The Impact of Private Equity Ownership on Corporate Tax Avoidance

This study investigates whether private equity (PE) firms influence the tax practices of their portfolio firms. Prior research documents that PE firms create economic value in portfolio firms through effective governance, financial, and operational engineering. Given PE firms' focus on value creation, we examine whether PE firms influence the extent and types of tax avoidance at portfolio firms as an additional source of economic value. We document that PE-backed portfolio firms engage in significantly more nonconforming tax planning and have lower marginal tax rates than other private firms. Moreover, we document that PE-backed portfolio firms pay 14.2 percent less income tax per dollar of pre-tax income than non-PE backed firms, after controlling for NOLs and debt tax shields. We find additional tax savings for PE-backed portfolio firms that are either majority-owned or owned by large PE firms, consistent with PE ownership stake, expertise, and resources serving as important factors in the tax practices of portfolio firms. We infer that PE firms view tax planning as an additional source of economic value in their portfolio firms, where the benefits outweigh any potential reputational costs associated with corporate tax avoidance.Private equity, ownership structure, tax avoidance, tax planning, tax aggressiveness, book-tax differences.

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of kabocha squash (Cucurbita moschata Duch) induced by wounding with aluminum borate whiskers

An efficient genetic transformation method for kabocha squash (Cucurbita moschata Duch cv. Heiankogiku) was established by wounding cotyledonary node explants with aluminum borate whiskers prior to inoculation with Agrobacterium. Adventitious shoots were induced from only the proximal regions of the cotyledonary nodes and were most efficiently induced on Murashige–Skoog agar medium with 1 mg/L benzyladenine. Vortexing with 1% (w/v) aluminum borate whiskers significantly increased Agrobacterium infection efficiency in the proximal region of the explants. Transgenic plants were screened at the T0 generation by sGFP fluorescence, genomic PCR, and Southern blot analyses. These transgenic plants grew normally and T1 seeds were obtained. We confirmed stable integration of the transgene and its inheritance in T1 generation plants by sGFP fluorescence and genomic PCR analyses. The average transgenic efficiency for producing kabocha squashes with our method was about 2.7%, a value sufficient for practical use

Genomics-assisted breeding in four major pulse crops of developing countries: present status and prospects

The global population is continuously increasing and is expected to reach nine billion by 2050. This huge population pressure will lead to severe shortage of food, natural resources and arable land. Such an alarming situation is most likely to arise in developing countries due to increase in the proportion of people suffering from protein and micronutrient malnutrition. Pulses being a primary and affordable source of proteins and minerals play a key role in alleviating the protein calorie malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and other undernourishment-related issues. Additionally, pulses are a vital source of livelihood generation for millions of resource-poor farmers practising agriculture in the semi-arid and sub-tropical regions. Limited success achieved through conventional breeding so far in most of the pulse crops will not be enough to feed the ever increasing population. In this context, genomics-assisted breeding (GAB) holds promise in enhancing the genetic gains. Though pulses have long been considered as orphan crops, recent advances in the area of pulse genomics are noteworthy, e.g. discovery of genome-wide genetic markers, high-throughput genotyping and sequencing platforms, high-density genetic linkage/QTL maps and, more importantly, the availability of whole-genome sequence. With genome sequence in hand, there is a great scope to apply genome-wide methods for trait mapping using association studies and to choose desirable genotypes via genomic selection. It is anticipated that GAB will speed up the progress of genetic improvement of pulses, leading to the rapid development of cultivars with higher yield, enhanced stress tolerance and wider adaptability

A novel method based on combination of semi-in vitro and in vivo conditions in Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated hairy root transformation of Glycine species

Despite numerous advantages of the many tissue culture-independent hairy root transformation protocols, the process is often compromised in the initial in vitro culture stage where inability to maintain high humidity and the delivery of nourishing culture medium decrease cellular morphogenesis and organ formation efficiency. Ultimately, this influences the effective transfer of produced plantlets during transfer from in vitro to in vivo conditions, where low survival rates occur during the acclimation period. We have developed an intermediate protocol for Agrobacterium rhizogenes transformation in Glycine species by combining a two-step in vitro and in vivo process that greatly enhances the efficiency of hairy root formation and which simplifies the maintenance of the transformed roots. In this protocol, cotyledonary nodes of Glycine max and Glycine canescens seedlings were infected by A. rhizogenes K599 carrying a reporter gene construct constitutively expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). Glass containers containing sand and nutrient solution were employed to provide a moist clean microenvironment for the generation of hairy roots from inoculated seedlings. Transgenic roots were then noninvasively identified from nontransgenic roots based on the detection of GFP. Main roots and nontransgenic roots were removed leaving transgenic hairy roots to support seedling development, all within 1 mo of beginning the experiment. Overall, this protocol increased the transformation efficiency by more than twofold over traditional methods. Approximately 88% and 100% of infected plants developed hairy roots from G. max and G. canescens, respectively. On average, each infected plant produced 10.9 transformed hairy roots in G. max and 13–20 in G. canescens. Introduction of this simple protocol is a significant advance that eliminates the long and genotype-dependent tissue culture procedure while taking advantage of its optimum in vitro qualities to enhance the micropropagation rate. This research will support the increasing use of transient transgenic hairy roots for the study of plant root biology and symbiotic interactions with Rhizobium spp.Manijeh Mohammadi-Dehcheshmeh, Esmaeil Ebrahimie, Stephen D. Tyerman, Brent N. Kaise