Search

We examine the effect of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) oversight on the cost of equity. We argue that companies near regulatory oversight by the SEC are subject to increased scrutiny. Such heightened scrutiny, which is associated with enhanced disclosure quality, ultimately leads to a reduction in the cost of equity. We find empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis. Importantly, the cost of equity declines significantly when firms relocate their headquarters close to SEC office. Our results suggest that SEC effective external monitoring lowers the cost of equity for firms with weak governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how investors of S&P 500 firms react to the SEC's mandatory climate disclosure proposal announced on March 21, 2022. The result of the event study with a 3‐day window [−1,1] shows a negative 1.1% market reaction to the proposal. The cross‐sectional analysis shows that better ESG performers, higher sales growth firms, and firms with higher Tobin's Q alleviate the negative equity market reactions to the proposal. This study shows how equity market participants react to more stringent ESG‐related disclosure and how the response may relate to S&P 500 firms' ESG performance, growth, and market performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We contrast the investment strategies of hedge funds and mutual funds around mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We find that hedge funds, on average, increase their holdings of soon‐to‐be takeover targets by 7.5% during the quarter before M&A announcements. Conversely, mutual funds, on average, reduce their equity holdings in impending targets by 3.0% over the same time period. The reduction in M&A holdings by mutual funds is less pronounced for more actively managed funds. Our results suggest that hedge funds enjoy superior access to private information or possess superior ability to process public information related to M&A transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules mandating that firms disclose cybersecurity incidents and risk management procedures for inline XBRL reporting, highlighting the regulator's concern about firms' response to data breaches. In this study, we examine whether firms use XBRL strategically to hinder external stakeholders from understanding the impact of announced data breaches. We find that firm XBRL filing complexity increases following data breaches. Further investigation suggests that the increased XBRL complexity is concentrated on financial statement note tags instead of financial statement tags. The findings imply that firms with data breach incidents are likely to increase XBRL reporting complexity to mitigate stock market reactions. We also find that analysts following moderate the relationship between the data breach and XBRL reporting timeliness. These findings provide empirical evidence about XBRL reporting changes after data breach incidents and contribute to cybersecurity literature and XBRL filing regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The escalating use of digital technologies has spotlighted the crucial role of cybersecurity in safeguarding sensitive information within companies. This study explores the relationship between a firm's major customers and its cybersecurity awareness. Drawing on SEC‐mandated disclosures, we employ four proxies to measure changes in customer‐supplier relationships. Our findings reveal that customers increase their purchases from suppliers whose cybersecurity awareness scores improve. Additionally, we examine the interplay between customers and suppliers more susceptible to nonpublic adverse news, particularly during cyber events. The study emphasizes the importance of cybersecurity disclosure for regulators, supply chain partners, and corporate management. It also contributes to the literature on factors influencing the duration of customer‐supplier relationships and underscores the significance of supplier characteristics. "Understanding and disclosing cybersecurity risks are" paramount in an increasingly digital business landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether the increased quantity of public information has a spillover impact on equity sales by private industry peer firms. To capture an increase in the quantity of public peer information, we use corporate spin‐offs as these events cause an increase in the number of independent public entities that mandatorily disclose financial reports. Using a unique dataset on private firms' equity sales extracted from the Securities and Exchange Commission filings pursuant to Regulation D, we find that private industry peers sell more equity following spin‐offs, but the increase is not statistically significant. When we divide our spin‐off sample based on the availability of segment information on subsidiaries before spin‐offs, however, we find a significant an increase in private firms' equity sales after spin‐offs when parent firms did not previously disclose segment reports. Additional test results suggest that our inferences regarding private industry peers are not entirely explained by an industry‐wide demand shock. Overall, we contribute to the literature by establishing an information spillover channel, incremental to the effect of common industry shocks, flowing from the public to private markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing empirical baseflow filters using environmental tracers (e.g., specific electrical conductance (SEC), turbidity) is an effective and efficient way to quantify the contribution of baseflow to