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This study examines the contribution of CEO unobserved heterogeneity to CEO inside debt compensation. Using a three-way fixed effects model, we find that CEO fixed effects explain a majority of the variation in inside debt. The CEO inside debt compensation explained by CEO fixed effects is also positively associated with firm performance, while the distance from the predicted optimal inside debt is unrelated to firm performance. Further, firms appear to adjust inside debt toward their predicted optimums by minimizing year-over-year deviations. Collectively, our findings indicate that inside debt results from optimal-contracting and help align the interests of CEOs with those of debtholders.

The average investor who lives in a state with relatively higher alcohol consumption is more likely to buy and sell lottery-type stocks and to trade more often. Both of these activities entail sensation seeking; correspondingly, we find that speculative investment behavior is correlated with alcohol consumption only in states with lotteries and where a local tendency for sensation seeking behavior has not been diluted by an influx of migrants from other states where alcohol consumption is low. Most importantly, our results suggest that alcohol consumption does not per se drive a preference for investment gambles, but rather portrays the type of local culture in which the speculative investing occurs.

Eu1-xSrxAl2O4 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) materials were successfully synthesized and characterized. Rietveld refinements revealed that the monoclinic phase with the P21 (No. 4) space group is thermodynamically stable within the wide EuO-SrO-AlO solid-solution range. Spectroscopic refinements using infrared (IR), Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that the vibrational modes are somewhat chemically shifted, most likely because of the difference in reduced mass (μ) between Eu‒O and Sr–O bond. Based on the binding energies of the reference compounds (Eu2O3 and EuCl2), the predominant Eu2+ species are partially oxidized to Eu3+ species in the near-surface region. The band-gap energies (Eg) of the Eu1-xSrxAl2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.5, and 1.0) materials were determined from the Kubelka-Munk transformation of the diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) to be 2.56, 2.59, and 4.23 eV, respectively, in agreement with previously reported values determined by theoretical band calculation. The photoluminescence (PL) and LED-emission results revealed that the luminous efficiency of the Eu0.3Sr0.7Al2O4 was approximately 2.5 times higher than that of EuAl2O4 phosphor. Using Williamson−Hall (W−H) method, the determined structural strains of phosphors revealed that the compressive strain plays an important role in the enhanced PL intensity ofthese phosphors. These materials provide a platform for developing new phosphors for application in solid-state lighting.

We examine senators’ electronically filed stock transactions between 2012 and 2019 to assess the extent of politician’s insider trading. Our results suggest that senators use inside political information when investing and earn significant market-adjusted returns. To extend traditional return-based methods, we propose a new comprehensive approach based on abnormal idiosyncratic volatility (AIV), which captures the degree of information asymmetry around their trading dates. We document that senator trades are associated with substantially high levels of AIV, suggesting that they represent only a tip of the iceberg, since the mass of unfiled transactions using the same inside information remains undetected.

