Does Corporate Law Matter? Legal Capital Restrictions on Stock Distributions

This paper consists of five sections, including this introduction. The background section of this article consists of several parts. First, we provide an historical overview of the legal capital doctrines restricting dividends. Second, we briefly summarize and illustrate six basic types of state statutory restrictions on dividends and other distributions to shareholders. Third, we examine the criticisms of legal capital that has led many states to abandon the use of concepts like stated capital and surplus to restrict financial distributions to shareholders. Fourth, a discussion of the generally accepted accounting principles ( GAAP ) and mechanics of legal capital and stock distributions is provided for the benefit of readers not already familiar with this topic. Fifth, we examine prior research that suggests the market value of a firm increases when it announces a stock distribution, i.e., the announcement of a stock split or dividend increases the common stock price. This research suggests that shareholder reaction to stock distribution announcements stems from the information that the stock distribution decision conveys about the firm’s future earnings potential and other fundamentally important information. In the data and method section, we test the hypothesis that if stock distribution announcements increase share prices, then the choice between stock split and stock dividend accounting treatment may also have an effect on share prices. We correct for specific flaws found in the research design of other empirical studies and present the results in the fourth section of this article. Our tests of the empirical evidence support the hypothesis that investors react more positively to the announcement of a large stock dividend than a stock split. In addition, market response is more pronounced when managers are constrained by the combination of legal capital doctrines restricting cash distributions to shareholders and the method used to account for large stock distributions. In the final section of this article, we conclude, based on the results of our empirical tests, that statutory dividend restrictions based on legal capital enhance management’s ability to use stock distributions to communicate with shareholders. This suggests that the critics of legal capital may have been too harsh and that state legislatures may be acting too hastily in replacing legal capital doctrines with other types of statutory restrictions on dividends

A measurement of the W boson mass using large rapidity electrons

We present a measurement of the W boson mass using data collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron during 1994--1995. We identify W bosons by their decays to e-nu final states where the electron is detected in a forward calorimeter. We extract the W boson mass, Mw, by fitting the transverse mass and transverse electron and neutrino momentum spectra from a sample of 11,089 W -> e nu decay candidates. We use a sample of 1,687 dielectron events, mostly due to Z -> ee decays, to constrain our model of the detector response. Using the forward calorimeter data, we measure Mw = 80.691 +- 0.227 GeV. Combining the forward calorimeter measurements with our previously published central calorimeter results, we obtain Mw = 80.482 +- 0.091 GeV

Increasing capacity for the treatment of common musculoskeletal problems: A non-inferiority RCT and economic analysis of corticosteroid injection for shoulder pain comparing a physiotherapist and orthopaedic surgeon

Background Role substitution is a strategy employed to assist health services manage the growing demand for musculoskeletal care. Corticosteroid injection is a common treatment in this population but the efficacy of its prescription and delivery by physiotherapists has not been established against orthopaedic standards. This paper investigates whether corticosteroid injection given by a physiotherapist for shoulder pain is as clinically and cost effective as that from an orthopaedic surgeon. Methods A double blind non-inferiority randomized controlled trial was conducted in an Australian public hospital orthopaedic outpatient service, from January 2013 to June 2014. Adults with a General Practitioner referral to Orthopaedics for shoulder pain received subacromial corticosteroid and local anaesthetic injection prescribed and delivered independently by a physiotherapist or a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. The main outcome measure was total Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) score at baseline, six and 12 weeks, applying a non-inferiority margin of 15 points. Secondary outcomes tested for superiority included pain, shoulder movement, perceived improvement, adverse events, satisfaction, quality of life and costs. Results 278 participants were independently assessed by the physiotherapist and the orthopaedic surgeon, with 64 randomised (physiotherapist 33, orthopaedic surgeon 31). There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between groups. Non-inferiority of injection by the physiotherapist was declared from total SPADI scores at 6 and 12 weeks (upper limit of the 95% one-sided confidence interval 13.34 and 7.17 at 6 and 12 weeks, respectively). There were no statistically significant differences between groups on any outcome measures at 6 or 12 weeks. From the perspective of the health funder, the physiotherapist was less expensive. Conclusions Corticosteroid injection for shoulder pain, provided by a suitably qualified physiotherapist is at least as clinically effective, and less expensive, compared with similar care delivered by an orthopaedic surgeon. Policy makers and service providers should consider implementing this model of care