Intercorporate guarantees, leverage and taxes

This paper characterizes optimal intercorporate guarantees, under the classical trade-off between bankruptcy costs and taxation. Conditional guarantees, allowing the guarantor - or Holding company - to maintain limited liability vis-a-vis the beneficiary - or Subsidiary - maximize joint value. They indeed achieve the highest tax savings net of default costs. We provide conditions ensuring that - at the optimum - guarantees increase total debt, which bears mostly on the Subsidiary. This difference in optimal leverage between Holding company and Subsidiary explains why optimal conditional guarantees (i) generate value independently of cash flow correlation (ii) are unilateral rather than mutual, at least for moderate default costs (iii) dominate the unconditional ones, that are embedded in mergers, at least when firms have high cash-flow correlation. We also endogenize the choice of the guarantor, showing that it has higher proportional bankruptcy costs, lower tax rates and bigger size.debt; taxes; bankruptcy costs; limited liability; capital structure; subsidiary; groups; mergers

Ownership links, leverage and credit risk

This paper explores the relationship between optimal leverage and credit risk under ownership links. It develops a structural model of a parent and a subsidiary, which issues debt in its own name under a guarantee by the parent. We find that zero leverage can be optimal for the guarantor, while leverage close to one can be optimal for the guaranteed company, as this optimally exploits the tax shield of debt while minimizing default costs. As far as credit risk is considered, their joint default probability is lower than that of stand alone units, despite their higher debt capacity. Higher group optimal leverage and lower default probability increase value with respect to conglomerate mergers and stand alone arrangements. Default probability, spreads and loss given default of the subsidiary are higher than for a stand alone with similar size and volatility. We also study the situation when the subsidiary is constrained to a debt equal to the optimal stand alone level. Only in this case group credit risk depends on the ownership share. Consistently with intuition, our unconstrained model rationalizes the capital structure typical of private equity; the constrained model instead is able to explain observed features of public business groups and more regulated environments.credit risk; default risk; structural models; optimal leverage; zero leverage; ownership structure; parent-subsidiary

Critique and Speculation: Reconsidering Hegel's Early Dialectical Logic

The aim of this article is to clarify the critical role of Hegel's early logic, through an assessment of the dialectical process of sublation [Aufhebung] of the determinations of finite thinking at stake within its exposition. I want to show that the dialectical-critical work of logic has a speculative meaning for Hegel, thereby displaying the inward correspondence between critical and speculative aspects of philosophical activity. By pointing out the evidence from fragmentary texts on logic relating to Hegel's teaching activity in 1801–1802, I will first put into question the idea of an introductory role of logic. In so doing I challenge a widespread reading which argues for the presence of a sharp separation between critical logic and speculative metaphysics. I will then focus on the texts on logic in the 1804–1805 Reinschrift, reading them as the worksite wherein the dawning form of a full-fledged dialectical logic is first prepared and elaborated. More generally, if this paves the way for establishing a continuity between Hegel's early and mature logic and his concept of dialectic, it is also paramount for understanding how the activity of systematic philosophy in the mature version of the system essentially constitutes an ongoing work on the forms of the finite

Philosophical labour : the critical role of Hegel’s logics

The object of this research is to examine Hegel’s idea of philosophy insofar as it constitutes a systematic and presuppositionless conceptual knowledge. The questions underlying this study are: What kind of activity is philosophy for Hegel? How does philosophy work? How is it possible to reconcile the erosive and critical character of philosophy, which is focused on the given and the ordinary, with the pure logical and speculative principle that grounds the system of philosophy? By following the historical development of the role of logic within Hegel’s system of philosophy from 1801 up to the Encyclopedia Logic of 1831, I show that logic, as determination of the form of the concept and method of philosophy, is a self-critique of abstract thought and a philosophical meta-critique of the Kantian ground of the modern philosophies of subjectivity. The main goal of my thesis is to demonstrate that philosophy is a labour, that is, an activity of mediation that is different from the instinctual assimilation of externality constituted by the abstract activity of thinking, but that necessarily posits itself as an immanent critique of that subjective activity

Rigid-Core Oligothiophene-S,S-dioxides with High Photoluminescence Efficiencies Both in Solution and in the Solid State