total flow. To execute this baseflow separation, three key components are needed: The tracer, the method to estimate tracer concentration in different flow components, and the empirical baseflow filter. However, a comprehensive evaluation of the various combinations of these components, especially with a large sample of catchments, is currently lacking in the literature. Therefore, our study assembles 16 hybrid baseflow filters from two tracers, two concentration estimation methods, and four empirical baseflow filters, and evaluated their performance in baseflow separation and producing two long‐term baseflow signatures for 1,100 catchments in the Contiguous United States. Our results suggest that SEC is a superior tracer to turbidity for baseflow separation. Additionally, using monthly maximum and minimum values to represent tracer concentration in flow components produces better separation than using a power function relationship between flow rate and concentration. The four empirical baseflow filters offer a similar level of performance, regardless of the other options used. Yet, some of these filters produce inconsistent results in calculating the baseflow signatures for the catchments. Our analysis shed light on the optimization of hybrid baseflow filters for the accurate quantification of baseflow contribution. Plain Language Summary: River flow can be broken down into two components: fast flow and slow flow. The latter is usually known as baseflow, and it represents the stable portion of river flow that comes from stored water sources, such as groundwater or snowpack. It is crucial to understand the proportion of baseflow in river flow for effective water resource management. A commonly used method to separate baseflow from river flow is by filtering streamflow data with empirical baseflow filters. These filters contain some parameters that are often optimized using geochemical data, such as specific electrical conductance (SEC) and turbidity, to ensure reasonable performance of baseflow separation. This study examined how SEC and turbidity can be used to optimize four empirical baseflow filters for quantitative assessment of baseflow contribution to streamflow. Our analysis of 1,100 catchments across the Contiguous United States revealed that SEC is a more reliable indicator of baseflow than turbidity. Interestingly, the choice of empirical baseflow filter had minimal impact, though some filters produced inconsistent results for the quantification of baseflow contribution. This research enhances our ability to accurately estimate baseflow, aiding in water resource planning and management. Key Points: Evidence suggests that specific electrical conductance is a better tracer for baseflow separation compared to turbidityUsing monthly extreme values to describe tracer signature in flow components is better than using a power function relationshipThe smooth minima method provides the most consistent estimation of baseflow contribution across various combinations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A molecular dyad (PS‐CAT) consisting of a metal‐free photosensitiser (PS) and a [FeFe]‐hydrogenase‐inspired [Fe2S2] cluster (CAT) has been synthesized for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation. The electrochemical properties of PS‐CAT in the absence and presence of acid were investigated by CV and IR‐SEC. The ground state and excited state photophysical properties of PS and PS‐CAT, and the non‐chemically connected reference system [PS, CAT] were investigated to elucidate the effect of a covalent linkage between PS and CAT on the electronic communication and hence on the catalytic performance. The photo‐relaxation pathway of PS‐CAT was revealed computationally by scalar‐relativistic time‐dependent density functional theory simulations. These studies are complemented by comparative analyses of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution between PS‐CAT and [PS, CAT] under visible light irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of twelve second coordination sphere (SCS) functionalized manganese tricarbonyl bipyridyl complexes are investigated for their electrocatalytic CO2 reduction properties in acetonitrile. A qualitative and quantitative assessment of the SCS functional groups is discussed with respect to the catalysts' thermodynamic and kinetic efficiencies, and their product selectivities. In probing a broad scope of functional groups, it is clear that only the aprotic ortho‐arylester SCS is capable of promoting the highly desired low‐overpotential proton‐transfer electron‐transfer (PT‐ET) pathway for selective CO production. The ortho‐phenolic analogues cause an increase in overpotential with a product selectivity favoring H2 evolution, consistent with a high‐overpotential pathway via the anionic [Mn−H]− intermediate. Alternative aprotic Lewis base functional groups such as trifluoromethyl, morpholine and acetamide are shown to also be capable of intermediate manganese hydride generation. The tertiary amine substituent, 2‐morpholinophenyl, exhibits a desirable product distribution characteristic of syn‐gas (CO : H2=30 : 48) with an impressive turnover frequency, while the secondary amine group, 2‐acetamidophenyl, induces a notable shift in selectivity with a faradaic yield of 55 % for the formate (HCO2−) product. In addition to their catalytic properties, cyclic voltammetry and infrared spectroelectrochemistry (IR‐SEC) studies are presented to probe pre‐catalyst electronic properties and the two‐electron reduction activation pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) were successfully