How Does Law Affect Finance? An Empirical Examination of Tunneling in an Emerging Market

This paper documents that law affects finance in emerging markets through the methods used by controlling shareholders to “tunnel” wealth out of the firm. We find that Bulgarian securities law enabled financial tunneling via dilution and freeze-out tender offers. During the period 1999- 2001, about two-thirds of the 1,040 firms on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange were delisted. Freeze-out tender offers for minority shares averaged about 25% of the shares’ intrinsic value. Bulgarian securities law changes in 2002 made financial tunneling more costly for controlling shareholders. Subsequent increases in stock market valuations and liquidity suggest that controlling shareholders have shifted from financial tunneling to less value-destroying methods, such as transfer pricing, to extract wealth from firms.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40128/3/wp742.pd

How Does Law Affect Finance? An Empirical Examination of Tunneling in an Emerging Market

This paper documents that law affects finance in emerging markets through the methods used by controlling shareholders to “tunnel” wealth out of the firm. We find that Bulgarian securities law enabled financial tunneling via dilution and freeze-out tender offers. During the period 1999- 2001, about two-thirds of the 1,040 firms on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange were delisted. Freeze-out tender offers for minority shares averaged about 25% of the shares’ intrinsic value. Bulgarian securities law changes in 2002 made financial tunneling more costly for controlling shareholders. Subsequent increases in stock market valuations and liquidity suggest that controlling shareholders have shifted from financial tunneling to less value-destroying methods, such as transfer pricing, to extract wealth from firms.Tunneling, freeze-out, controlling shareholders, appraisal rights, preemptive rights

Autologous blood donation in elective surgery of colorectal cancer - is it possible?

Reports from recent studies indicate a causal relationship between all transfusion, infectious complications and recurrent disease in surgical patients. The aim of the presented study is to elucidate the possibilities and indications for autologous haemotransfusion in the elective surgery of the colorectal cancer. Retrospective analysis was per formed over 724 electively operated patients with colorectal cancer. The prospective part includes observation of 20 radically operated patients. In these patients autologous haemotransfusion was per - formed. As indications for autologous haemotransfusion we consider age up to 80 years, hemoglobin levels at least 130 g/l, plasma protein > 65 g/l, body weight > 50 kg, good general condition and absence of decompensated cardiovascular or endocrine dis eases. In two patients with hemoglobin level between 90 - 110 g/l we per formed stimulation by means of Erythropoietin. According to retrospective data ad mission hemoglobin levels varies from 54 g/l to 175 g/l (mean 119 g/l ± 22, 6). From all electively operated patients 33, 9% had hemoglobin values over 130 g/l. The frequency of post-operative infectious complications increases from 9.1% in non-transfused patients to 38,7 % in patients with more than 4 units of allogenic blood trans fused. The prospective part of the study is designed to establish feasibility of the autologous haemotransfusion in clinical practice. The fall of hemoglobin values on the next day after donation varies from 11g/l to 19g/l (mean 15.5 g/l ± 2,19). Erythropoietin stimulation was not found to increase hemoglobin values significantly. There were no complications in the post-operative period in autologous haemotransfusion group with exception of one superficial wound infection. Autologous haemotransfusion is feasible in approximately 1/3 of electively operated patients with colorectal cancer with no ad verse effects or post-operative complications. It de creases the necessity of allogenic bioproducts and hence the risks related. Autologous haemotransfusion is easy to perform and propose ben e fits both from medical and logistic nature. Concerning to stimulation with Erythropoetin in our opinion it is without proven short term efficacy in general surgery so far

The selling of put derivatives by firms for shareholder wealth and information signaling enhancement

Working paper; version dated November 5, 200

How does law affect finance? An examination of equity tunneling in Bulgaria

Draft version dated May 2010 deposited in SSRN. Final version, published in Journal of Financial EconomicsWe model and test the mechanisms through which securities law affects tunneling and tunneling affects firm valuation. In 2002, Bulgaria adopted securities law changes which limit two forms of equity tunneling - dilutive equity offerings and freezeouts. We document that following the change, minority shareholders participate equally in secondary equity offers, where before they suffered severe dilution; freezeout offer prices quadruple; and Tobin's q values rise sharply for firms at high risk of tunneling. At the same time, return on assets declines for high-equity-tunneling-risk firms, suggesting that controlling shareholders partly substitute for reduced equity tunneling by engaging in more cash-flow tunneling. We thus present evidence on (i) the importance of legal rules in limiting equity tunneling, (ii) the role of equity tunneling risk as an important factor in determining equity prices; and (iii) substitution by controlling shareholders between different forms of tunneling

SERS analysis of Ag nanostructures produced by ion-beam deposition

This study deals with the development of a novel technique for formation of advanced Ag nanostructures (NSs) to be applied to high-resolution analyses based on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). It has direct bearing on human health and food quality, e.g., monitoring small amount or traces of pollutants or undesirable additives. Three types of nanostructured Ag samples were produced using ion-beam deposition at glancing angle (GLAD) on quartz. All fabricated structures were covered with BI-58 pesticide (dimethoate) or Rhodamine 6G (R6G) for testing their potential for use as substrates for (SERS)

Complete Luteolysis and Pregnancy Per Insemination After Modifying the Standard 7-day Ovsynch Program in Dairy Cows

Two experiments were conducted with Holstein-Friesian cows in the Republic of North Macedonia and with Holstein cows in Kansas. We hypothesized that a single standard dose of PGF2α injected on day 8 instead of day 7 in the standard Ovsynch program would increase the proportion of cows with complete luteolysis and increase the synchronization risk compared with control cows receiving a standard dose on day 7. Cows were treated with the standard program (Ov-7x1) or with Ov-8x1 experimental program in experiment 1, using only a single dose of PGF2α. In experiment 2, a third treatment was added (Ov-7x2), in which a second dose of PGF2α was administered 24 hours after the first dose. Overall, the results in experiment 1 demonstrated a greater percentage of multiparous cows in the OV-8x1 treatment had complete luteal regression compared with multiparous Ov-7x1 cows, whereas treatments were equally effective in primiparous cows. In contrast, results in experiment 2 revealed nearly 100% of cows in the Ov-7x2 treatment receiving the second dose of PGF2α had complete luteolysis. In both experiments, when the status of luteal function before PGF treatment was examined, the treatments were equally effective in causing complete luteal regression. Pregnancy rates, however, did not differ among treatments indicating that any of the three treatments will likely produce similar pregnancy outcomes with the flexibility of applying either the 7- vs. 8-day treatments