We use the M&A setting to investigate whether corporate political strategies impact market outcomes. In line with the view that politics can complicate M&A deals, we find that firms contributing to political action committees or involved in lobbying are less likely to be acquired and their takeover process is lengthier. We provide evidence that a likely motive for politicians’ interference with the takeover process can be their career concerns, in terms of getting re-elected and raising funds for future campaigns. We also find that politically connected target firms command higher takeover premiums from bidders lacking political expertise, consistent with the notion that the market regards target firms’ connections, not easily replicable by bidders, as means to enhance growth opportunities of the merged firm. We provide a first step in documenting how political connections can become either a tool of convenience or an impediment for managers of firms involved in acquisitions.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Zanthoxylum piperitum (ZP) has been used to prevent toothache in East Asia. Aim of study In this study, we investigated the effects of ZP on periodontitis along with alveolar bone loss. Materials and methods Twenty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned into 4 groups; non-ligated (NOR), ligated and treated vehicle (CTR), ligated and treated 1 mg/mL ZP (ZP1), and ligated and treated 100 mg/mL ZP (ZP100). Sterilized 3-0 nylon ligature was placed into the subgingival sulcus around the both sides of mandibular first molar. After topical application of 1 and 100 mg/mL ZP for 2 weeks, mandibles was removed for histology. In addition, SaOS-2 osteoblast cells were treated 1, 10 and 100 μg/mL ZP for 24 h to analyze the expressions of alveolar bone-related markers. Results Several alveolar bone resorption pits, which indicate cementum demineralization were decreased by ZP treatment. Topical ZP treatment inhibited periodontitis-induced alveolar bone loss. In addition, there were significant reduction of osteoclastic activities following topical ZP treatment in periodontium. The expression of RANKL was decreased in SaOS-2 osteoblast cells by treating ZP, while that of OPG was increased. ZP treatment increased the expressions of Runx2 and Osterix in SaOS-2 cells. Conclusion In summary, ZP treatment inhibited alveolar bone loss as well as maintained the integrity of periodontal structures via regulation of bone remodeling. ZP may be a therapeutic target for treating periodontitis.

The origin of poor phosphatability in multi-phase steel is studied by various microscopic methods. The effect of the three influential factors that are a phase including compositional difference, crystallographic orientation, and surface oxidation on the zinc phosphate (ZP) formation are investigated by the comparative study of the matrices under the ZP-formed and -missing areas. The inferior ZP formation in bainite/martensite than ferrite is clarified by the analyses of a transmission electron microscopy and an electron backscatter diffraction. The matrix orientation doesn't show apparent deference in the ZP-formed and -missing matrices. The ZP-missing area shows only the enrichment of carbon in the analyses of an electron probe microanalyzer, an Auger electron spectroscopy, and a secondary ion mass spectrometry. The alloy showed no oxide film at the ZP-missing area due to the pickling process. The poor phosphatability in the multi-phase steel is further discussed on the relatively lower matrix dissolution rate at the carbon-rich bainite/martensite area in the ZP solution.

Objective Studies of regenerative therapies have focused on the paracrine effects of mesenchymal stem cells, but little has been revealed about the humoral factors of periodontal ligament (PDL) stem cells. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the secretory factors of human permanent- and deciduous-teeth PDL cells (P-PDL and D-PDL cells, respectively) in order to understand the characteristics of these cells and their potential applications in regenerative therapies. Design Conditioned media were collected from P-PDL and D-PDL cells (P-PDL-CM and D-PDL-CM, respectively). These media were analyzed with high-performance liquid-chromatography-coupled electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry and a cytokine membrane assay. In addition, Western blot analysis was performed to verify the differences between the two media. Results Cytokines related to neurogenesis (NT-3 and NT-4) and angiogenesis-related cytokines (EGF and IGF-1) were identified in P-PDL-CM. The expression levels of immune-response-related cytokines (interleukins I, II, and IV) and secreted proteins related to tissue degradation and catalytic activities (matrix metallopeptidase 1 (MMP1), Proteasome subunit, alpha type, 1 (PSMA1), and cullin 7 (CUL7)) were higher in D-PDL-CM. Vasorin (VASN) was expressed more strongly in P-PDL-CM, but tudor domain containing 7 (TDRD7) was expressed more strongly in D-PDL-CM in Western blot analysis. Conclusion The cytokine expressions of the two cell types showed different patterns, especially in neurogenesis and immune responses. P-PDL cells are more suitable candidates for applications in regenerative therapies.

We examine the relation between CEO delta, firm locality, and firm value for a sample of 7749 firm-year observations. We find that CEO delta is more value-enhancing for rural firms, those associated with exacerbated agency conflicts resulting from decreased observability of managerial investment decisions and higher levels of information asymmetry. Further, the positive relation between CEO delta and firm value is stronger for rural firms with higher levels of information asymmetry or in less religious areas. Our findings imply that managerial ownership is more effective in mitigating agency conflicts in rural areas with higher levels of information asymmetry and lower degrees of local trustworthy constituents. Our results are robust to alternative definitions of urban/rural firms, the inclusion of additional control variables, and various tests controlling the endogeneity between firm location and value. Finally, the results do not appear to be driven by reverse causality.