synthesized by growing poly(vinylidene fluoride) on PEG‐chain transfer agent (PEG‐macro‐CTA) using reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. MeO‐PEG‐XA, and XA‐PEG‐XA macro‐CTAs (XA refers to the xanthate moiety), synthesized by esterification of MeO‐PEG‐OH (20,000 g mol−1) and HO‐PEG‐OH (20,000 g mol−1) with 2‐bromopropionyl bromide followed by reaction with potassium ethyl xanthate, were used to synthesize MeO‐PEG‐b‐PVDF and PVDF‐b‐PEG‐b‐PVDF, respectively. The synthesized macro‐CTAs and block copolymers were characterized by NMR (1H, 13C and 19F), FTIR, and SEC. Furthermore, the PVDF/PEG block copolymer formation was proved by 1H DOSY NMR. The thermal properties were determined by TGA and DSC. The crystallinity and electroactive phases were revealed by XRD and FTIR. The size and shape of self‐assembled block copolymers in DMF/water mixtures were determined by DLS, TEM and critical micelle concentration with fluorescence spectroscopy. The influence of molecular weight and PVDF content on the properties of copolymers is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients receiving interleukin (IL)‐inhibiting biologics for moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis (PsO) may be treated with escalated doses to optimize outcomes. This study evaluated escalation prevalence in a Japanese claims analysis of patients with PsO diagnosis preceding IL‐inhibiting biologic treatment and ≥1 post‐induction maintenance claim (index date) with sufficient data availability from January 2014 to May 2022. Patients with non‐persistence were excluded. Expected daily dose (EDD) was calculated as the recommended maintenance dose divided by the treatment interval. Dose escalation was defined as ≥2 claims showing a ≥20% increase in the observed average daily dose (ADD) over the EDD (with sensitivities requiring ≥1 claim and ≥30%). Significant differences were tested using multivariable regressions. The study included 982 unique patients treated with brodalumab (BRO; n = 104), guselkumab (GUS; n = 207), ixekizumab (IXE; n = 159), risankizumab (RIS; n = 135), secukinumab (SEC; n = 215) and ustekinumab (UST; n = 196). Within 12 months, dose escalation was observed for all IL‐inhibiting biologics other than GUS and RIS: 44.4% for UST, 37.2% for IXE, 3.4% for SEC and 1.4% for BRO. In multivariable‐adjusted analyses, odds of dose escalation were significantly lower for all products relative to UST. In sensitivities, escalation was observed for all products except RIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a content analysis of the comment letters submitted in response to the SEC concept release on the enhancements of audit committee disclosures. The comment letters were drafted by investors and a cross‐section of various governance actors or practitioners, such as audit committees, management, legal advisers, and auditors. Hence, the letters provide insights as to how these different groups interpret the proposed revisions and try to adapt them according to their needs and context. The comment letters are analyzed through the framework of the behavioral theory of boards and corporate governance, which arguably better explains the analysis results over the traditional agency theory framework. The theory examines governance actors' interactions and behavioral processes and asserts that the corporation is a nexus of stakeholders' coalitions, who render decisions primarily through engaging in political bargaining rather than through evaluating investor needs. Results show that, while investors are urging enhanced disclosures, audit committee respondents are against the suggested improvements. These results are consistent with the behavioral theory of boards and corporate governance but inconsistent with an agency theory perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutual fund disclosures must include information about a fund's strategies and risks to comply with the letter of the law. But funds should also honor the spirit of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, including informing ordinary investors. Disclosure language creates impressions that can be just as important as the content. But evaluating these soft aspects of disclosures is hard. In this article, we propose using disclosure tone—how positive or negative the language is—to empirically capture these impressions. This measure provides an additional tool to assess compliance with the spirit of disclosure laws. Building on finance research on company disclosures, we develop customized dictionaries specific to mutual fund disclosures. We then introduce a novel sentiment‐scoring framework that generates transparent sentence‐ and disclosure‐level scores for our sample of 164,602 mutual fund summary prospectuses (497k) from 2010 to 2020. Our descriptive analysis validates our dictionary by showing meaningful and statistically significant differences across disclosure sections, fund type, and time. Funds' statements of their principal risks are more negative (and uniformly so) across time than funds' descriptions of their investment strategies. We further explore these relationships using a fixed‐effects regression model. These analyses reveal statistically significant relationships between mutual fund disclosure tone and fund attributes, performance, and disclosure characteristics. These relationships are consistent with SEC requirements that anchor risk discussions in more negative language than strategy discussions. The findings also highlight the role of legal language in setting the overall disclosure tone. Our context‐sensitive approach provides a path to regulate