Signal Strength, Media Attention, and Resource Mobilization: Evidence from New Private Equity Firms

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Academy of Management via the DOI in this recordPast research has shown that new firms can facilitate resource mobilization by signaling their unobservable quality to prospective resource providers. However, we know less about situations in which firms convey multiple signals of different strengths—i.e., signals that are more or less correlated with unobservable firm quality. Building on a sociocognitive perspective, we propose that prospective resource providers respond differently to signals of different strengths and that the effectiveness of signals, especially weak signals, will be contingent on the media attention new firms receive. Empirically, we conduct a longitudinal analysis examining the ability of new private equity (PE) firms to raise a follow-on fund. Consistent with our theory, we find that unrealized performance, a relatively weak signal, positively influences fundraising. But we fail to find statistical evidence that its effect is weaker than that of realized performance, a relatively strong signal. Further, media attention strengthens the relationship between unrealized performance and fundraising, but media attention exerts less impact on the relationship between realized performance and fundraising. Taken together, our findings deepen our understanding of how new firms can mobilize resources with signals of different strengths and of how the media—as a key information intermediary—differently impacts their effectiveness.Richard M. Schulze Family Foundatio

Ban, Boom, and Echo! Entrepreneurship and initial coin offerings

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordRegulatory spillovers occur when regulation in one country affects either the expected regulatory approach and/or entrepreneurial finance markets in other countries. Drawing on institutional theory, we investigate the global implications of a regulatory spillover on entrepreneurship. We argue that regulatory spillovers have both short- and long-term effects on the number and quality of entrepreneurial finance initiatives such as Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Based on a large-scale sample of ICOs in 108 countries, we find that a regulatory ban of ICOs in one country causes a short-term increase in the number of low-rated ICOs in other countries and a long-term drop in the number of ICOs, especially low-rated, which increases the average ICO rating. That is, a restrictive regulation triggered a process of increased market selection

Venture capital, credit, and FinTech start-up formation: A cross-country study

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordGrowing FinTech entrepreneurship is a recent global phenomenon. Drawing on the national innovation systems framework, we examine how countries’ venture capital (VC) and credit markets differently affect FinTech entrepreneurship across countries. We argue that with their established and globally diffused norms and practices, VC investors—but not banks—require a critical mass of FinTech entrepreneurship in a country to more positively influence FinTech entrepreneurship. Moreover, we argue that VC and credit markets are substitutes, especially in countries with more FinTech entrepreneurship. Using quantile regressions on data from 53 countries, we find support for our hypotheses

Stressful events and individual beliefs as correlates of economic disadvantage and aggression among urban children.

This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban children: economic disadvantage, stressful events, and individual beliefs. Participants were 1,935 African American, Hispanic, and White elementary-school boys and girls assessed over a 2-year period. The relation between individual poverty and aggression was only significant for the White children, with significant interactions between individual and community poverty for the other 2 ethnic groups. With a linear structural model to predict aggression from the stress and beliefs variables, individual poverty predicted stress for African American children and predicted beliefs supporting aggression for Hispanic children. For all ethnic groups, both stress and beliefs contributed significantly to the synchronous prediction of aggression, and for the Hispanic children, the longitudinal predictions were also significant. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive interventions in multiethnic, inner-city communities.The research was supported by Grant MH-48034 from the National Institute of Mental Health and Cooperative Agreement CCU510017 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83500/1/1995.Guerra_etal.StressfulEvents&IndiBeliefsasCorrelatesofEconDisadvantage&AggAmongUrbChildrn.JourofCnsulting&ClinPsych.pd

Normative Influences on Aggression in Urban Elementary School Classrooms

We report a study aimed at understanding the effects of classroom normative influences on individual aggressive behavior, using samples of 614 and 427 urban elementary school children. Participants were assessed with measures of aggressive behavior and normative beliefs about aggression. We tested hypotheses related to the effects of personal normative beliefs, descriptive classroom norms (the central tendency of classmates' aggressive behavior), injunctive classroom normative beliefs (classmates' beliefs about the acceptability of aggression), and norm salience (student and teacher sanctions against aggression) on longitudinal changes in aggressive behavior and beliefs. Injunctive norms affected individual normative beliefs and aggression, but descriptive norms had no effect on either. In classrooms where students and teachers made norms against aggression salient, aggressive behavior diminished over time. Implications for classroom behavior management and further research are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44053/1/10464_2004_Article_223769.pd

Relocation to get venture capital : a resource dependence perspective

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE via the DOI in this record.Using a resource dependence perspective, we theorize and show that non-venture-capital-backed ventures founded in U.S. states with a lower availability of venture capital (VC) are more likely to relocate to California (CA) or Massachusetts (MA)—the two VC richest states—compared to ventures founded in states with a greater availability of VC. Moreover, controlling for self-selection, ventures that relocate to CA or MA subsequently have a greater probability of attracting initial VC compared to ventures that stay in their home state. We discuss the implications for theory, future research, and practice