Previous literature finds a positive association between short-term changes in institutional holdings (especially those of local institutions) and subsequent short-term stock performance. We contribute by investigating the importance of geographical proximity under policy uncertainty. We show that the short-term informational advantage of local institutions only thrives in areas that are either politically closely aligned with the president or where the state government (governorship and legislature) is under the control of one party. Our findings are important in understanding the avenues through which geographical proximity may provide the basis for exploitable informational advantages.

This paper studies the linkages between bank performance, connections to powerful politicians, and the degree of economic freedom in a bank’s home state. We find that bank performance is positively related to state economic freedom. We also reconfirm the finding of Gropper et al. (2013) that bank performance is improved by political connections. However, the positive effect of political connections appears to be significantly reduced when there is a higher degree of economic freedom in the state, indicating that political connections may matter less to banks when there is more economic freedom. Economic freedom in a state can have a beneficial effect on state economic growth and hence may outweigh any political connection benefits. However, the declines in state economic freedom in recent years could make political connections potentially more valuable to banks.

Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) were isolated from bone marrow of the vertebral body. The hBMSCs were cultured under either hypoxic (1% O2) or normoxic (21% O2; control) conditions and the characteristics as mesenchymal stem cells were compared. Results revealed that hypoxia reduced proliferative potential and colony-forming efficiency of hBMSCs, and significantly enhanced osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation. The hBMSCs enhanced the regenerative potential of bone in vivo. In vitro synthesis of soluble and insoluble collagen was significantly increased in the hypoxic condition. In vivo collagen tissue regeneration was also enhanced under the hypoxic condition, with concomitant increased expressions of various subtypes of collagen and lysyl-oxidase family mRNA. MicroRNA assays revealed that miR-155-5p, which negatively regulates HIF-1α, was significantly highly expressed. These observations demonstrate that hBMSCs obtained from human vertebrae exhibit altered characteristics under hypoxic conditions, and each factor contributing to hBMSC-mediated tissue healing should be evaluated with the goal of allowing their clinical application.

Firms use active political strategies not only to mitigate uncertainty emanating from legislative activity, but also to enhance their growth opportunities. We find that the impact of such policy uncertainty on systematic risk (beta) can be hedged away by employing various political strategies involving the presence of former politicians on corporate boards of directors, contributions to political campaigns, and corporate lobbying activities. In addition, we show that active political strategies can boost firms’ growth opportunities; they are associated with greater firm heterogeneity and make real options more value-relevant as potential drivers of competitive advantages in uncertain environments.

We show that firm headquarters’ geographic proximity to political power centers (state capitals) is associated with higher abnormal returns. Consistent with the notion that this effect is rooted in social network links, we find it is more pronounced in communities with high levels of sociability and political values’ homophily, and that it dissipates when firms move their headquarters to another state. Finally, in line with the view that investors perceive such networks to be associated with political risk, we find that this effect is particularly strong when there are substantial levels of corruption, dependency on government spending, and politicians’ turnover.

This study investigates whether stock price performance contains a sizeable component that emanates from local sports sentiment. We measure sports sentiment by the performance of sports teams from the four major professional sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL) that are based nearby firms’ headquarters. We find that concurrent stock returns and sports performances associated with the same locality are highly correlated. Consistent with the notion that mispricing is indeed caused by sports sentiment, we also determine that sentiment is related to a subsequent gradual return reversal, which occurs over the following three year period. In addition, we confirm that local comovement is more pronounced in the presence of sports sentiment in support of the view that local stock preference of relatively less sophisticated retail investors can be driven by factors that are not information-based. Finally, we devise investment strategies based on recent past observations of sports sentiment and find that they generate sizable abnormal returns, especially in cases of firms located in areas where fan base support appears to be stronger.

