Post-operating performance of cross-delisted firms from U.S. stock exchanges

We investigate the long-term performance of cross-delisted firms from U.S. stock markets. Using a sample of foreign firms listed and delisted from U.S. stock exchange markets over 2000-2012, we examine the operating performance and the long-run stock returns performance of firms post-cross-delisting. Our results suggest that cross-delisted firms have less growth opportunities than matched cross-listed firms in the long run. Moreover, firms that cross-delist after the passage of Rule 12h-6 of 2007 exhibit a significant decline in operating performance. In contrast, before the adoption of the Rule 12h-6, cross-delisted firms seem to be affected by the cost of a U.S. listing in the precross -delisting period. In addition, we provide evidence that cross-delisted firms underperform their cross-listed peers; cross-delisted firms experience negative average abnormal returns, especially in the post-delisting period.COMPETE, QREN, FEDER, FC

Earnings management and stock price crashes post-crossdelisting

We test whether cross-delisted firms from the major U.S. stock exchanges experience an increase in crash risk associated with earnings management. Consistent with our prediction, we find that earnings management have a greater positive impact on stock price crash risk post-cross-delisting when compared to a sample of still cross-listed firms. Moreover, our results suggest that this effect is more pronounced for crossdelisted firms from countries with weaker investor protection and poorer quality of their information environment. We further examine whether managers’ ability to manipulate earnings increases post-cross-delisting around seasoned equity offerings. Our evidence shows that cross-delisted firms that engage in earnings management to inflate reported earnings prior to a seasoned equity offering are more likely to observe a subsequent stock price crash.COMPETE, QREN, FEDER, FC

Cross-delisting, financial constraints and investment sensitivities

We investigate the impact of cross-delisting on firms’ financial constraints and investment sensitivities. We find that firms that cross-delisted from a U.S. stock exchange face stronger post-delisting financial constraints than their cross-listed counterparts, as measured by investment-to-cash flow sensitivity. Following a delisting, the sensitivity of investment-to-cash flow increases significantly and firms also tend to save more cash out of cash flows. Moreover, this increase appears to be primarily driven by informational frictions that constrain access to external financing. We document that information asymmetry problems are stronger for firms from countries with weaker shareholders protection and for firms from less developed capital markets.COMPETE, QREN, FEDER, FC

Effects of working capital management on the profitability of portuguese manufacturing firms

Dissertação de mestrado em FinançasThe purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence about the effects of working capital management on the profitability of Portuguese manufacturing firms. In accordance to this purpose, profitability was measured by the return-on-assets ratio and the efficiency of the working capital management was measured by the aggregate summary indicator: net trade cycle. A longitudinal database covering the period 1996- 2006, collected from Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Portuguese Statistical Office), was analyzed under panel data methodology. In line with previous research, the empirical findings of this study provide evidence that there is a negative linear relationship between profitability and net trade cycle. Moreover, a reduction in the average number of days of accounts receivable and in the average number of days of inventories leads to an increase in firm´s profitability. Also a decrease in the average number of days of accounts payable tends to increase profitability. In addition, our study is the first one to test a non-linear relation between profitability and working capital management for a sample of Portuguese firms. Our results suggest a non-linear (concave) relationship between these two variables, which indicates there is an optimum net trade cycle level that maximizes firm’s profitability.O objectivo deste estudo é evidenciar, através de uma análise empírica, os efeitos da gestão do fundo de maneio na rendibilidade das empresas da indústria manufactureira Portuguesa. De acordo com este objectivo, a rendibilidade foi medida pelo rácio rendibilidade dos activos e a eficiência da gestão de fundo de maneio foi medida pelo indicador agregado: ciclo financeiro de exploração. Para este efeito foram recolhidos, junto do Instituto Nacional de Estatística, dados longitudinais durante o período 1996- 2006. Na análise dos dados foi aplicada a metodologia de dados em painel. De acordo com pesquisas anteriores, os resultados empíricos deste estudo fornecem evidências da existência de uma relação linear negativa entre a rendibilidade e o ciclo financeiro de exploração. Além disso, uma redução do número médio de dias de contas a receber e do número médio de dias de inventários conduz a um aumento na rendibilidade das empresas. Também uma diminuição do número médio de dias de contas a pagar tende a aumentar a rendibilidade. Adicionalmente, o nosso estudo é o primeiro a testar uma relação não linear entre a rendibilidade e o ciclo financeiro de exploração para uma amostra de empresas Portuguesas. Os nossos resultados sugerem uma relação não linear (côncava) entre a rendibilidade e o ciclo financeiro de exploração, o que indica a existência de um nível óptimo do ciclo financeiro de exploração que maximiza a rendibilidade das empresas

Financial constraints and financial crises: the case of Portuguese listed companies

The purpose of this study is to analyze the degree of financial constraints faced by the companies included on the Portuguese Stock General Index when accessing to external financing, especially after the beginning and during the most recent financial crisis that affected the world financial markets from 2007. According to this aim, a longitudinal database is collected from the SABI database and was analyzed under panel data methodology. The final sample is panel data of 430 firm-year observations, related to 43 companies, during the period 2006-2015. In line with previous literature, our results provide evidence that the payout ratio is an efficient measure of the degree of financial constraints; companies that pay out less (or no) dividends display higher sensitivity of the investment to the cash flow. Moreover, we also found that the investment sensitivity to cash flow intensifies immediately after and during the most recent financial crisis.(undefined

