet adaptable method for collecting socio-economic data related to rare genetic diseases. This is important for near-term and long-term monitoring of the resource consequences of rare diseases, and it provides a tool for use in economic evaluations in the future, thereby helping to inform planning for efficient and effective healthcare. Adaptation of the CSRI-Ra to other populations would facilitate international research

Evaluating the health-related quality of life of the rare disease population in Hong Kong using EQ-5D 3-level

Objectives This study aimed to establish a normative profile of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of the rare disease (RD) population in Hong Kong (HK) and identify potential predictors. Methods Between March 2020 and October 2020, patients with RD and caregivers were recruited through Rare Disease Hong Kong, the largest RD patient group alliance in HK. HRQOL was derived using the EQ-5D 3-Level with reference to the established HK value set. Utility scores were stratified according to demographics and disease-related information. Multiple linear regression was performed to explore the associations between patient characteristics and HRQOL. Results A total of 286 patients, covering 107 unique RDs, reported a mean utility score of 0.53 (SD 0.36). Thirty patients (10.5%) reported negative utility scores, indicating worse-than-death health states. More problems were recorded in the “usual activities” and “self-care” dimensions. Univariate analyses revealed that neurologic diseases, high out-of-pocket expenditure, home modification, and living in public housing or subdivided flats/units were significantly associated with lower HRQOL. A total of 99 caregivers reported a mean utility score of 0.78 (SD 0.17), which was significantly associated with the utility score of patients they took care of (r = 0.32; P = .001). Conclusions The normative profile of the RD population was established, which revealed lower HRQOL in the RD population than other chronic disease groups and general population in HK. Findings were corroborated by evidence from other cohorts using EQ-5D, combined as part of a meta-analysis. Identifying predictors highlight areas that should be prioritized to improve HRQOL of RD population through clinical and psychosocial dimensions

Brazil nut effect in a rectangular plate under horizontal vibration

An intruder to a group of identical small beads enclosed in a rectangular plate will gradually migrate to either the center or one side of the plate when the plate is subjected to a horizontal vibration. By considering probabilities for a bead to move into and off the space between the intruder and the near side of the plate, we predict that the size ratio and the mass ratio of the intruder to small bead have equal but opposite effects in determining the direction of migration. The prediction is confirmed by a molecular dynamics simulation

Brazil nut effect in annular containers

This paper investigates the motion of particles between two co-axial cylinders which are subjected to a sinusoidal vertical vibration. We measure the rising time of a large intruder from the bottom of the container to the free surface of the bed particles and find that the rising time as a function of intruder density decreases to a minimum and then increases monotonically. The result is qualitatively opposite to the previous findings in experiments using cylindrical containers where a maximal instead of minimal rising time in the small-density regime was found. The experimental results suggest that the topology of the container plays an important role in the Brazil nut effect

Coordinating Pricing and Empty Container Repositioning in Two-Depot Shipping Systems

This paper studies joint decisions on pricing and empty container repositioning in two- depot shipping services with stochastic shipping demand. We formulate the problem as a stochastic dynamic programming (DP) model. The exact DP may have a high-dimensional state space due to in-transit containers. To cope with the curse of dimensionality, we develop an approximate model where the number of in-transit containers on each vessel is approxi- mated with a fixed container flow predetermined by solving a static version of the problem. Moreover, we show that the approximate value function is L♮-concave, thereby characterizing the structure of the optimal control policy for the approximate model. With the upper bound obtained by solving the information relaxation-based dual of the exact DP, we numerically show that the control policies generated from our approximate model are close to optimal when transit times span multiple periods

Shipping to heterogeneous customers with competing carriers

__Problem definition:__ We consider a shipper transporting and selling a short-life-cycle product to a destination market. Customers in the destination market obtain higher utility if they receive the product earlier but their time preferences are heterogeneous. Two transportation service providers (i.e., carriers) offer distinct speeds and competing freight rates. This study analyzes the shipper’s optimal shipping strategy under carrier competition. __Academic/Practical relevance:__ Perishable products are commonly shipped via multiple means of transport. The faster the mode of transport is, the more expensive it is, but speed enables the product to reach the market with higher quality. In addition to the trade-off between speed and cost, the competition between carriers can also influence the shipper’s transportation procurement strategies. Our model highlights the implications of carrier competition in a dual sourcing problem. __Methodology:__ We study a two-stage game-theoretical framework: Carriers first compete on freight rates, and then the shipper determines the shipping schedule. __Results:__ The shipper may benefit from product differentiation via dual-mode shipping, in which the shipment that arrives earlier is sold at a premium price. In equilibrium, the shipper’s profit can be U-shaped in the speed difference between carriers. Dual sourcing may be inferior to simply restricting a single shipping service in a winner-take-all fashion. __Managerial implications:__ This study reveals an underlying trade-off between the operational advantage from product differentiation and the cost advantage from carrier competition. To benefit from either of these advantages, a shipper should use two carriers with either very distinct or very similar speeds. Single sourcing may bring an additional cost advantage that outweighs the value of production differentiation through dual sourcing

The MSW Effect in Quantum Field Theory

We show in detail the general relationship between the Schr\"{o}dinger equation approach to calculating the MSW effect and the quantum field theoretical S-matrix approach. We show the precise form a generic neutrino propagator must have to allow a physically meaningful ``oscillation probability'' to be decoupled from neutrino production fluxes and detection cross-sections, and explicitly list the conditions---not realized in cases of current experimental interest---in which the field theory approach would be useful.Comment: 20 page REVTeX file, submitted to Phys. Rev.