Purpose The aim of the present randomized controlled trial was to determine the safety and efficacy of injectable demineralized bone matrix (DBM) gel combined with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) on alveolar ridge preservation after tooth extraction. Materials and Methods A total of 69 patients were randomly assigned to either a test group (n = 35) or a control group (n = 34). In the test group, DBM, together with rhBMP-2 (0.05 mg/mL; rhBMP-2/DBM) was transplanted into the extraction sockets. The control group received DBM alone. The safety of rhBMP-2/DBM was evaluated by oral examination, serum chemistry, and hematologic examination. The radiographic changes in alveolar bone height and width were measured using computed tomography scans performed immediately after transplant and again 3 months thereafter. Results Healing was uneventful in all subjects, with no anticipated adverse events and no clinically significant changes in the serum chemistry and hematologic findings. No meaningful immune response was found among the study groups. No significant difference was found in the radiographic changes of alveolar bone height and width ( P > .05). Conclusions This new injectable biomaterial can be used easily and safely in clinical applications.

Drawing from the behavioral theory of the firm and the resource-based view, we argue that different types of R&D (explorative and exploitative) and the timing of R&D investments (pre- and post-acquisitions) have differential effects on post-acquisition performance. By using a sample of 396 technology acquisitions, we find that pre-acquisition explorative and post-acquisition R&D expenditures are more beneficial for post-acquisition performance than are pre-acquisition exploitative and post-acquisition explorative R&D expenditures. Our results also show that firms investing in explorative R&D in the pre-acquisition stage and then exploitative R&D in the post-acquisition stage have better post-acquisition performance than firms that do otherwise.

This paper investigates the relationship between US MNCs' valuations and anti-Americanism in countries where MNCs' foreign subsidiaries are located. We find that MNCs suffer value-destruction when they enter markets where people express severe anti-Americanism. However, we uncover that geographic diversification into these high anti-Americanism countries significantly increases firm value if the MNC has high levels of intangibles such as technological know-how and marketing expertise. Our findings are consistent with the notion that the advantages from internalizing the cross-border transfer of intangibles are greater when barriers to competition are higher.

Does a politician with power in the U.S. Congress positively affect the value of firms headquartered in their home state? We investigate this question by examining the profitability and stock performance of commercial banks. Banks can be enormously influenced by the political and regulatory environment. We find that banks headquartered in states where a Senator or member of the House of Representatives serves as the chairman on their respective banking committee in Congress outperform banks headquartered in other states. In addition, we find that this “chair effect” is more pronounced when the committee chairs are strongly aligned with other politicians in Congress, when they are more experienced, and when banks are clustered in the home state, suggesting that the potential benefits generated from chairmanship are in more demand. Overall, our results suggest that there are some important value implications of a local politician’s power in Congress.

Recent studies highlight positive effect of political connections on firm performance and stock returns. This paper shows that the positive effect of political connections on the cross-sectional stock returns disappears in the lame duck presidency period, defined as the last two years before the Presidential party change. Additional tests suggest that the diminishing political effect in the lame duck period is more pronounced during the Republican presidency and the last two years of the first term presidency. The results are driven by the firms located in the states where residents more strongly support the president, by small firms, who typically do not have financial resources to hedge away political risks, and by firms in the consumer goods, sales, and manufacturing industries.

Purpose Mandibular tori are located above the mylohyoid ridge. These features are relatively common in most populations, but their prevalence varies with race. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence and features of mandibular tori in a Korean population using computed tomographic (CT) images. Materials and Methods The CT images of 726 patients were analyzed in this study. The presence or absence of a mandibular torus was identified on the CT images of each patient's quadrants and categorized according to gender and age. The most common location was also evaluated according to the corresponding teeth. The cortical thickness of each torus was evaluated using a 3-dimensional reconstruction software program. Results The prevalence of mandibular tori in the entire sample was 24.1%, and most cases were bilateral. Mandibular tori were observed more frequently in young adults, with the prevalence being inversely related to age. The most frequently observed location was the premolar region, and the mean cortical thickness was 6.9 mm. Conclusions Mandibular tori seem to change with aging. The prevalence in the present sample composed of Koreans was 24.1%, and younger patients may be more likely to develop a mandibular torus. Most tori presented a medium size bilaterally in the lingual aspect of the premolar region, and all were composed of cortical bone.