compliance more effectively with both the letter and the spirit of the law. Our framework, which we have made publicly available, provides a robust tool to allow researchers and regulators to assess not only what funds say, but how they say it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracellular domain (ECD) antigens are crucial components for antibody discovery, in vitro assays, and epitope mapping during therapeutical antibody development. Oftentimes, those antigens are difficult to produce while retaining the biologic function/activity upon extracellular secretion in commonly used expression systems. We have developed an effective method to cope with the challenge of generating quality antigen ECDs. In this method, a monoclonal antibody (Mab) or antibody fragment antigen‐binding (Fab) region acts as a "chaperone" to stabilize the antigen ECD through forming an antibody:antigen complex. This methodology includes transient co‐expression of the complex in Chinese hamster ovary cells and then dissociation of the purified complex into individual components by low pH treatment in the presence of arginine. The antigen is then separated from the chaperone on a preparative size exclusion chromatography (pSEC) followed by an optional affinity chromatography process to remove residual Mab or Fab. We demonstrate this co‐expression/disassociation methodology on two difficult‐to‐express antigen ECDs from cluster‐of‐differentiation/cytokine family and were successful in producing stable, biologically active antigens when the common methods using Histidine‐tagged and/or Fc‐fused protein failed. This can be applied as a general approach for antigen production if a Mab or binding partner is available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the joint effects of litigation risk and regulation in shaping firms' financial reporting decisions. Specifically, we investigate how these disciplining mechanisms influence firms' disclosure of non‐GAAP earnings metrics, which have been at the forefront of the SEC's regulatory concerns in recent years. We employ a plausibly exogenous shock to litigation risk based on a US circuit court ruling to explore how litigation risk influences firms' non‐GAAP earnings disclosures. We find a robust negative relation between litigation risk and both the likelihood and aggressiveness of non‐GAAP reporting. However, we find a significant attenuation in the sensitivity of non‐GAAP disclosure to litigation risk after the implementation of Regulation G (Reg G), despite evidence that aggressive non‐GAAP reporting persists in the post‐Reg G environment. Additional analyses indicate that this attenuation is actually the net result of two unique effects. First, we find that Reg G created a de facto "safe harbor" for non‐GAAP reporting among firms in circuits with higher litigation risk and a "curtailment effect" among firms in the circuit with the lowest litigation risk. Overall, Reg G led to a convergence in non‐GAAP reporting practices irrespective of firms' circuit‐specific litigation risk. We posit that this net attenuation of litigation risk's influence on non‐GAAP reporting is likely an unintended consequence of Reg G. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines support for mandatory climate impact disclosures beyond institutional investors and investigates societal backing for such disclosures. Analysing public comments on the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed climate disclosure mandate, the study reveals varying levels of support across demographics, ideologies, and industries. Notably, younger individuals, affluent individuals, females, urban residents, minorities, college graduates, Democrats, environmental activists, and certain regions overwhelmingly endorse the rule. Conversely, opposition is pronounced among high‐school graduates, rural populations, small business owners, agricultural and energy sector employees, publicly traded companies, and residents of the South and Midwest. While the SEC cites institutional initiatives and surveys to justify the demand for climate disclosures, this article highlights a potential oversight of other stakeholders' perspectives. It is unclear that mandatory disclosure is necessary when a company's business is not at material financial risk from climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, three commercially available low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) polymers produced via a tubular reactor process, with varying melt flow rates at 190°C/2.16 kg (4.0, 1.9, and 0.75 g/10 min), have been selected and subjected to high temperature‐size exclusion chromatography (SEC) analysis coupled with an infrared‐5 (IR‐5), viscometer (VISCO), and multiangle laser light‐scattering detectors. The molecular weight (MW), MW distribution, short‐chain branching (SCB), and long‐chain branching parameters were investigated. It was found that MW obtained by the universal technique (∼1.57–1.7 times) and multiangle laser light‐scattering detection technique is (∼1.43–1.55 times) higher than that of the conventional calibration technique, which could be attributed to structural complexity associated with LDPEs which is not clearly understood by conventional SEC mode alone. The bulk SCB per 1000 total carbon atoms estimated by IR‐5 detection was found to range from 16.50 to 17.80. On the other hand, long chain branching frequency per 1000 total carbon atoms obtained by online VISCO and multiangle laser light‐scattering detection ranged from 0.46 to 0.54 and 0.65 to 0.94, respectively. Further, the significance of long chain branching parameters on the polymer processing behavior was studied in correlation with rheological property (Die swell ratio). