Alternative finance in bank-firm relationship: how does board structure affect the cost of debt?

In this paper, we examine the relationship between alternative finance and board structure on the cost of debt for firms, focusing on the unique effects of differing board characteristics. Using a dataset of 176 European listed companies observed annually from 2013 to 2022, we dissect this relationship through several hypotheses considering factors such as the supply of alternative finance, board gender composition, age, expertise, and board turnover. Our findings reveal that increased alternative finance credit supply escalates the cost of debt, especially for firms with lower ESG scores. Firms with young boards, boards specialized in economics or low, and board turnover also experience a rise in borrowing costs with increasing of alternative finance. Through a pooling 2SLS model, we provide robust evidence about the interplay of alternative finance and varying board structures on the cost of debt. This research clarifies the intricacies of bank-firm relationships in alternative finance and holds significant implications for supervisory authorities, banks, and policymakers. It underscores the necessity of good corporate governance in managing the cost implications of alternative finance. It calls for tailored risk assessment strategies, conducive regulatory frameworks, and vigilant supervisory approaches to create a resilient financial ecosystem where alternative finance can thrive without inordinately inflating the cost of debt

Sequential development of large B cell lymphoma in a patient with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

Lymphomas of different histologic type can occur in the same patient. Two types of lymphomas can be diagnosed in the same lymph node (composite lymphoma) or in different sites. In the latter case, terms as simultaneous and sequential have been proposed to define the detection of two lymphomas at the same time or at different times, respectively

Dissociation Between Users’ Explicit and Implicit Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence: An Experimental Study

The latest developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) have given rise to many ethical and socio-economic concerns. Nonetheless, the impact of AI technologies is evident and tangible in our everyday life. This dichotomy leads to mixed feelings toward AI: people recognize the positive impact of AI, but they also show concerns, especially about their privacy and security. In this article, we try to understand whether the implicit and explicit attitudes toward AI are coherent. We investigated explicit and implicit attitudes toward AI by combining a self-report measure and an implicit measure, i.e., the implicit association test. We analyzed the explicit and implicit responses of 829 participants. Results revealed that while most of the participants explicitly express a positive attitude toward AI, their implicit responses seem to point in the opposite direction. Results also show that, in both the explicit and implicit measures, females show a more negative attitude than males, and people who work in the field of AI are inclined to be positive toward AI

Highly specialized Breast Centers did not experience delay of care during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: the Senonetwork experience

The study aims to evaluate the performance of selected, high-volume, highly specialized, Italian Breast Centers at the time of COVID-19 pandemic (year 2020), compared to pre-pandemic time (year 2019), highlighting differences in terms of clinical presentation of breast cancer (BC) and therapeutic strategies