An ink-jet printing method was proposed to solve several conventional problems of ink jet process. PVK (poly(9-vinylcarbazole)) thin film was synthesized and simultaneousely patterned by the reactive ink-jet process (RIP). Gel permeation chromatography shows a linear relationship between the molecular weight of the PVK and the reaction time. The as-synthesized PVK with a controlled molecular weight was applied to an OLED device. Most of the OLED with the RIP–PVK film performed better compared to the reference OLEDs. The luminance graphs indicated the existence of a proper molecular weight leading to the optimum structural conformity which was matched well to the modified OLED structure, showing a linear relationship with the reaction time in the turn-on threshold. This result implies that one can control the proper molecular weight of a polymer and thus the electrical properties of an OLED device via the RIP method.

This study examines the market's reaction to dividend omission announcements and finds that if dividends are skipped to preserve cash for good investments, investors do not necessarily regard the omission as negative information. Markets penalize firms for dividend omissions only in the absence of a good stream of investments. In addition, the positive relation between investment opportunity and abnormal stock returns around the announcements is stronger when the level of information asymmetry between management and the rest of the market participants is low. Additional tests reveal that good omitters overcome underperformance faster in the post period. Overall, the results suggest that financial markets interpret differently the information conveyed in the announcement of dividend omission depending on the firm's future prospects.

We examine the performance of several types of the consumption-based CAPM (C-CAPM) models to explore if consumption factors matter for determining excess returns across 17 MSCI country indexes. While the classic world C-CAPM does exhibit some power in explaining cross-sectional variations of expected excess returns, the model seems to require an implausibly large coefficient of risk aversion. The more sophisticated models including the heterogeneous C-CAPM, the world surplus consumption and the habit-formation models provide more reasonable estimates and add substantial explanatory power for the variation in the cross section of excess stock returns. Our results suggest that country-specific consumption risk is not fully diversified thus implying that stock returns are related to idiosyncratic consumption risk.

This study investigates gender diversity among the top managers of Fortune 500 firms and its effect on agency costs. The study finds that firms with a greater percentage of female officers present lower agency costs but that the negative relation is not robust when considering the endogeneity of diversity. The study also finds that external governance influences the relationship. Although increasing diversity does not reduce agency costs for all firms, the evidence shows that diversity is significantly negatively related to agency costs in firms in less competitive markets. The results suggest that increasing diversity in management can have beneficial effects for firms where strong external governance is absent.

Y 1.9− x Li 0.1 Eu x O 3 ( x =0.02, 0.05, 0.08, and 0.12) films were fabricated by spin-coating method. A colloidal silica suspension with Y 1.9− x Li 0.1 Eu x O 3 phosphor powder was exploited to obtain the highly stable and effective luminescent films onto the glass substrate. After heating as-prepared Y 1.9− x Li 0.1 Eu x O 3 films at 700 °C for 1 h, the phosphor films exhibit a high luminescent brightness as well as a strong adhesiveness on the glass substrate. The emission spectra of spin-coated and pulse-laser deposited Y 1.82 Li 0.1 Eu 0.08 O 3 films were compared. The cathodoluminescence of the phosphor films was carried out at the anode voltage 1 kV.

We investigate the effect of top managers' myopia on firms' market valuation. We devise a measure of expected CEO tenure as a proxy of the length of CEO decision horizon. After accounting for the endogenous nature of CEO horizon, our empirical tests show that it is significantly associated with agency costs and provide strong support for the hypotheses that the length of CEO decision horizon has a positive influence on firm value and a negative effect on information risk. The results are consistent with the notion that a short CEO decision horizon is indicative of preference for investments that offer relatively faster paybacks at the expense of long-term value creation.