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a dataset constructed from the EDGAR database, this study investigates whether the timing of filing 10‐Ks contains useful information to investors. We argue and find that firms with better earnings news are more likely to file their 10‐Ks early. We further show that firms experience earnings increase would accelerate the filing of their 10‐Ks. We explore whether the timeliness measure is useful for predicting future financial performance and stock returns. We find that firms filing 10‐Ks early in the current year are more likely to have better earnings and higher stock returns in future years. Our results are robust to different measures of timeliness, before and after the statutory filing deadline changes, and subsamples of firms with large or small market capitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to extend research on the effect of PCAOB inspections on audit firm behavior by examining generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) type PCAOB inspection deficiencies, separately, to reveal the differential effects on audit fees in subsequent years. We empirically examine the audit fees of 98,393 client firm‐year observations for auditors who received a PCAOB inspection report during 2004–2021 via multivariate regression analyses. We find that GAAS (GAAP) deficiencies are associated with higher (lower) audit fees in the years following the reported deficiency. Our results suggest that the PCAOB inspection process modifies audit firm behavior when GAAS deficiencies are reported leading to the firm charging higher audit fees to defray the costs of addressing the deficiencies, but due to the severity of GAAP deficiencies that are identified, audit firms are willing to negotiate lower fees to retain the client. Our results are primarily driven by annually inspected audit firms. These results suggest that auditors respond to GAAS and GAAP PCAOB inspection deficiencies differently. The results of our study are useful to regulators and policymakers, such as the SEC and the PCAOB, in understanding how auditors respond to PCAOB inspection deficiencies and their due diligence to correct those deficiencies. PCAOB inspections are intended to evaluate compliance with accounting and auditing standards to improve audit quality and our study helps to extend the research to date which has not yet clearly demonstrated whether or not this has been accomplished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are highly sought after as a source of biomarkers for disease detection and monitoring. Tumor EV isolation, processing, and evaluation from biofluids is convoluted by EV heterogeneity and biological contaminants and is limited by technical processing efficacy. This study rigorously compares common bulk EV isolation workflows (size exclusion chromatography, SEC; membrane affinity, MA) alongside downstream RNA extraction protocols to investigate molecular analyte recovery. EV integrity and recovery is evaluated using a variety of technologies to quantify total intact EVs, total and surface proteins, and RNA purity and recovery. A comprehensive evaluation of each analyte is performed, with a specific emphasis on maintaining user (n = 2), biological (n = 3), and technical replicates (n≥3) under in vitro conditions. Subsequent study of tumor EV spike‐in into healthy donor plasma samples is performed to further validate biofluid‐derived EV purity and isolation for clinical application. Results show that EV surface integrity is considerably preserved in eluates from SEC‐derived EVs, but RNA recovery and purity, as well as bulk protein isolation, is significantly improved in MA‐isolated EVs. This study concludes that EV isolation and RNA extraction pipelines govern recovered analyte integrity, necessitating careful selection of processing modality to enhance recovery of the analyte of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how the cost of issuing equity affects bank lending. Using the SEC rule change that allowed exchange‐listed firms with public float less than $75 million to raise equity via shelf registrations as a quasi‐natural experiment, we show that the affected banks increase mortgage lending relative to control banks. Furthermore, the affected banks reduce demand for precautionary capital and become less likely to sell mortgages to third parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a sample of more than eleven thousand unique 10‐K reports of US companies filed with SEC in period 2013 to 2018, this study examines the relationship between actual sustainability performance of companies, evaluated by MSCI ESG performance scores, and the extent and the scope of environmental, social, and governance information disclosure in their annual reports. The study shows empirical evidence supporting the signalling theory view of voluntary disclosure of ESG information in annual reports for most industries, while environmentally unfriendly companies belonging to the Mining industry division show excessive reporting behavior favoring environmental topics, which is consistent with incentives to improve public image and mitigate social, political, and legal risks in line with the legitimacy theory of information disclosure. When differentiating between forward‐looking and non‐forward‐looking ESG statements, the study shows that companies providing more forward‐looking ESG information in annual reports show better next‐year ESG performance. This study implements established content