Institutional Blockholder Exit Threats and Corporate Social (Ir)responsibility

Institutional blockholders, who have incentives to gather private information and sell their shares when managers underperform, exert governance through exit threats. Hence, managers align their actions with shareholders’ interests to dissuade blockholders from selling. We find that as exit threats increase, firms reduce not only social irresponsibility (CSI), but also social responsibility (CSR), implying that CSI and CSR are independent actions that both reflect agency problems rather than firm value enhancement. Furthermore, consistent with exit theory, the negative impact of exit threats on CSI and CSR increase as managerial wealth is sensitive to stock price, the firm is cash-rich (more susceptible to “bad” agency problems), and following Schedule 13G filings that indicate blockholders’ intent to remain passive (exert governance through exit threats only). We contribute to research on corporate social (ir)responsibility and the role of blockholders in disciplining both CSR and CSI that may not be in the shareholders’ interests

Takeover Threats, Job Security Concerns, and Earnings Management

I exploit the international, staggered adoption of takeover laws in order to examine the effect of increased turnover sensitivity to performance on managers’ financial reporting choices. Using a difference-in-difference design, I find that the enactment of laws designed to promote takeover activity is associated with greater earnings management (abnormally high accruals, small positive earnings, discretionary earnings smoothing and poor accruals quality) and greater opacity (reduced analyst forecast accuracy and following and greater forecast dispersion). This is consistent with managers responding to increased risk of termination by distorting earnings information. As predicted, results are particularly pronounced for managers with the highest ex ante risk of termination and at firms with poor performance. The effects are mitigated in countries in which strong institutions limit the CEOs’ ability to manage earnings and create opacity. Overall, my results suggest that reforms aimed at enhancing governance through higher turnover sensitivity to performance encourage earnings management and opacity by increasing job security concerns.Doctor of Philosoph

Economic Report

Monthly newsletter of SRSU, The Big Bend SBI discussing economic development in the region

Developing priority variables ("ecosystem Essential Ocean Variables" — eEOVs) for observing dynamics and change in Southern Ocean ecosystems

Reliable statements about variability and change in marine ecosystems and their underlying causes are needed to report on their status and to guide management. Here we use the Framework on Ocean Observing (FOO) to begin developing ecosystem Essential Ocean Variables (eEOVs) for the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS). An eEOV is a defined biological or ecological quantity, which is derived from field observations, and which contributes significantly to assessments of Southern Ocean ecosystems. Here, assessments are concerned with estimating status and trends in ecosystem properties, attribution of trends to causes, and predicting future trajectories. eEOVs should be feasible to collect at appropriate spatial and temporal scales and are useful to the extent that they contribute to direct estimation of trends and/or attribution, and/or development of ecological (statistical or simulation) models to support assessments. In this paper we outline the rationale, including establishing a set of criteria, for selecting eEOVs for the SOOS and develop a list of candidate eEOVs for further evaluation. Other than habitat variables, nine types of eEOVs for Southern Ocean taxa are identified within three classes: state (magnitude, genetic/species, size spectrum), predator–prey (diet, foraging range), and autecology (phenology, reproductive rate, individual growth rate, detritus). Most candidates for the suite of Southern Ocean taxa relate to state or diet. Candidate autecological eEOVs have not been developed other than for marine mammals and birds. We consider some of the spatial and temporal issues that will influence the adoption and use of eEOVs in an observing system in the Southern Ocean, noting that existing operations and platforms potentially provide coverage of the four main sectors of the region — the East and West Pacific, Atlantic and Indian. Lastly, we discuss the importance of simulation modelling in helping with the design of the observing system in the long term. Regional boundary: south of 30°S

DLK1 Is a Somato-Dendritic Protein Expressed in Hypothalamic Arginine-Vasopressin and Oxytocin Neurons

