Does Corporate Performance Improve After Mergers?

We examine the post-acquisition operating performance of merged firms using a sample of the 50 largest mergers between U.S. public industrial firms completed in the period 1979 to 1983. The results indicate that merged firms have significant improvement in asset productivity relative to their industries after the merger, leading to higher post-merger operating cash flow returns. Sample firms maintain their capital expenditure and R&D rates relative to their industries after the merger, indicating that merged firms do not reduce their long-term investments. There is a strong positive relation between postmerger increases in operating cash flows and abnormal stock returns at merger announcements, indicating that expectations of economic improvements underlie the equity revaluations of the merging firms.

Aboriginal Status is a Prognostic Factor for Mortality among Antiretroviral Naive HIV-Positive Individuals First Initiating HAART

Background: Although the impact of Aboriginal status on HIV incidence, HIV disease progression, and accessto treatment has been investigated previously, little is known about the relationship between Aboriginal ethnicityand outcomes associated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We undertook the present analysisto determine if Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal persons respond differently to HAART by measuring HIV plasmaviral load response, CD4 cell response and time to all-cause mortality.Methods: A population-based analysis of a cohort of antiretroviral therapy naïve HIV-positive Aboriginal menand women 18 years or older in British Columbia, Canada. Participants were antiretroviral therapy naïve, initiatedtriple combination therapy between August 1, 1996 and September 30, 1999. Participants had to complete abaseline questionnaire as well as have at least two follow-up CD4 and HIV plasma viral load measures. Theprimary endpoints were CD4 and HIV plasma viral load response and all cause mortality. Cox proportionalhazards models were used to determine the association between Aboriginal status and CD4 cell response, HIVplasma viral load response and all-cause mortality while controlling for several confounder variables.Results: A total of 622 participants met the study criteria. Aboriginal status was significantly associated with noAIDS diagnosis at baseline (p = 0.0296), having protease inhibitor in the first therapy (p = 0.0209), lower baselineHIV plasma viral load (p < 0.001), less experienced HIV physicians (P = 0.0133), history of IDU (p < 0.001), notcompleting high school (p = 0.0046), and an income of less than $10,000 per year (p = 0.0115). Cox proportionalhazards models controlling for clinical characteristics found that Aboriginal status had an increased hazard ofmortality (HR = 3.12, 95% CI: 1.77–5.48) but did not with HIV plasma viral load response (HR = 1.15, 95% CI:0.89–1.48) or CD4 cell response (HR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.73–1.23).Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that HIV-infected Aboriginal persons accessing HAART had similar HIVtreatment response as non-Aboriginal persons but have a shorter survival. This study highlights the need forcontinued research on medical interventions and behavioural changes among HIV-infected Aboriginal and othermarginalized populations

Location Advantages, Governance Quality, Stock Market Development and Firm Characteristics as Antecedents of African M&As

This study explores firm- and country-specific antecedents of African M&As. We use one of the largest datasets to-date consisting of 1,490 unique African firms (11,183 firm-year observations) from 1996 to 2012. Our results suggest that improvements in time-varying country-level factors, including location advantages (market size, human capital and efficiency opportunities), national governance quality, and stock market development are associated with an increase in the volume of M&A activity. Consistent with the resource-curse paradox, high resource endowments are not associated with increased levels of M&A. In support of the management inefficiency but contrary to the traditional firm size hypotheses, African targets are generally characterised by declining stock returns and accounting profitability but are more likely to be larger firms; suggesting the presence of information asymmetry concerns in their selection. Notwithstanding, we find evidence of heterogeneity across countries with inconsistent support for established target prediction hypotheses. A model which combines firm- and country- specific factors better explains observed variations in African M&A activity

Mentoring at the University of Pennsylvania: Results of a Faculty Survey

BACKGROUND: Research suggests mentoring is related to career satisfaction and success. Most studies have focused on junior faculty. OBJECTIVE: To explore multiple aspects of mentoring at an academic medical center in relation to faculty rank, track, and gender. DESIGN: Cross-sectional mail survey in mid-2003. PARTICIPANTS: Faculty members, 1,432, at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine MEASUREMENTS: Self-administered survey developed from existing instruments and stakeholders. RESULTS: Response rate was 73% (n = 1,046). Most (92%) assistant and half (48%) of associate professors had a mentor. Assistant professors in the tenure track were most likely to have a mentor (98%). At both ranks, the faculty was given more types of advice than types of opportunities. Satisfaction with mentoring was correlated with the number of types of mentoring received (r = .48 and .53, P < .0001), job satisfaction (r = .44 and .31, P < .0001), meeting frequency (r = .53 and .61, P < .0001), and expectation of leaving the University within 5 years (Spearman r = −.19 and −.18, P < .0001), at the assistant and associate rank, respectively. Significant predictors of higher overall job satisfaction were associate rank [Odds ratio (OR) = 2.04, CI = 1.29–3.21], the 10-point mentoring satisfaction rating (OR = 1.27, CI = 1.17–1.35), and number of mentors (OR = 1.60, CI = 1.20–2.07). CONCLUSIONS: Having a mentor, or preferably, multiple mentors is strongly related to satisfaction with mentoring and overall job satisfaction. Surprisingly, few differences were related to gender. Mentoring of clinician–educators, research track faculty, and senior faculty, and the use of multiple mentors require specific attention of academic leadership and further study