Spiders do not escape reproductive manipulations by Wolbachia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternally inherited bacteria that reside obligatorily or facultatively in arthropods can increase their prevalence in the population by altering their hosts' reproduction. Such reproductive manipulations have been reported from the major arthropod groups such as insects (in particular hymenopterans, butterflies, dipterans and beetles), crustaceans (isopods) and mites. Despite the observation that endosymbiont bacteria are frequently encountered in spiders and that the sex ratio of particular spider species is strongly female biased, a direct relationship between bacterial infection and sex ratio variation has not yet been demonstrated for this arthropod order.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Females of the dwarf spider <it>Oedothorax gibbosus </it>exhibit considerable variation in the sex ratio of their clutches and were infected with at least three different endosymbiont bacteria capable of altering host reproduction i.e. <it>Wolbachia</it>, <it>Rickettsia </it>and <it>Cardinium</it>. Breeding experiments show that sex ratio variation in this species is primarily maternally inherited and that removal of the bacteria by antibiotics restores an unbiased sex ratio. Moreover, clutches of females infected with <it>Wolbachia </it>were significantly female biased while uninfected females showed an even sex ratio. As female biased clutches were of significantly smaller size compared to non-distorted clutches, killing of male embryos appears to be the most likely manipulative effect.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This represents to our knowledge the first direct evidence that endosymbiont bacteria, and in particular <it>Wolbachia</it>, might induce sex ratio variation in spiders. These findings are pivotal to further understand the diversity of reproductive phenotypes observed in this arthropod order.</p

Vibrotactile Feedback in the Context of Mu-Rhythm based BCI

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) need an uninterrupted flow of feedback to the user, which is usually delivered through the visual channel. Our aim is to explore the benefits of vibrotactile feedback during users� training and control of EEG-based BCI applications. An experimental setup for delivery of vibrotactile feedback, including specific hardware and software arrangements, was specified. We compared vibrotactile and visual feedback, addressing the performance in presence of a complex visual task on the same (visual) or different (tactile) sensory channel. The preliminary experimental setup included a simulated BCI control. in which all parts reflected the computational and actuation process of an actual BCI, except the souce, which was simulated using a �noisy� PC mouse. Results indicated that the vibrotactile channel can function as a valuable feedback modality with reliability comparable to the classical visual feedback. Advantages of using a vibrotactile feedback emerged when the visual channel was highly loaded by a complex task

The origins and development of Zuwīla, Libyan Sahara: an archaeological and historical overview of an ancient oasis town and caravan centre

Zuwīla in southwestern Libya (Fazzān) was one of the most important early Islamic centres in the Central Sahara, but the archaeological correlates of the written sources for it have been little explored. This paper brings together for the first time a detailed consideration of the relevant historical and archaeological data, together with new AMS radiocarbon dates from several key monuments. The origins of the settlement at Zuwīla were pre-Islamic, but the town gained greater prominence in the early centuries of Arab rule of the Maghrib, culminating with the establishment of an Ibāḍī state ruled by the dynasty of the Banū Khaṭṭāb, with Zuwīla its capital. The historical sources and the accounts of early European travellers are discussed and archaeological work at Zuwīla is described (including the new radiocarbon dates). A short gazetteer of archaeological monuments is provided as an appendix. Comparisons and contrasts are also drawn between Zuwīla and other oases of the ash-Sharqiyāt region of Fazzān. The final section of the paper presents a series of models based on the available evidence, tracing the evolution and decline of this remarkable site

Galectin-3 Facilitates Cell Motility in Gastric Cancer by Up-Regulating Protease-Activated Receptor-1(PAR-1) and Matrix Metalloproteinase-1(MMP-1)

BACKGROUND: Galectin-3 is known to regulate cancer metastasis. However, the underlying mechanism has not been defined. Through the DNA microarray studies after galectin-3 silencing, we demonstrated here that galectin-3 plays a key role in up-regulating the expressions of protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1) and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) PAR-1 thereby promoting gastric cancer metastasis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined the expression levels of Galectin-3, PAR-1, and MMP-1 in gastric cancer patient tissues and also the effects of silencing these proteins with specific siRNAs and of over-expressing them using specific lenti-viral constructs. We also employed zebrafish embryo model for analysis of in vivo gastric cancer cell invasion. These studies demonstrated that: a) galectin-3 silencing decreases the expression of PAR-1. b) galectin-3 over-expression increases cell migration and invasion and this increase can be reversed by PAR-1 silencing, indicating that galectin-3 increases cell migration and invasion via PAR-1 up-regulation. c) galectin-3 directly interacts with AP-1 transcriptional factor, and this complex binds to PAR-1 promoter and drives PAR-1 transcription. d) galectin-3 also amplifies phospho-paxillin, a PAR-1 downstream target, by increasing MMP-1 expression. MMP-1 silencing blocks phospho-paxillin amplification and cell invasion caused by galectin-3 over-expression. e) Silencing of either galectin-3, PAR-1 or MMP-1 significantly reduced cell migration into the vessels in zebrafish embryo model. f) Galectin-3, PAR-1, and MMP-1 are highly expressed and co-localized in malignant tissues from gastric cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Galectin-3 plays the key role of activating cell surface receptor through production of protease and boosts gastric cancer metastasis. Galectin-3 has the potential to serve as a useful pharmacological target for prevention of gastric cancer metastasis