We investigate whether and how well firms’ stock market valuations reflect their employees’ collective skills and effectiveness relative to that of their industry peers and competitors. We devise a relative stock market valuation measure of human capital intangibles (EVHC) and find that portfolios of low EVHC firms systematically outperform portfolios of high EVHC firms by an average 1.34% per month. However, this is primarily a small firms effect, because for large firms the excess returns of the arbitrage portfolio that is long on the low EVHC stocks and short on the high EVHC stocks is zero. Our results suggest that reliance on human capital intangibles may proxy for risk not fully accounted for by conventional asset pricing models, or alternatively, that the market cannot correctly price human capital intangibles for small size firms.

This paper examines the relationship between U.S. MNCs' valuation and corruption in countries where the MNCs' foreign subsidiaries are located. We uncover that country-level corruption has a multi-dimensional impact on MNCs' valuation. We find that the impact of intangibles is less pronounced for MNCs operating primarily in corrupt countries, consistent with the view that the lack of property rights protection and information asymmetry problems are more prevalent in corrupt environments. We also find that the expansion of a MNC network dominated by corrupt countries negatively affects MNCs' valuation, suggesting that investors may recognize it as an additional risk. However, more importantly, we find that geographic diversification in corrupt countries significantly increases firm value if the MNC has high levels of intangibles such as technological know-how and marketing expertise. Assuming that transactions costs in corrupt countries are higher, our findings are consistent with the notion that the advantages from internalizing the cross-border transfer of intangibles are greater in the presence of corruption. Our findings remain unchanged when we account for endogeneity at the country-and firm-level, when we use alternative corruption measures, and when we re-estimate models by omitting MNCs with operations in locations with big “negative” shocks during the sample period. Moreover, we show that firms with expertise in dealing with corruption enjoy greater benefits from internalization.

We provide a link between diversification discount and corporate use of financial derivatives. We show that diversified firms benefit from financial risk management. Our findings are consistent with the notion that derivative usage lowers information asymmetry and thereby reduces the negative valuation effects of diversification. Our evidence complements the earlier findings of both the risk management literature and diversification discount literature and is robust to controls for endogeneity and information asymmetry levels.

We extend the intertemporal capital asset pricing model (ICAPM) with two macro factors commonly used in the arbitrage pricing theory (APT); namely, inflation risk and industrial production cycle. We find consistent evidence that our proposed ICAPM-APT augmented model performs better than the original ICAPM models. Regarding variations of cross-sectional returns, the results suggest that the inflation risk is the key additional factor of the asset pricing model for the 25 size and book-to-market portfolios, while only the industrial production cycle proves a crucial factor for the 25 size and momentum portfolios. Furthermore, when the industrial production cycle is present in the model, the momentum factor becomes superfluous. This suggests that the momentum factor is an effective proxy for the industrial production cycle.

Li-doped Y2O3:Eu3+ luminescent thin films have been grown on Si (100) and Al2O3 (0001) substrates using a pulsed laser deposition technique. The thin film phosphors were deposited by changing the substrates and the processing conditions (substrate temperature and oxygen pressure). The films grown under different deposition conditions have been characterized using microstructural and luminescent measurements. The PL intensity of the Li-doped Y2O3:Eu3+ films are highly dependent on the crystallinity and surface roughness of the films. The films are uniaxially textured in both Si (100) and Al2O3 (0001) cases and the films grown on Al2O3 (0001) substrate exhibit the superior crystallization and photoluminescent properties. The brightness of the films grown on Al2O3 (0001) substrate was increased by a factor of 2.1 in comparison with that of the films grown on Si (100) substrate. The photoluminescence intensity and surface roughness have similar behavior as a function of not only oxygen pressure but also substrate temperature. This phosphor may promise for application to the flat panel displays.