analysis techniques with focus on ESG reporting and performance, building up on the study of Baier, Berninger, and Kiesel (2020) that proposed an ESG‐tailored dictionary for textual analysis purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandates disclosure of exit or disposal activity events in 8‐K filings. We use Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), a topic modeling method from computational linguistics, to investigate the possibility that substantively different event types may be subsumed under Item 2.05, the SEC category for costs associated with exit or disposal activities. Our analysis reveals that four distinct topics are reported under the Item 2.05 umbrella category: (1) restructuring, (2) disposal of a line of business, (3) plant closings, and (4) layoffs/workforce reductions. We then investigate various aspects of these 8‐K filings. We find that the market reacts most negatively to workforce reductions that are reported in the absence of a broader strategic initiative. Subsequent amendments to the Item 2.05 8‐K filings are significantly more likely for restructuring initiatives, and significantly less likely for layoffs. Asset impairment charges most frequently accompany line‐of‐business disposals and plant closings. Our results demonstrate that there are meaningful differences between the event types reported within Item 2.05 filings and that LDA provides a useful means of differentiating among these event types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on two research questions arising from the 2010 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Advisory on climate change reporting: (1) How does the discussion of climate change in SEC filings change after the Advisory? and (2) What are firms talking about when they talk about climate change? Findings were obtained from the 218,000 10‐K filings to the SEC during the 2000–2019 period. The study develops and applies text mining methodology based on extracting information from the "semantic associates" in the "neighborhoods" of indicative terms. On (1) it finds that climate change‐related reporting does increase substantially after the SEC guidance. On (2) a nuanced picture emerges. Firms with comparatively larger transition risks tend to discuss climate change comparatively more, focusing on regulation‐related topics. Firms exposed to the physical risks of climate change tend to discuss climate change somewhat less, focusing on meteorological topics. The results enrich our understanding regarding environmental policies and firms' behaviors regarding climate change. Theoretical and practical implications are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pulsed laser polymerization‐size‐exclusion chromatography (PLP‐SEC) technique has become the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)‐recommended method for the accurate determination of propagation rate coefficients, kp, for radical polymerization. The fundamental insight provided by Heuts, Gilbert, and Radom into the relevance of transition state dynamics allows for an adequate understanding of the dependence of kp on radical chain length, solvent environment, and monomer conversion. The associated entropic effects are particularly pronounced in aqueous solution, but are also found in less polar media and with non‐polar monomers. Moreover, these arguments are applicable towards the interpretation of copolymerization reactivity ratios. The addition of sodium hydroxide to aqueous solutions of (meth)acrylic acid yields partially and even fully ionized systems with clearly reduced kp, which indicates the action of repulsive forces between the equally charged monomer and radical species. Increasing the concentration of monomer as well as the addition of salts may reverse this effect and increase kp due to counterion activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Host‐cell proteins (HCPs) and high molecular weight (HMW) species have historically been treated as independent classes of impurities in the downstream processing of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), but recent indications suggest that they may be partially linked. We have explored this connection with a shotgun proteomic analysis of HMW impurities that were isolated from harvest cell culture fluid (HCCF) and protein A eluate using size‐exclusion chromatography (SEC). As part of the proteomic analysis, a cross‐digest study was performed in which samples were analyzed using both the standard and native digest techniques to enable a fair comparison between bioprocess pools. This comparison reveals that the HCP profiles of HCCF and protein A eluate overlap substantially more than previous work has suggested, because hundreds of HCPs are conserved in aggregates that may be up to ~50 nm in hydrodynamic radius and that persist through the protein A capture step. Quantitative SWATH proteomics suggests that the majority of the protein A eluate's HCP mass is found in such aggregates, and this is corroborated by ELISA measurements on SEC fractions. The SWATH data also show that intra‐aggregate concentrations of individual HCPs are positively correlated between aggregates that were isolated from HCCF and protein A eluate, and species that have generally been considered difficult to remove tend to be more concentrated than their counterparts. These observations support prior hypotheses regarding aggregate‐mediated HCP persistence through protein A chromatography and highlight the importance of this persistence mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines three levels of regulation and compliance imposed by