136 research outputs found
Corporate Aging and Takeover Risk
Although growth opportunities fade and profitability declines as firms mature, older firms are no more likely to be acquired than young firms are. This article documents and explains that phenomenon. We argue that, because mature organizations are rationally less flexible, they are more costly to integrate and therefore comparatively unattractive acquisition candidates. The evidence supports this explanation of the negative age dependence of takeover hazard. The evidence also shows that negative exogenous shocks to merger benefits further reduce the takeover hazard of mature firms. We test many alternative explanations and find no evidence that they can explain the hazard declin
Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy
IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical
attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced
colorectal cancers at diagnosis.
OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced
oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all
17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December
31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period),
in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was
30 days from surgery.
EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery,
palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer
at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as
cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding,
lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery,
and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes
was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster
variable.
RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years)
underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142
(56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was
significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR],
1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic
lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients
undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for
these patients
The end of the corporate life cycle
This paper asks how takeover and failure hazards change
as listed firms get older. The hypothesis is that they
increase because firms gradually run out of growth
opportunities. We find the opposite. Both takeover and
failure hazard drop significantly with age. The decline in
takeover hazard can be explained with Loderer, Stulz, and
Waelchli’s (2013) “buggy whip makers” hypothesis:
Because old firms are comparatively well-managed and
are affected by limited agency problems, on average, they
offer little value added potential to acquirers. Failure
hazard drops because to learning. The results are robust
to various alternative interpretations and cannot be
explained by unobserved heterogeneity. While hazards
decline with age, they do not go to zero. This explains
why, eventually, all listed firms disappea
A test of the OPEC cartel hypothesis: 1974-1983
This paper tests whether the higher oil prices fo the last decade could have been the result of producer collusion. We find little evidence that OPEC influenced oil prices during the years of skyrocketing prices (1974-1980), but there is evidence that it did so during the recent years of softening prices (1981-1983)
Firm age and performance, Symposium, Guilford Glazer School of Business and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, March 10, 2010
- …