We have deposited Fe 3− x Co x O 4 films on glass substrates from aqueous solutions of CoCl 2 , FeCl 2 and NaNO 2 using the thin-liquid film method. X-ray diffraction patterns of the films show that the relative intensity of (1 1 1) to (3 1 1) reflection increases by the addition of Co 2+ from less than 10% for Fe 3 O 4 ( x =0) to 145% for Fe 2.59 Co 0.41 O 4 . The maximum coercive force ( H c =2110 Oe), which was measured by a vibrating sample magnetometer, is also obtained for the Fe 2.59 Co 0.41 O 4 film. Mossbauer analysis shows that the Co 2+ is located at the octahedral (O h ) site of the inverse spinel and the presence of Co 2+ enhances the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The electrical resistivity of the films was changed from about 1 to 10 6 Ω cm by the addition of Co 2+ at room temperature. We suggest that the formation of Co 2+ ion pairs and the excess octahedral stabilization energy of Co 2+ ions in the Fe 3− x Co x O 4 are partly the reasons of the anisotropy.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could be formed on Si substrate using nickel catalyst under microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. Under the high, negative-bias voltage (−400 V) condition, we found the formation of the carbon nanotube islands and the bamboo-like carbon nanotube interconnection lines. Most of the bamboo-like carbon nanotubes connected with the carbon nanotubes themselves, which indicates the self-assembled characteristics of the carbon nanotube interconnection lines. The self-assembled characteristics of the bamboo-like carbon nanotube interconnection lines were evaluated using computer-aided image analysis.

The SrRu 1− x Fe x O 3 films ( x =0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) were successfully fabricated using the powders coated with SiO 2 nano-particles (≈30 nm). The SrRu 1− x Fe x O 3 powders (≈500 nm) were synthesized by a conventional solid-state reaction. Thanks to the fused SiO 2 nano-particles in the vicinity of the glass softening temperature at approximately 700 °C, the SrRu 1− x Fe x O 3 powders are strongly attached onto the surface of the glass substrate. The various techniques were performed to characterize the films, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field emission-scanning electron microscopy, Mossbauer spectroscopy and resistivity measurements. This simple and low-cost method to get the SrRu 1− x Fe x O 3 films ( x =0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) may promise for applications to microelectronics field, such as dynamic random access memory or ferro-electric random access memory.

Cathodoluminescent (CL) spectra of Li-doped Gd 2− x Y x O 3 :Eu 3+ solid-solution (0.0⩽ x ⩽0.8) were investigated at low voltages (300 V–1 kV). The CL intensity is maximum for the composition of x =0.2 and gradually reduces with increasing the amount of substituted Y content. In particular, small (∼100 nm) particles of Li-doped Gd 1.8 Y 0.2 O 3 :Eu 3+ are obtained by firing the citrate precursors at only 650°C for 18 h. Relative red-emission intensity at 300 V of this phosphor is close to 180% in comparison with that of commercial red phosphor Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ . An increase of firing temperature to 900°C results in 400–600 nm sized spherical particles. At low voltages (300–800 V), the CL emission of 100 nm sized particles is much stronger than that of 400–600 nm sized ones. In contrast, the larger particles exhibit the higher CL emission intensity at high voltages (1–10 kV). Taking into consideration small spherical morphology and effective CL emission, Li-doped Gd 1.8 Y 0.2 O 3 :Eu 3+ appears to be an efficient phosphor material for low voltage field emission display.

We investigate whether diversity in points of view within corporate boards, as captured by the diversity in political ideology of board members, can affect a firm's performance. We employ personal political contributions' data to measure political ideology distance among groups of inside, outside directors and the CEO. Our empirical evidence strongly supports the notion that outside directors' monitoring effectiveness is more likely to be enhanced when their viewpoints are distinct from those of management. We find that ideologically diverse boards are associated with better firm performance, lower agency costs and less insiders' discretionary power over the firm's Political Action Committee (PAC) spending. Taken together, our results lead us to conclude that multiplicity of standpoints in corporate boardrooms is imperative for board effectiveness.