the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and stock exchanges, on risk profile of banking institutions in the United States. SEC‐registered and exchanged‐listed bank holding companies have more concentrated and lower quality loan portfolios; they grow faster through acquisitions and are more likely to execute M&A exit strategy themselves. Also, bank holding companies that commit to higher levels of compliance are better capitalized but have lower return on equity capital. Lower profitability is partially compensated with higher payout ratio, suggesting that regulatory frameworks to some extent ameliorate agency issues. Multi‐tiered regulation of banking institutions yields a separating equilibrium, in which banks choose level of compliance to match their business strategies. Three‐tiered regulatory framework enables market segmentation and matching of capital providers with desired risk profile. Switch to higher levels of compliance is accompanied by risk profile increase without a better risk‐return tradeoff, suggesting managerial agency cost explanation. SEC‐compliant banks are likely to migrate to exchanges or downshift to FDIC disclosure only. Both SEC and exchange‐listed banks are likely to execute growth‐by‐acquisitions but listed bank holding companies are only marginally more likely to default, suggesting more efficient risk‐taking or reliance on government support when market conditions decline. SEC compliance is the most volatile of three disclosure regimes. My study does not conclude that excessive regulation yields negative effects. It does not address assessment of changes in systematic risk and externalities focusing instead on firm‐level effects. Finally, it suggests the need to regulate the market for corporate control, which appears to be one major risk‐taking transmission mechanism in the US private banking market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Securities and Exchange Commission has associated readability with a range of linguistic features largely determined by the language style of the information producers, including sentence length and the use of personal pronouns, familiar words, surplus words and active voice. We examine the impact of a firm's workforce ethnic diversity on its financial statement readability. Based on linguistic literature, we argue that a more diverse workforce increases the linguistic heterogeneity of the inputs into financial statements, hindering financial statement readability. We show that financial statement readability decreases with the ethnic diversity of the workforce, and that this effect is more pronounced for firms located in a community with a high crime rate or low social capital. We also find that the market reacts less to the earnings surprises of firms with less readable financial statements. We further find that the impact of white‐collar employee diversity on readability is greater than that of blue‐collar employee diversity. The results of robustness tests suggest that workplace diversity does not reduce firms' overall information production quality, which rules out the alternative explanation that employee diversity hinders financial statement readability through increasing employee conflict and communication errors. Overall, our study suggests that workforce diversity is an important determinant of financial statement readability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parasitic Striga weeds severely damage cereal crops in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), leading to yield losses in susceptible varieties. A range of Striga control methods are commonly recommended, including cultural practices, chemical herbicides, biological control agents, and host resistance, either as solo treatments or in combinations of these approaches (i.e., integrated Striga management [ISM]). A limited number of studies compared the relative efficacy of the recommended Striga control methods, or their combinations for ISM, in cereal crop production in SSA. The objective of this paper was to undertake a meta‐analysis and provide a detailed comparison of the Striga control methods in the production of maize, sorghum, and the major millets, as a guide to effective Striga management. The study was conducted as a meta‐analysis of 66 research articles that reported on various control measures. The following agronomic data were collected: grain yield (GY) response of the assessed crops and Striga parameters such as damage rating score (SDR) and emergence count (SEC). Maize varieties possessing Striga‐resistant genes displayed high mean yield values at 2053.00 kg ha−1, varying from 281.00 to 6260.00 kg ha−1, and a mean SDR of 4.70, ranging from 2.00 to 7.00. Likewise, sorghum varieties with Striga resistance genes achieved greater GY with a mean yield response of 1738.00 kg ha−1, ranging from 850.00 to 2162.00 kg ha−1. A relatively low GY was achieved in maize and sorghum production when deploying ISM (e.g., cultural control + host resistance and host resistance + chemical herbicides) and chemical Striga control. Effective ISM and pre‐ and post‐emergent herbicides have not yet been identified for Striga control and yield gains. Striga damage negatively affected GY in maize, as revealed by the significant correlation (r = −0.36, P < 0.001) between GY and SDR. A relatively weak correlation was detected in maize between GY and SEC (r = 0.003, P = 0.96). Sorghum GY was negatively correlated with SEC, although nonsignificantly (r = −0.30, P = 0.36). Few studies have evaluated Striga control methods in pearl millet and finger millet, limiting the opportunity for an