Identification of financial statement fraud in Greece by using computational intelligence techniques

The consequences of financial fraud are an issue with far-reaching for investors, lenders, regulators, corporate sectors and consumers. The range of development of new technologies such as cloud and mobile computing in recent years has compounded the problem. Manual detection which is a traditional method is not only inaccurate, expensive and time-consuming but also they are impractical for the management of big data. Auditors, financial institutions and regulators have tried to automated processes using statistical and computational methods. This paper presents comprehensive research in financial statement fraud detection by using machine learning techniques with a particular focus on computational intelligence (CI) techniques. We have collected a sample of 2469 observations since 2002 to 2015. Research gap was identified as none of the existing researchers address the association between financial statement fraud and CI-based detection algorithms and their performance, as reported in the literature. Also, the innovation of this research is that the selection of data sample is aimed to create models which will be capable of detecting the falsification in financial statements

Predictors of Hospitalization for Injection Drug Users Seeking Care for Soft Tissue Infections

BACKGROUND: Soft tissue infections (STIs) from injection drug use are a common cause of Emergency Department visits, hospitalizations, and operating room procedures, yet little is known about factors that may predict the need for these costly medical services. OBJECTIVE: To describe a cohort of injection drug users seeking Emergency Department care for STIs and to identify risk factors associated with hospitalization. We hypothesized that participants who delayed seeking care would be hospitalized more often than those who did not. DESIGN: Cohort study using in-person structured interviews and medical record review. Logistic regression assessed the association between hospital admission and delay in seeking care as well as other demographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors. PARTICIPANTS: Injection drug users who sought Emergency Department care for STIs from May 2001 to March 2002. RESULTS: Of the 136 participants, 55 (40%) were admitted to the hospital. Delay in seeking care was not associated with hospital admission. Participants admitted for their infection were significantly more likely to be living in a shelter (P = .01) and to report being hospitalized 2 or more times in the past year (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: We identified a subpopulation of injection drug users, mostly living in shelters, who were hospitalized frequently in the past year and who were more likely to be hospitalized for their current infections compared to others. As members of this subpopulation can be easily identified and located, they may benefit from interventions to reduce the health care utilization resulting from these infections

Episodic homelessness and health care utilization in a prospective cohort of HIV-infected persons with alcohol problems

BACKGROUND: Because individuals with HIV/AIDS often have complex medical and social needs, the impact of housing status on medical service utilization is difficult to isolate from the impact of conditions that may worsen during periods of homelessness such as depression and substance abuse. We examine whether episodes of homelessness are independently associated with suboptimal medical utilization even when accounting for concurrent addiction severity and depression. METHODS: We used data from a 30-month cohort of patients with HIV/AIDS and alcohol problems. Housing status, utilization (ambulatory visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations) and other features were assessed with standardized research interviews at 6-month intervals. Multivariable longitudinal regression models calculated incidence rate ratios (IRR) comparing utilization rates during 6-month intervals (homeless versus housed). Additional models assessed whether addiction severity and depressive symptoms could account for utilization differences. RESULTS: Of the 349 subjects, 139 (39%) reported homelessness at least once during the study period; among these subjects, the median number of nights homeless per 6-month interview period was 30. Homelessness was associated with higher ED utilization (IRR = 2.17; 95% CI = 1.72–2.74) and hospitalizations (IRR = 2.30; 1.70–3.12), despite no difference in ambulatory care utilization (IRR = 1.09; 0.89–1.33). These associations were attenuated but remained significant when adjusting for addiction severity and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: In patients with HIV/AIDS and alcohol problems, efforts to improve housing stability may help to mitigate intensive medical utilization patterns

Impact of unstable housing on all-cause mortality among persons who inject drugs

BACKGROUND: Illicit drug injecting is a well-established risk factor for morbidity and mortality. However, a limited number of prospective studies have examined the independent effect of unstable housing on mortality among persons who inject drugs (PWIDs). In this study we sought to identify if a relationship exists between unstable housing and all-cause mortality among PWIDs living in Vancouver, Canada. METHODS: PWIDs participating in two prospective cohort studies in Vancouver, Canada were followed between May 1996 and December 2012. Cohort data were linked to the provincial vital statistics database to ascertain mortality rates and causes of death. We used multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression to determine factors associated with all-cause mortality and to investigate the independent relationship between unstable housing and time to all-cause mortality. RESULTS: During the study period, 2453 individuals were followed for a median of 69 months (Inter-quartile range [IQR]: 34 – 113). In total, there were 515 (21.0%) deaths for an incidence density of 3.1 (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 2.8 – 3.4) deaths per 100 person years. In multivariate analyses, after adjusting for potential confounders including HIV infection and drug use patterns, unstable housing remained independently associated with all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.08 – 1.56). CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that unstable housing is an important risk factor for mortality independent of known risk factors including HIV infection and patterns of drug use. This study highlights the urgent need to provide supportive housing interventions to address elevated levels of preventable mortality among this population