FINANCIAL REPORTING CONSEQUENCES OF CAPITAL XENOPHOBIA

The purpose of this editorial is to describe financial protectionism as a potentially important determinant of financial reporting outcomes. Fear of foreign capital, or capital xenophobia, spurs financial protectionism. Examining the effects of financial protectionism on financial reporting outcomes potentially permits an expansion of positive accounting theory and, in particular, the political cost hypothesis. I first describe extant literature examining the political cost hypothesis. I then describe national-security related drivers of capital xenophobia. Next, I examine settings in which we can observe variation in financial protectionism. I conclude by positing varied paths by which financial protectionism can affect financial reporting outcomes

Size-tuneable synthesis of nickel nanoparticles

A facile method is described for synthesising nickel nanoparticles via the thermal decomposition of an organometallic precursor in the presence of excess n-trioctylphosphine as a capping ligand. For the first time, alkylamines with different chain lengths were employed as size-limiting agents in this synthesis. A direct correlation is demonstrated between the size of the alkylamine ligands used and the mean diameter of the nickel nanoparticles obtained. The use of bulky oleylamine as a size-limiting agent over a reaction period of 30 min led to the growth of nickel nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 2.8 ± 0.9 nm. The employment of less bulky N,N-dimethylhexadecylamine groups led to the growth of nickel nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 4.4 ± 0.9 nm. By increasing the reaction time from 30 to 240 min, while employing oleylamine as the size-limiting agent, the mean diameter of the nickel nanoparticles was increased from 2.8 ± 0.9 to 5.1 ± 0.7 nm. Decreasing the amount of capping ligand present in the reaction system allowed further growth of the nickel nanoparticles to 17.8 ± 1.3 nm. The size, structure and morphology of the nanoparticles synthesised were characterised by transmission electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction; while magnetic measurements indicated that the particles were superparamagnetic in nature

National Security, Protectionism, and Shareholder Wealth

We study the economic consequences of the Foreign Investment and National Security Act (FINSA). FINSA is a protectionist foreign investment screening law that grants U.S. regulators broad new powers to revise or reject foreign acquisitions of U.S. firms. After FINSA, takeovers and equity values decline for firms in 61 industries – comprising one-third of the Compustat universe – that regulators deem relevant to national security. A wide variety of robustness tests corroborate. This study documents an important tradeoff between U.S. national security and shareholder wealth: Securities regulation designed to address national security threats deters demand for U.S. equities and lowers firm value

Financial Protectionism, M&A Activity, and Shareholder Wealth

This paper examines changes in M&A activity and stock market valuations around a significant law change that increased the protection of some U.S. industries against foreign acquirers. The Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 (FINSA) dramatically increased scrutiny of M&A activity by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in a large array of U.S. industries. We find that foreign takeovers of FINSA-affected firms declined by 74% relative to our control group of unaffected firms. We further find that FINSA-affected firms lost 0.43% of their value on average ($119.21 billion in total market value) over a three-day window surrounding five events related to the passage and implementation of FINSA. Our findings suggest that financial protectionism, manifested in increased CFIUS scrutiny of M&A activity, harms shareholder wealth through a less liquid market for corporate control.

Size-tuneable synthesis of nickel nanoparticles

A facile method is described for synthesising nickel nanoparticles via the thermal decomposition of an organometallic precursor in the presence of excess n-trioctylphosphine as a capping ligand. For the first time, alkylamines with different chain lengths were employed as size-limiting agents in this synthesis. A direct correlation is demonstrated between the size of the alkylamine ligands used and the mean diameter of the nickel nanoparticles obtained. The use of bulky oleylamine as a size-limiting agent over a reaction period of 30 min led to the growth of nickel nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 2.8 ± 0.9 nm. The employment of less bulky N,N-dimethylhexadecylamine groups led to the growth of nickel nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 4.4 ± 0.9 nm. By increasing the reaction time from 30 to 240 min, while employing oleylamine as the size-limiting agent, the mean diameter of the nickel nanoparticles was increased from 2.8 ± 0.9 to 5.1 ± 0.7 nm. Decreasing the amount of capping ligand present in the reaction system allowed further growth of the nickel nanoparticles to 17.8 ± 1.3 nm. The size, structure and morphology of the nanoparticles synthesised were characterised by transmission electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction; while magnetic measurements indicated that the particles were superparamagnetic in nature