Do Restructurings Improve Post-restructuring Productivity?

This study examines how normal and excess restructuring charges affect future productivity. I estimate normal restructuring charges necessitated by economic fundaments using a Tobit model. Next, I estimate post-restructuring firm productivity using Data Envelopment Analysis and investigate how normal and excess restructuring charges are associated with future productivity. Using a sample of 1,182 restructurings by 398 unique U.S. firms, I show that normal restructuring charges lead to improvement in future productivity while excess restructuring charges are associated with lower future productivity. Results also show that investors seem to fail to utilize the information contained in excess restructuring charges

How Do Broad-Based Stock Option Grants Affect Firms’ Overall Future Productivity?

We investigate the impact of broad-based stock option grants on future firm productivity using a sample of U.S. firms from 1990-2006. We focus on stock option grants predominantly to rank-and-file employees (broad-based stock options) because a significant amount of stock options are granted to rank-and-file employees other than the top five named executives. This study documents that the extent of broad-based stock option grants are negatively associated with future firm productivity. Further tests show this negative relation is attenuated by a firm\u27s financial constraints and stock price informativeness but is exacerbated in new economy industry firms. We interpret these results as evidence that the expected incentive effect of broad-based stock options fails to compensate for the additional direct and indirect costs associated with such compensation programs. In cases when it is necessitated by a firm\u27s financial condition or when stock price informativeness closely link its value with firm performance, the broad-based stock option less likely leads to diminished productivity. However, it more likely does so in firms where resources for R&D and capital investment are crucial for growth. Robustness tests show endogeneity issues do not drive our results. Other than making significant contribution to the academic literature, this study also has important practical implications in designing efficient compensation packages

Off the Hook: Does the Supreme Court\u27s Scheme Liability Ruling Benefit Firms in Litigation-Prone Industries?

This study measures the impact afthe U.S. Supreme Court\u27s 2008 ruling Stoneridge Investment Partners vs. Scientific-Atlanta on the cumulative abnormal returns and changes in bid-ask spread of firms in litigation-prone industries (computer, electronic, pharmaceuticallbiotech, and retail industries). Although we find, in general, positive CARs around the event, we posit and find that the conditional probability that a firm will commit an accounting misstatement affects both CAR and bid-ask spread The results show that firms with a higher probability of committing financial misstatements experience lower returns around the court\u27s ruling. That is, the ruling increases information asymmetry and uncertainty, and thus costs increase for firms that are more likely to commit financial misstatements, as reflected in a widening of the bid-ask sprea

Off the Hook: Does the Supreme Court\u27s Scheme Liability Ruling Benefit Firms in Litigation-Prone Industries?

This study measures the impact afthe U.S. Supreme Court\u27s 2008 ruling Stoneridge Investment Partners vs. Scientific-Atlanta on the cumulative abnormal returns and changes in bid-ask spread of firms in litigation-prone industries (computer, electronic, pharmaceuticallbiotech, and retail industries). Although we find, in general, positive CARs around the event, we posit and find that the conditional probability that a firm will commit an accounting misstatement affects both CAR and bid-ask spread The results show that firms with a higher probability of committing financial misstatements experience lower returns around the court\u27s ruling. That is, the ruling increases information asymmetry and uncertainty, and thus costs increase for firms that are more likely to commit financial misstatements, as reflected in a widening of the bid-ask sprea

The Effect of Intangible Resources on Selling, General, and Administrative Cost Behavior of Young and Established Firms

In this paper we investigate the effect of intangible resources on the relationship between activities and SG&A costs, and examine this effect on young and established firms. Prior research shows that costs are sticky in that costs decrease to a lesser extent following decrease in activities than they do increase following increase in activities of the same magnitude. We hypothesize that firms relying on intangible resources will exhibit stronger sticky cost behavior because (i) intangible resources are strategic resources and (ii) they possess unique properties that constrain managers’ ability to selectively cut resources. Using a large sample of US firms, we show that costs are more sticky with increase in intangibles. We also show that the effect of intangibles on cost behavior is present only among young firms. These results are consistent with the notion that managers of young firms focus on building capacity, learning, and maintaining flexibilities whereas managers of established firms focus on efficiency

A case of miliary tuberculosis in a Holestein Fresian dairy cow, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia

We report a case of miliary tuberculosis (TB) found in one of the commercial dairy farms in Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia. The case history of the cow indicated weight loss, emaciation and chronic cough. Antibiotic treatment was not successful and there was also repeated death of cows in the farm. Postmortem (PM) examination showed tuberculous lesions in the lung, liver, mediastinal lymphnodes, mesenteric lymphnodes, pleural cavity, reproductive tract, lymphnodes of the head and bone marrow suggesting miliary form of TB. This was confirmed by bacteriological examination and histopathology. The farm where the present case was reported is one of the dairy farms in Mekelle city that supplies milk to the community. As the pasteurization facility is weak in the area, it is suspected that this farm may serve as one of the major transmitters of TB in humans. The lack of control policy in the country worsens the occurrence and spread of TB in animals. In this case, the owner of the Farm was advised to conduct tuberculin skin testing and segregate TB positive cows. Moreover, the owner was advised that it is advantageous to slaughter the reactors under the supervision of the local veterinarian so as to reduce spread of bovine TB in the farm.Keywords: Bovine tuberculosis; Dairy cattle; Exotic; Mekelle; Miliary T

Free roaming dogs and the communities’ knowledge, attitude and practices of rabies incidence/human exposures: Cases of selected settings in Ethiopia and Kenya

