Voluntary Disclosure and Firm Visibility: Evidence from Firms Pursuing an Initial Public Offering

Drawing on predictions by Merton (1987) regarding the benefits to firms of enhancing visibility with prospective investors, we develop hypotheses for the role of pre-prospectus voluntary disclosure activities in terms of press releases and attendance at investor and industry conferences by firms pursuing an initial public offering (IPO). For a sample of IPOs during 2004–2014 we find that press release disclosures and conference attendance are common pre-IPO disclosure strategies. Tests using the passage of the 2005 Securities Offering Reform as a source of quasi-exogenous variation in pre-prospectus disclosures reveal, consistent with Merton (1987), that disclosures in this regime appear designed to enhance firm visibility, but have little effect on the extent of adverse selection costs. Overall, our evidence suggests that pre-IPO voluntary disclosure strategies provide benefits to newly public firms beyond mitigating informational asymmetries

A History of Chagas Disease Transmission, Control, and Re-Emergence in Peri-Rural La Joya, Peru

The historically rural problem of Chagas disease is increasing in urban areas in Latin America. Peri-rural development may play a critical role in the urbanization of Chagas disease and other parasitic infections. We conducted a cross-sectional study in an urbanizing rural area in southern Peru, and we encountered a complex history of Chagas disease in this peri-rural environment. Specifically, we discovered: (1) long-standing parasite transmission leading to substantial burden of infection; (2) interruption in parasite transmission resulting from an undocumented insecticide application campaign; (3) relatively rapid re-emergence of parasite-infected vector insects resulting from an unsustained control campaign; (4) extensive migration among peri-rural inhabitants. Long-standing parasite infection in peri-rural areas with highly mobile populations provides a plausible mechanism for the expansion of parasite transmission to nearby urban centers. Lack of commitment to control campaigns in peri-rural areas may have unforeseen and undesired consequences for nearby urban centers. Novel methods and perspectives are needed to address the complexities of human migration and erratic interventions

Stable Cytotoxic T Cell Escape Mutation in Hepatitis C Virus Is Linked to Maintenance of Viral Fitness

Mechanisms by which hepatitis C virus (HCV) evades cellular immunity to establish persistence in chronically infected individuals are not clear. Mutations in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-restricted epitopes targeted by CD8+ T cells are associated with persistence, but the extent to which these mutations affect viral fitness is not fully understood. Previous work showed that the HCV quasispecies in a persistently infected chimpanzee accumulated multiple mutations in numerous class I epitopes over a period of 7 years. During the acute phase of infection, one representative epitope in the C-terminal region of the NS3/4A helicase, NS31629-1637, displayed multiple serial amino acid substitutions in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) anchor and T cell receptor (TCR) contact residues. Only one of these amino acid substitutions at position 9 (P9) of the epitope was stable in the quasispecies. We therefore assessed the effect of each mutation observed during in vivo infection on viral fitness and T cell responses using an HCV subgenomic replicon system and a recently developed in vitro infectious virus cell culture model. Mutation of a position 7 (P7) TCR-contact residue, I1635T, expectedly ablated the T cell response without affecting viral RNA replication or virion production. In contrast, two mutations at the P9 MHC-anchor residue abrogated antigen-specific T cell responses, but additionally decreased viral RNA replication and virion production. The first escape mutation, L1637P, detected in vivo only transiently at 3 mo after infection, decreased viral production, and reverted to the parental sequence in vitro. The second P9 variant, L1637S, which was stable in vivo through 7 years of follow-up, evaded the antigen-specific T cell response and did not revert in vitro despite being less optimal in virion production compared to the parental virus. These studies suggest that HCV escape mutants emerging early in infection are not necessarily stable, but are eventually replaced with variants that achieve a balance between immune evasion and fitness for replication

The Role of Self-Regulation in Corporate Governance: Evidence from The Netherlands

The purpose of this paper is to gather evidence on the success of market forces in promoting investor interests through self-regulation. Corporate governance is a complex mechanism design problem that is both economic and legal/political based. As such there is great interest in whether (and when) market forces alone are sufficient to prompt change, and whether (and when) additional legal/political actions are required to write and enforce contracts between the owners and managers of capital. The Netherlands provides an excellent opportunity to gather such information. In 1996, a private sector Committee was formed to initiate debate and change in the balance of power between a company's management and investors. In 1997, the Committee issued its recommendations and one year later the Committee initiated a project to assess the impact of the report. We identify the corporate governance variables that are linked to firm value and assess the impact of the committee's recommendations on t..

Commemorating the 50‐Year Anniversary of Ball and Brown (1968): The Evolution of Capital Market Research over the Past 50 Years

© University of Chicago on behalf of the Accounting Research Center, 2019 We commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ball and Brown [1968] by chronicling its impact on capital market research in accounting. We trace the evolution of various research paths that post–Ball and Brown [1968] researchers took as they sought to build on the foundation laid by Ball and Brown [1968] to create a body of research on the usefulness, timeliness, and other properties of accounting numbers. We discuss how those paths often link back to the groundwork laid and questions originally posed in Ball and Brown [1968]