Diversity In Analyst Coverage

This paper examines the effect of intra-industry "earnings informativeness" and proprietary firm information on variation in security analyst coverage within industries. Earnings informativeness is defined as the extent to which privately developed or obtained information about one firms' earnings provides useful information about the earnings of its industry co-members. Proprietary information provides signals concerning future firm profitability, relative to industry competitors, resulting from such factors as new product developments and innovations in production processes. The results reveal that levels of analyst coverage relative to mean levels of industry-specific analyst interest is significantly positively associated with intra-industry earnings informativeness and size-adjusted annual research and development expenditures (a proxy for proprietary firm information). The findings also show that certain determinants of analyst coverage (e.g., firm size and institutional ownership) identified in the prior literature as explaining variation in aggregate analyst following also hold at the industry level. Finally, the paper examines whether the model variables found to possess explanatory power within industries can also serve to explain observed variation in inter-industry levels of analyst interest and the results suggest that they can

A Note On Earnings Forecast Source Superiority

We examine the forecast accuracy of Value Line analysts relative to the Brown-Rozeff (100)X(011)4 ARIMA model.  We find that for a surprising percentage (35-41%) of our sample of small firms that time series-based earnings per share predictions are more accurate than those obtained from The Value Line Investment Survey.  Further, we document exploitable characteristics of each subgroup that are associated with forecast origin.  In those instances where the seasonal, univariate earnings forecast model identified by Brown and Rozeff (1979) produces more accurate forecasts than Value Line, we find significant differences in firm size, degree of diversification, magnitudes of the autoregressive and seasonal moving-average parameters, residual standard errors, and magnitude of the Ljung-Box Q-statistic.  We use probit regressions to identify ex ante those firms likely to be accurately forecast by each source.  We achieve a marginal improvement in forecast accuracy, which suggests there is potential for using ex ante decision rules to improve forecast accuracy.&nbsp

The characteristics of firms that hire chief risk officers

Abstract Enterprise risk management (ERM) is a holistic method of managing both operational and strategic risks across an organization. In recent years adoption of ERM has been increasing. We use a hazard model to examine the factors that influence the adoption of this practice. We find that larger firms that are more levered, have more volatile operating cash flows, and have greater institutional ownership are more likely to initiate an ERM program. However, firms with more growth options and firms that have experienced greater changes in market value are less likely to adopt ERM. When the value of the CEO's option and stock portfolio is increasing in stock volatility, the firm is also more likely to adopt ERM. Finally we find that banks with lower levels of Tier 1 capital are more likely to adopt ERM. Our results indicate that firms adopt ERM for reasons consistent with risk management as well as to offset CEO risk taking incentives and to bolster performance. JEL Classification Codes: G32

Improving the immunogenicity of native-like HIV-1 envelope trimers by hyperstabilization

The production of native-like recombinant versions of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimer requires overcoming the natural flexibility and instability of the complex. The engineered BG505 SOSIP.664 trimer mimics the structure and antigenicity of native Env. Here, we describe how the introduction of new disulfide bonds between the glycoprotein (gp)120 and gp41 subunits of SOSIP trimers of the BG505 and other genotypes improves their stability and antigenicity, reduces their conformational flexibility, and helps maintain them in the unliganded conformation. The resulting next-generation SOSIP.v5 trimers induce strong autologous tier-2 neutralizing antibody (NAb) responses in rabbits. In addition, the BG505 SOSIP.v6 trimers induced weak heterologous NAb responses against a subset of tier-2 viruses that were not elicited by the prototype BG505 SOSIP.664. These stabilization methods can be applied to trimers from multiple genotypes as components of multivalent vaccines aimed at inducing broadly NAbs (bNAbs)

Enterprise Risk Management: Review, Critique, and Research Directions

Many regulators, rating agencies, executives and academics have advocated a new approach to risk management: Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). ERM proposes the integrated management of all the risks an organization faces, which inherently requires alignment of risk management with corporate governance and strategy. Academic research on ERM is still in its infancy, with articles largely in accounting and finance journals but rarely in management journals. We argue that ERM offers an important new research domain for management scholars. A critical review of ERM research allows us to identify limitations and gaps that management scholars are best equipped to address. This paper not only identifies how management scholars can contribute to ERM research, but also points out why ERM research (and practice) needs management research for its development. (C) Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The use of sodium and/or potassium lactate to extend shelf-life and reduce sodium levels in precooked beef systems

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references.Not availabl

Helping Connecticut Towns Plan for Climate Change

A NOAA Climate Change Adaptation Training Workshop helps Connecticut towns plan ahead

The Challenges and Opportunities for ERM Post-COVID-19: Agendas for Future Research

In this paper, we examine the impact that COVID-19 has had on enterprise risk management (ERM). Guided by the origins and philosophy of ERM, we suggest an agenda for future research on ERM in a “post-COVID-19” reality, by addressing its integrated, strategic, and value-enhancing orientation. To guide future research endeavors in ERM, which is still an evolving discipline, we present topics that would benefit from additional research attention within both risk identification and analysis, as well as the strategic dimension of ERM