Delta-Like 1 Homolog, Dlk1, is a paternally imprinted gene encoding a transmembrane protein involved in the differentiation of several cell types. After birth, Dlk1 expression decreases substantially in all tissues except endocrine glands. Dlk1 deletion in mice results in pre-natal and post-natal growth deficiency, mild obesity, facial abnormalities, and abnormal skeletal development, suggesting involvement of Dlk1 in perinatal survival, normal growth and homeostasis of fat deposition. A neuroendocrine function has also been suggested for DLK1 but never characterised. To evaluate the neuroendocrine function of DLK1, we first characterised Dlk1 expression in mouse hypothalamus and then studied post-natal variations of the hypothalamic expression. Western Blot analysis of adult mouse hypothalamus protein extracts showed that Dlk1 was expressed almost exclusively as a soluble protein produced by cleavage of the extracellular domain. Immunohistochemistry showed neuronal DLK1 expression in the suprachiasmatic (SCN), supraoptic (SON), paraventricular (PVN), arcuate (ARC), dorsomedial (DMN) and lateral hypothalamic (LH) nuclei. DLK1 was expressed in the dendrites and perikarya of arginine-vasopressin neurons in PVN, SCN and SON and in oxytocin neurons in PVN and SON. These findings suggest a role for DLK1 in the post-natal development of hypothalamic functions, most notably those regulated by the arginine-vasopressin and oxytocin systems

Delayed Foreign Filings and Investor Attention: Evidence from Form 20-F Reconciliation Elimination

We argue that the 2007 SEC elimination of the U.S. GAAP reconciliation requirement for IFRS-reporting cross-listed firms increased disclosure redundancy across home country and U.S. ADR markets, affecting U.S. market investors' information acquisition behavior. First, we document a decreased yet significant delay between information release dates in the two countries following reconciliation elimination. Furthermore, greater delay in IFRS firms' unreconciled Form 20-F filings decreases 20-F download activity and reverses potential liquidity benefits of timely disclosure. We also document an increase in return co-movement across the home country and the U.S., suggesting increased market integration. Furthermore, there are increased return and volume reactions to home country earnings announcements in the ADR market post-SEC deregulation. Our results bring novel insights regarding the important implications of timeliness of Form 20-F filings in conjunction with the reconciliation elimination's effects on information integration across the two markets on investor information acquisition behavior

Assessment of Stand-Alone Residential Solar Photovoltaic Application in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study of Gambia

The focus of this paper is the design and implementation of solar PV deployment option, which is economical and easy to maintain for remote locations in less developed countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The feasibility of stand-alone solar PV systems as a solution to the unstable electricity supply and as an alternative to the conventional resource, “diesel generators,” is presented. Moreover, a design of a system is carried out, such that the electrical demand and site meteorological data of a typical household in the capital, Banjul, is simulated. Likewise, the life cycle cost analysis to assess the economic viability of the system, along with the solar home performance, is also presented. Such system will be beneficial to the inhabitants of Gambia by ensuring savings in fuel costs and by reducing carbon emissions produced by generators. The selection of appropriate-sized components is crucial, as they affect the lifetime, reliability, and initial costs. The design presented in this study represents a solution for domestic houses to adopt the system according to the location and environment, in order to meet electricity demand

Novel Approaches Toward Scalable Composable Workflows in Hyper-Heterogeneous Computing Environments

International audienceThe annual Workshop on Workflows in Support of Large-Scale Science (WORKS) is a premier venue for the scientific workflow community to present the latest advances in research and development on the many facets of scientific workflows throughout their life-cycle. The Lightning Talks at WORKS focus on describing a novel tool, scientific workflow, or concept, which are work-in-progress and address emerging technologies and frameworks to foster discussion in the community. This paper summarizes the lightning talks at the 2023 edition of WORKS, covering five topics: leveraging large language models to build and execute workflows; developing a common workflow scheduler interface; scaling uncertainty workflow applications on exascale computing systems; evaluating a transcriptomics workflow for cloud vs. HPC systems; and best practices in migrating legacy workflows to workflow management systems