The photoluminescence (PL) frequencies and quantum efficiencies of dithieno[3,2-b;2',3'-d]thiophene-4,4-dioxide (1), its 3,5-dimethyl derivative (2), and the corresponding 4-oxide (3) are reported and discussed in relation to their single-crystal X-ray structures. The peculiar packing modalities of dioxides 1 and 2, based on dimeric units originated by short S···O contacts between molecules related by an inversion center, cause an unusually high bathocromic shift of PL frequencies from solution to solid state. This effect is accompanied by a marked decrease in solid-state PL efficiencies (12% and 16%) compared to those in solution (75% and 77%). In monoxide 3 the loss of local symmetry inherent to the change SO2 → SO deeply modifies the self-assembly and PL properties, and the PL efficiency in the solid state is close to that in solution. Ab initio calculations on the ground and excited states of compound 1 were performed and compared to those of a conformationally mobile counterpart. Oligomers containing..

How personality traits affect the way Gen Z faces economic and environmental sustainability: an econometric investigation

Before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, awareness of the relevance of sustainability issues and climate change had increased significantly, especially among the younger generation. The COVID-19 pandemic and the related shutdown of many economic activities raised concerns about the conservation of biodiversity and the environment and about the state of personal economic well-being. Theoretically, at least two associations between sustainability and personal financial habits are relevant: a) they concern the decision-making process regarding the use of scarce resources, and b) they need a medium/long-term horizon as they exert their impacts over time. In this study, we examined how Generation Z deals with issues of sustainability and money management. By using the technique of the principal components, two synthetic indexes were derived on the basis of a set of multivariate information from a questionnaire that investigated the approach to the issue of sustainability by a representative sample of 400 girls aged between 13 and 18 years. The GREEN INDEX represents environmental practices, and the MONEY INDEX represents habits in money management. They are used as dependent variables to detect how socio-demographic factors and personality elements influence the degree of awareness. Our results show the importance of character traits at both levels of awareness and the strong association between attention to money management and a sense of responsibility toward the environment, highlighting the possibility that financial education can set in motion a virtuous circle

How human papillomavirus replication and immune evasion strategies take advantage of the host DNA damage repair machinery

The DNA damage response (DDR) is a complex signalling network activated when DNA is altered by intrinsic or extrinsic agents. DDR plays important roles in genome stability and cell cycle regulation, as well as in tumour transformation. Viruses have evolved successful life cycle strategies in order to ensure a chronic persistence in the host, virtually avoiding systemic sequelae and death. This process promotes the periodic shedding of large amounts of infectious particles to maintain a virus reservoir in individual hosts, while allowing virus spreading within the community. To achieve such a successful lifestyle, the human papilloma virus (HPV) needs to escape the host defence systems. The key to understanding how this is achieved is in the virus replication process that provides by itself an evasion mechanism by inhibiting and delaying the host immune response against the viral infection. Numerous studies have demonstrated that HPV exploits both the ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and ataxia-telangiectasia and rad3-related (ATR) DDR pathways to replicate its genome and maintain a persistent infection by downregulating the innate and cell-mediated immunity. This review outlines how HPV interacts with the ATM-and ATR-dependent DDR machinery during the viral life cycle to create an environment favourable to viral replication, and how the interaction with the signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) protein family and the deregulation of the Janus kinase (JAK)-STAT pathways may impact the expression of interferon-inducible genes and the innate immune responses

Torsional oscillation monitoring by means of a magnetoelastic resonator: modeling and experimental functionalization to measure viscosity of liquids

A new application of a high sensitivity magnetoelastic resonator able to measure period and dampingconstant of low frequency torsional oscillation is described and validated by experimental tests. Thesensitive parameter is the amplitude of resonant magnetoelastic waves in the soft ferromagnetic core(Fe62.5Co6Ni7.5Zr6Cu1Nb2B15amorphous ribbon). The theoretical model of the device has been developed,correlating torsional oscillations to the friction force applied by the fluid in which they occur. Thus,an accurate indirect evaluation of fluid viscosity has been demonstrated. The main prerogative of theproposed sensor is to work without contact with the oscillating mechanism. As experimental validation,viscosity of UHT milk was measured versus different fat content. The experimental comparison with astandard rheometer demonstrates the new device competitiveness in the measure of low viscosity fluidsat low share rate. Moreover, the detected behaviors at increasing temperature are in agreement withprevious literature. In perspective, the new magnetoelastic resonators application can be very ductileand effective in on-line monitoring of viscosity change with time to control composition, degradation orcontamination of liquids