Os efeitos económicos da deslistagem das ações dos mercados de capitais norte-americanos: evidência ex-post sobre o desempenho operacional, restrições financeiras e risco de queda abrupta no preço das ações

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Empresariais.In this study we examine the economic consequences for firms that cross-delisted from a U.S. stock exchange. Using a sample of foreign firms that cross-delisted from U.S. exchange markets from 2000 to 2012, we investigate the long-term performance, the level of financial constraints, and the likelihood of stock price crashes after the cross-delisting event. We document several new findings as follows: i) cross-delisted firms have less growth opportunities, in the long-run, than their cross-listed peers; ii) after the adoption of Rule 12h-6 of 2007, cross-delisted firms exhibit a significant decline in operating performance; iii) cross-delisted firms underperform their cross-listed peers as they experience negative average abnormal returns, especially in the post-cross-delisting period; iv) cross-delisted firms face higher financial constraints post-delisting than their cross-listed counterparts, and also tend to save more cash out of cash flows; v) the increase in financial constraints post-cross-delisting seems to be primarily driven by informational frictions that constrain access to external financing, which are stronger for firms from countries with weaker investor protection and less developed capital markets; vi) cross-delisted firms experience a significant increase in crash risk associated with earnings management in the post-delisting period relative to a control sample of cross-listed firms, and this effect is more pronounced for delisted firms from countries with weaker investor protection and poor quality of their information environment; vii) cross-delisted firms that engage in earnings management to inflate reported earnings prior to a seasoned equity offering are more likely to a subsequent stock price crash.Neste estudo analisam-se as consequências económicas da deslistagem de empresas estrangeiras listadas nos mercados acionistas dos Estados Unidos. Usando uma amostra de empresas estrangeiras listadas e deslistadas das bolsas de valores Norte-Americanas entre 2000 e 2012, investiga-se o desempenho (económico) de longo prazo, o nível de restrições financeiras e a probabilidade de queda abrupta no valor de mercado das ações após a deslistagem. Os resultados empíricos deste estudo suportam as seguintes evidências: i) as empresas estrangeiras que se deslistam têm menores oportunidades de crescimento, no longo prazo, do que empresas estrangeiras comparáveis que permanecem listadas nos mercados Norte-Americanos; ii) as empresas estrangeiras que se deslistam após a adoção da norma 12h-6 de 2007, exibem um significativo decréscimo no seu desempenho operacional; iii) as empresas estrangeiras que se deslistam apresentam um desempenho no mercado de capitais inferior a um grupo de empresas comparáveis que se mantêm listadas, apresentando rendibilidades supranormais negativas, sobretudo no período após a deslistagem; iv) as empresas estrangeiras deslistadas enfrentam maiores restrições financeiras após a deslistagem por comparação com empresas similares que permanecem listadas e tendem também a conservar um nível mais elevado de reservas de caixa e equivalentes; v) o aumento das restrições financeiras no período após a deslistagem parece resultar de fricções no ambiente informacional que limitam o acesso ao financiamento externo, sendo esta evidência mais pronunciada para empresas estrangeiras originárias de países com menor nível de proteção legal aos investidores e com mercados de capitais menos desenvolvidos; vi) as empresas estrangeiras que se deslistam sofrem (por comparação com um grupo de empresas de controle com características similares) um aumento significativo no risco de queda abrupta no preço das suas ações relacionada com manipulação de resultados verificada, principalmente, no período após a deslistagem, sendo este efeito mais pronunciado para empresas estrangeiras originárias de países com menor nível de proteção legal aos investidores e com pior qualidade do seu ambiente informacional; vii) as empresas estrangeiras deslistadas que se envolvem em manipulação de resultados antes de uma nova oferta pública acionista são as que apresentam maior probabilidade de sofrerem uma queda abrupta no preço das suas ações

The impact of cross-delisting from the U.S. on firms’ financial constraints

We investigate the impact of cross-delisting on firms’ financial constraints. We find that firms that cross-delisted from a U.S. stock exchange face stronger post-delisting financial constraints than their cross-listed counterparts, as measured by investment-to-cash flow and cash-to-cash flow sensitivities. Following a delisting, the sensitivity of investment to cash flow increases significantly, and firms also tend to save more cash out of cash flows. These effects are mainly driven by cross-delisted firms from countries with weaker investor protection and are more predominant after the passage of Rule 12 h-6 (of 2007), which made it easier for foreign firms to leave U.S. markets.This paper is partially financed by National Funds of the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the project UID/ECO/03182/2019

Orchestrating entrepreneurial ecosystems in circular economy: the new paradigm of sustainable competitiveness

"ahead-of-print"Purpose – The Paris agreement for climate changes brought new attention to the themes of reduce carbon emissions, green ecosystems, the circular economy and the need to ensure the emergence of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems. This study aims to investigate entrepreneurship from the perspective of circular economy and waste collection in the Portuguese context. Design/methodology/approach – Following a quantitative approach, the sample comprises 2,690 firm-year observations related to 354 firms from different industries within the waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) scope. Findings – The results show that a large part of SMEs started to comply with waste management regulations as of 2006 and are still not prone to innovation. Regulatory compliance is expected to have a positive impact on innovation, with a significant and positive change in the number of patents and the value of intangibles after companies comply with the waste management regulation. Originality/value – This paper is original because it addresses equally to entrepreneurial ecosystems and circular economy (studies that address these two aspects are rare), with the Portuguese context in an embryonic stage with an extensive path to follow in the applicability of circular economy to business.This paper is financed by National Funds of the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the project “UIDB/03182/2020”

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved