The Acquisitive Nature of Extraverted CEOs

This study examines how extraversion, a personality trait that signifies more or less positive affect, assertive behavior, decisive thinking, and desires for social engagement, influences chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) decisions and the ensuing strategic behavior of firms. Using a novel linguistic technique to assess personality from unscripted text spoken by 2,381 CEOs of S&P 1500 firms over ten years, we show that CEOs’ extraversion influences the merger and acquisition (M&A) behavior of firms above and beyond other well-established personality traits. We find that extraverted CEOs are more likely to engage in acquisitions, and to conduct larger ones, than other CEOs and that these effects are partially explained by their higher representation on boards of other firms. Moreover, we find that the acquisitive nature of extraverted CEOs reveals itself particularly in so-called “weaker” situations, in which CEOs enjoy considerable discretion to behave in ways akin to their personality traits. Subsequent analyses show that extraverted CEOs are also more likely than other CEOs to succeed in M&As, as reflected by stronger abnormal returns following acquisition announcements

Intoxication with therapeutic and illicit drug substances and hospital admission to a Dutch university hospital

BACKGROUND: This article describes the retrospective analysis of the patients who presented with a drug-related intoxication to the emergency department of the Erasmus Medical Centre in 2000. METHODS: Data were collected from the emergency department's electronic database and the medical charts of the patients. RESULTS: A total of 243 patients were seen with a drug-related intoxication caused by ingestion of one or more medical substances, drugs of abuse (DOA) or combinations with alcohol. Mono-intoxication occurred in 58% of the patients, predominantly caused by DOA (56 patients), analgesics (17 patients) or benzodiazepines (14 patients). Benzodiazepines (55 patients), analgesics (42 patients), alcohol (42 patients), DOA (40 patients) and antidepressants (23 patients) were predominant in combined intoxications. More than half of the patients (142) were discharged after being treated in the emergency department and 80 patients were admitted to the wards. Eighteen patients were admitted elsewhere and three patients were lost to follow-up. Eve

Rapid Response to Remdesivir in Hospitalised COVID-19 Patients:A Propensity Score Weighted Multicentre Cohort Study

Introduction: Remdesivir is a registered treatment for hospitalised patients with COVID-19 that has moderate clinical effectiveness. Anecdotally, some patients’ respiratory insufficiency seemed to recover particularly rapidly after initiation of remdesivir. In this study, we investigated if this rapid improvement was caused by remdesivir, and which patient characteristics might predict a rapid clinical improvement in response to remdesivir. Methods: This was a multicentre observational cohort study of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 who required supplemental oxygen and were treated with dexamethasone. Rapid clinical improvement in response to treatment was defined by a reduction of at least 1 L of supplemental oxygen per minute or discharge from the hospital within 72 h after admission. Inverse probability of treatment-weighted logistic regression modelling was used to assess the association between remdesivir and rapid clinical improvement. Secondary endpoints included in-hospital mortality, ICU admission rate and hospitalisation duration. Results: Of 871 patients included, 445 were treated with remdesivir. There was no influence of remdesivir on the occurrence of rapid clinical improvement (62% vs 61% OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.79–1.40; p = 0.76). The in-hospital mortality was lower (14.7% vs 19.8% OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.48–1.02; p = 0.06) for the remdesivir-treated patients. Rapid clinical improvement occurred more often in patients with low C-reactive protein (≤ 75 mg/L) and short duration of symptoms prior to hospitalisation (&lt; 7 days) (OR 2.84, 95% CI 1.07–7.56). Conclusion: Remdesivir generally does not increase the incidence of rapid clinical improvement in hospitalised patients with COVID-19, but it might have an effect in patients with short duration of symptoms and limited signs of systemic inflammation.</p

De rol van conference calls met analisten

Sinds de jaren negentig gebruiken veel ondernemingen een nieuw medium voor (financiële) verslaggeving: de conference call. In dit artikel wordt verslag gedaan van een onderzoek1 naar de rol van deze telefonische bijeenkomst met analisten in de externe verslaggeving. Het onderzoek levert bewijs dat de interactiviteit van de conference call resulteert in een grotere informatiestroom (over onder meer immateriële activa) naar kapitaalmarkten, dat managers de call gebruiken om de informatiebehoefte van analisten te ontdekken en dat analisten op de conference call hun ware mening over de onderneming vaak voor zich houden

The Role of Analyst Conference Calls in Capital Markets

textabstractMany firms conduct a conference call with analysts shortly after the quarterly earnings announcement. In these calls, management discusses the completed quarter, and analysts can ask questions. Due to SEC requirements, conference calls in the United States are virtually always live webcasted. A growing number of investors listens in on conference calls, suggesting that calls are useful for investor decision-making. This research clarifies the role of conference calls by analysing a large sample of conference call transcripts, analyst forecasts, and contemporaneous stock market reactions. The study investigates why conference calls are useful. The analysis shows that managers who provide little information in their presentation are actively probed by analysts, and the discussion with analysts becomes longer. Hence, the interactivity of the call enriches the information environment. In a second study, evidence is presented that information about intangible assets is one of the items in conference calls that moves stock markets. This study also shows that managers use the conference call to learn about the information needs of analysts with respect to intangible assets. A third study, suggests that sell-side analysts do not voice their true beliefs on conference calls in an attempt to favour their buy-side clients. Collectively, these results provide evidence that conference calls with analysts enrich the information environment, but their usefulness may be restricted by analyst incentives

Het nut van informatie over bedrijfsovernames voor beleggers

De regels voor de verwerking van fusies en overnames en de daarbij behorende toelichting (IFRS 3) zijn inmiddels al weer langere tijd van toepassing. De regels zijn complex en de kosten die ondernemingen moeten maken om aan deze regels te voldoen zijn vaak aanzienlijk, vooral omdat vergaande kennis van waarderingsmethoden nodig is. Of het gerechtvaardigd is om ondernemingen met deze kosten op te zadelen, is een niet-aflatend punt van discussie. De International Accounting Standards Board vraagt zichzelf inmiddels ook publiekelijk af of de regels hun doel niet voorbij zijn geschoten

Kritische grondslagen en schattingsonzekerheden in de jaarrekening

Deze bijdrage gaat over wellicht het belangrijkste onderdeel van de IFRS-jaarrekening na de vier primaire overzichten, namelijk de paragraaf over kritische grondslagen en schattingsonzekerheden. In bijna alle onderzochte jaarrekeningen hebben we een dergelijke paragraaf die meer in detail op een aantal aspecten daarvan ingaat, aangetroffen. In de onderzochte paragrafen komt lang niet altijd een samenvattend overzicht van alle onzekerheden voor, en slechts zelden een gekwantificeerde toelichting. Onderwerpen die veel worden behandeld zijn pensioenen, voorzieningen en voorwaardelijke verplichtingen, en (latente) belastingen. De omvang van de paragraaf lijkt niet alleen een verband te hebben met de complexiteit van de onderneming, maar ook met de bereidheid om informatie te geven