We examine how firm characteristics, particularly the degree of firm complexity and the firm’s need for specialty knowledge, affect the relationship between corporate governance and the risk of bankruptcy. We find that having larger boards reduces the risk of bankruptcy only for complex firms. Our results also suggest that the proportion of inside directors on the board is inversely associated with the risk of bankruptcy in firms that require more specialist knowledge, and that the reverse is true in technically unsophisticated firms. The results further reveal that the additional explanatory power from corporate governance variables becomes more pronounced as the time to bankruptcy is increased, implying that although corporate governance variables are important predictors, governance changes are likely to be too late to save a firm on the verge of bankruptcy.

We show that product market competition reduces agency problems by curtailing misleading earnings management and improving earnings informativeness. Using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index from the Census of Manufacturers to proxy for product market competition, we find that firms in more competitive industries are less likely to engage in earnings management as measured by the absolute value of discretionary accruals and they are more likely to engage in earnings smoothing improving earnings informativeness about future cash flows. Earnings smoothing ratios are higher in competitive markets and the positive relation between current discretionary accruals and future changes in operating cash flows is stronger in such markets. Moreover, we find that firms in competitive industries have lower analysts' earnings forecast errors and lower dispersion of earnings forecasts, suggesting lower information asymmetry between managers and the market. Stock-price informativeness is also higher in more competitive markets. Furthermore, forced earnings restatements and security fraud lawsuits are less common in such markets. When firms engage in misleading upward earnings management, in a competitive market they are more harshly punished by the stock market when the market learns about the misleading management. We find that firms engaging in such management experience worse long-term stock performance in competitive markets. In addition, the negative market reaction to the announcements of forced earnings restatements is stronger in competitive markets. Overall, our findings suggest that product market competition is an effective mechanism improving the accuracy of financial reporting and reducing the information asymmetry between managers and the market. Moreover, product market competition achieves more accurate reporting without incurring substantial costs often associated with government regulations of financial reporting or corporate governance.

Previous literature has provided mixed views on the role of press coverage on market efficiency. On the positive side, it can function as an external disciplinary mechanism that improves corporate governance or as an information intermediary that provides relevant information to a wide audience. On the negative side, media coverage may be inherently biased or a source of judgment biases and sentiment. Using a large hand-collected database of newspaper articles from 1995 to 2004, we find that abnormal press coverage of public firms significantly exaggerates mispricing. Collectively, these results are consistent with the notion that abnormal press coverage generates strong sentiment among investors that is likely to cause the firm's stock to be mispriced. We find that, among firms with uncharacteristically high print media coverage, underpriced firms outperform overpriced firms by more than one percent per month on a risk adjusted basis. When we examine signed mispricing, we find that the effect of abnormal press coverage is more pronounced for overpriced than for underpriced firms, which is consistent with both media bias and the combination of media generated sentiment with binding short-selling constraints. We show that even though both effects co-exist, the media sentiment effect is more pervasive.

Infra-red spectra of electrochemically oxidized La2CuO4+δ recorded at various temperatures between 20°C to 250°C and the Raman spectrum at room temperature have been analyzed and compared with those of stoichiometric La2CuO4 and strontium substituted La1.85Sr0.15CuO4. It has been shown that oxygen enriched La2CuO4+δ exhibits a Raman spectrum characteristic of a highly distorted orthorhombic structure due to oxygen insertion. The thermal variation of the IR spectra as well as the TGA and magnetic data can be explained by an irreversible transition to stoichiometric La2CuO4 above 220°C due to oxygen release. This loss of oxygen results in a decrease of hole concentration in the material inducing a strong intensity enhancement of an IR phonon mode around 680 cm-1. It is also corroborated that the excess of oxygen is located in the La2O2 planes of the structure.