AbstractBackground: According to the recommendation made by World Health organization, vaccinating 70% of the dog population helps to control rabies and prevent rabies virus in human population. However, the exponential increase in the population of free roaming dogs is a serious challenge to this strategy in Eastern African countries including Ethiopia and Kenya. Understanding the dynamics of free roaming dog populations is, thus, a step to be taken prior to designing effective rabies prevention and control strategy in these countries.Objectives: The present study was designed to determine the number of free roaming dogs in selected settings in Ethiopia and Kenya, and describe the level of community knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on rabies incidence/human exposures. The study also described the socio-cultural value of dog keeping in the areas considered in the study.Methodology: Counting free roaming dogs were a major means of collecting data in both Ethiopia and Kenya. Dog count was made using the markup capture approach. Other than counting, questionnaire was used to obtain data for the study. Three-hundred and ninety-eight copies of questionnaires were administered to the study participants in Ethiopia, while the number of respondents to the questionnaire in Kenya was 351. In addition, a five-year retrospective data on dog/animal bite cases were collected from selected health facilities of the study sites.Results: A total of 2991 and 386 free roaming dogs were counted in Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively. A five-year retrospective data showed cases of 1524 (in Mekelle) and 429 (Assela) individuals who were bitten/infected by rabies-suspected animals. Evidence obtained from the health facilities in Mekelle and Assela showed the bitten/infected individuals took PEP within the specified period.In Kenya, a total of 3441 and 4997 animal bite cases were reported from 2010-2014 in Kisumu and Siaya, respectively. The number of animal bite cases may signify the economic burden incurred (cost of PEP and other related costs), public health impact and social value of the disease. The questionnaire data also indicated the existing dog management practices, awareness of the community about rabies and its zoonotic importance, the first line of action taken at home for individuals bitten by rabies suspected animal, awareness of the community on dog vaccination, importance of free roaming dogs and their management.Conclusion: The significant proportion of free roaming dogs and number of animal bite cases calls for an integrated action between human and veterinary professionals to control the number of free roaming dog population, initiate awareness creation programs in the community and increase the vaccination of owned dogs there by to control and prevent rabies. Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2018;32(1):27-35

Essays on accounting restatements

The two essays in this dissertation address whether restatements provide benefits by improving earnings persistence, pricing, and comparability of accounting amounts. The first essay investigates whether accounting restatements improve the persistence and pricing of earnings and their subcomponents of accruals, cash balance changes, cash to debt holders, and cash to equity holders. I find that the persistence of accruals and of the cash subcomponents of retained cash, distributions to debt and equity holders improves after restatement. This finding suggests that restatements improve the quality of financial reporting by forcing firms to comply with the generally accepted accounting principles. In a more detailed test, I find that non-auditor-mandated and error-related restatements lead to more-persistent accrual and cash components of earnings. Further, I find that the mispricing of accruals and of the retained-cash subcomponents of earnings appears to cease after restatement. This finding is robust whether restatements are disclosed in headlines in the financial press (high prominence), in the body of press releases (medium prominence), or in footnotes (low prominence). The evidence suggests that earnings persistence improves after accounting restatements, and that earnings components are priced more efficiently irrespective of the venue of the restatement announcement.The second essay investigates whether misstatements limit the comparability of restating firms‘ financial statements to those of their peers‘. The FASB asserts that financial restatements enhance the within-firm inter-period and within-period inter-firm comparability of accounting amounts. However, recent reports have expressed concern over the costs associated with accounting restatement, and have questioned the benefits of restatement. This study tests these assertions by examining whether accounting amounts become more comparable after restatement. I hypothesize that restatements re-endow accounting amounts with the fundamental qualitative characteristics, and that they enhance the comparability of accounting amounts. Further, I predict that comparability improves for restatements that enhance consistency, understandability, accounting quality, and investor confidence. Using accounting-system and value-relevance comparability metrics, I find that eliminating inconsistencies and re-endowing accounting amounts with the fundamental qualitative characteristics through restatement leads to greater comparability. In further tests, I find that comparability of accounting amounts improves for restatements associated with errors and for non-auditor-mandated restatements.Ph.D., Accounting -- Drexel University, 201

Parental involvement in the governance of secondary school in Eritrea: Current trends and future possibilities

Magister Educationis - MEdThis study was designed to investigate the current policies and practices of secondary school governance in Eritrea. There is a basic need to investigate the nature of parental involvement in school governance, particularly in relation to policies enshrined in the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) guidelines. The study examined the parents' commitment to execute their school governance role properly and to determine their capacity to fulfil their responsibilities with respect to the powers and functions vested in them. Education was merely the domain of the school and parents were discouraged from interfering in matters of school governance, therefore parental participation has been very limited. Thus, the focus of the study was to investigate the prevailing problems that curtail parental involvement and identify appropriate strategies for improving and strengthening school governance.South Afric

How Do Broad-Based Stock Option Grants Affect Firms’ Overall Future Productivity?

We investigate the impact of broad-based stock option grants on future firm productivity using a sample of U.S. firms from 1990-2006. We focus on stock option grants predominantly to rank-and-file employees (broad-based stock options) because a significant amount of stock options are granted to rank-and-file employees other than the top five named executives. This study documents that the extent of broad-based stock option grants are negatively associated with future firm productivity. Further tests show this negative relation is attenuated by a firm\u27s financial constraints and stock price informativeness but is exacerbated in new economy industry firms. We interpret these results as evidence that the expected incentive effect of broad-based stock options fails to compensate for the additional direct and indirect costs associated with such compensation programs. In cases when it is necessitated by a firm\u27s financial condition or when stock price informativeness closely link its value with firm performance, the broad-based stock option less likely leads to diminished productivity. However, it more likely does so in firms where resources for R&D and capital investment are crucial for growth. Robustness tests show endogeneity issues do not drive our results. Other than making significant contribution to the academic literature, this study also has important practical implications in designing efficient compensation packages