Location, Proximity, and M&A Transactions

In this paper, we examine how the geographic location of firms affects acquisition decisions and value creation for acquirers in takeover transactions. We find that firms located in an urban area are more likely to receive a takeover bid and complete a takeover transaction as a target than firms located in rural areas, and takeover deals involving an urban target are associated with higher acquirer announcement returns, after controlling for the proximity between the target and the acquirer. In addition, a target\u27s urban location significantly attenuates the negative effect of a long distance between the target and the acquirer on acquirer returns, a fact that is documented in the existing literature. Our findings reveal a previously underexplored force—firm location—that can affect takeover transactions, in addition to proximity. Our paper suggests that a firm\u27s location plays an important role in facilitating the dissemination of soft information and enhancing information-based synergies

Et Cetera

Et Cetera is woven together with five works that are essentially five bodies of writings as digital poetry -- a poetic practice that is made possible by digital media and technology in which aesthetic possibilities are extended through the semantic impact of data, alphabets, visuals, sound, etc. Interlaced by multimedial meaning-making, Et Cetera re(produces) installations that are engineered with algorithmic materials utilizing real-time data feeds, animated letterforms, performative instructions and sensory synthesis. Exploring different scenarios of human-machine coupling that consequently lead to multifarious illegibilities, Et Cetera amplifies the noise of information overflow in the concurrent mediascape with its rhizomatic networks largely beyond human conscious apprehension. On the B-side, Et Cetera is also involved with writing about the alphabetic writing apparatus, the role of artist as author as human-machine-centaur and networked subjectivity

Maxwell field with gauge fixing term in the radiation- and matter-dominant stages: exact solution and stress tensor

We study the Maxwell field with a general gauge fixing (GF) term in the radiation-dominant (RD) and matter-dominant (MD) stages of expanding Universe, as a continuation to the previous work in de Sitter space. We derive the exact solutions, perform the covariant canonical quantization and obtain the stress tensor in the Gupta-Bleuler (GB) physical states, which is independent of the GF constant and is also invariant under the quantum residual gauge transformation. The transverse stress tensor is similar in all flat Robertson-Walker spacetimes, and its vacuum part is $\propto k^4$ and becomes zero after the 0th-order adiabatic regularization. The longitudinal-temporal stress tensor, in both RD and MD stages, is zero due to a cancelation between the longitudinal and temporal parts in the GB states, and so is the particle part of the GF stress tensor. The vacuum GF stress tensor, in the RD stage, contains $k^4,k^2$ divergences and becomes zero by the 2nd-order regularization, however, in the MD stage, contains $k^4, k^2, k^0$ divergences and becomes zero by the 4th-order regularization. So, the order of adequate regularization depends not only upon the type of fields, but also upon the background spacetimes. In summary, in both the RD and MD stages, like in de Sitter space, the total regularized vacuum stress tensor is zero, only the transverse photon part remains, and this holds independent of the GF term.Comment: 18 pages, add references, submitted

A Novel Synthesis of Symmetric Trienes

This paper describes a novel synthesis of trienes by treatment of trans-2-alkenyl triphenylphosphonium bromides with BuLi in THF solution. Compounds, 5,7,9-tetradecatriene, 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene, and 2,6,11,16-tetramethyl-2,6,8,10,14-hexadecapentaene were prepared in the yields of 40%, 9%, and 46%, respectively. Cross-coupling of trans-2-heptenyltriphenylphosphonium bromide and trans-3-phenyl-2-propenyltriphenylphosphonium bromide gave a mixture of 5,7,9-tetradecatriene (10.6%), 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (0.5%), and 1-phenyl-1,3,5-decatriene (9.4%)

Do Entrepreneurs Make Good VCs?

Using hand-collected data on the backgrounds of venture capitalists (VCs), we show that in a typical venture capital firm in our sample, 13.9% of VCs have been entrepreneurs before becoming a VC, referred to as entrepreneur VCs. Both OLS and 2SLS analyses suggest that venture capital firms employing a greater fraction of entrepreneur VCs have better performance. In addition, the positive effect of entrepreneur VCs on venture capital firm performance is stronger for smaller and younger venture capital firms, and venture capital firms specializing in high-tech industries and in early-stage investments. We further explore performance implications of VCs with prior experience in a finance-related field (i.e., Wall Street experience) and prior experience in a non-finance related field (i.e., Main Street experience). We find that contrary to prior experience in entrepreneurship, neither prior experience in Wall Street nor in Main Street is significantly related to venture capital firm performance. Finally, we provide evidence that entrepreneur VCs have greater individual performance in terms of VC rankings established by Forbes. Overall, our results are consistent with the idea that entrepreneur VCs have a better understanding of the business of starting and developing a new firm due to their first-hands experience, and play an important role in reducing the gaps in information and difference of opinions between an entrepreneur and the VCs backing the entrepreneur