effective comparison. The study recommends SDR as the best selection criterion for improving GY performance in maize, while SEC and SDR are the parameters of choice in sorghum selection programs for better GY under Striga infestation. Overall, the meta‐analysis indicates that host resistance is the most effective method for controlling Striga infestation and boosting GY in maize and sorghum. There is an ongoing need for research into the best combinations of the reported control methods as a sound basis for the recommendation of an ISM package across target production environments of common cereals in Africa. Core Ideas: Maize and sorghum varieties that are resistant to Striga displayed high mean yield values under Striga infestation.Effective ISM and pre‐and post‐emergent herbicides have not yet been identified for Striga control and yield gains.Host resistance is the most effective method for controlling Striga and boosting yield in maize and sorghum.There is a need to investigate the best combinations of the reported control methods to recommend an ISM package.Few studies have evaluated Striga control methods in pearl millet and finger millet limiting effective comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell‐derived membrane‐bound vesicles involved in many biological processes such as tumour progression. For years, ultracentrifugation (UC) has been considered the gold standard for EV isolation but limited purity and integrity allowed the diffusion of alternative techniques. In this study, EVs were isolated from a canine mammary tumour cell line using UC and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and analysed for size and concentration by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and for protein expression by western blot (WB). EV autocrine effect on cell proliferation, migration and invasiveness was then evaluated in vitro. In all samples, particles were in the EV size range (50–1000 nm), with a higher concentration in UC than in SEC samples (1011 and 1010 particles/ml respectively), and expressed EV markers (Alix, CD9). Functional assays did not show statistically significant difference among conditions, but EV treatment slightly increased cell proliferation and invasiveness and treatment with SEC‐isolated EVs slightly enhanced cell migration compared to UC‐isolated EVs. In conclusion, the main differences between the two isolation techniques are the quantity of the final EV‐product and slight differences on EV functionality, which should be further explored to better highlight the real autocrine effect of tumoral EVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The release of earnings information has become less timely in recent years partly because firms increasingly disclose earnings concurrently with their periodic reports (e.g., 10‐Ks, 10‐Qs). We examine whether firms use voluntary disclosure to mitigate the negative economic consequences of less timely earnings announcements (EAs). We find that firms with less timely EAs are more likely to provide voluntary 8‐K filings over the period leading to the EA. We also find that investors' demand for timely information, the nature of earnings news and litigation risk affect the extent to which firms provide voluntary disclosure to compensate for less timely EAs. The negative effect of less timely EAs on information asymmetry is attenuated when firms provide voluntary 8‐K filings prior to EAs. Overall, our findings suggest that firms voluntarily communicate with investors using voluntary disclosure when their EAs are less timely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banks have financially supported payday lenders for decades. In this article I qualitatively demonstrate how these financial relationships have reinforced and expanded a bifurcated consumer credit market, and why these relationships matter for consumer access to financial services. I use archival financial documents from publicly traded payday lending companies between 1996 and 2014, available through the Securities and Exchange Commission, to construct the bank‐payday lender network and reveal motivations for these financial relationships. I find that bank‐payday lender relationships are sustained over many years, and that these relationships are mutually beneficial, enabling payday lender expansion and providing a way for banks to quietly profit from high‐interest lending in the face of other regulatory constraints. Further, I show that these relationships have significantly reshaped the consumer credit market over the past two decades. I conclude by considering broader implications of symbiotic institutional relationships in contemporary markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is the existential issue of our age. Its challenges are massive, its science is ever‐developing and most now agree that its demands are immediate. How society deals with the immensity and immediacy of the challenge in the face of incomplete, immature, and sometimes inconclusive data is a question playing out now in our capital markets. Bending to demand from green investors and environmental activists, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules on March 21, 2022, "to enhance and standardize climate‐related disclosures" to better inform investors' decision‐making. How should reporting companies, already obligated to report on material risks to their businesses, "enhance and standardize" climate‐related disclosure when the data are ambiguous or in conflict? This article proposes one possible and currently available solution: use satellite‐based data. By requiring the use of available satellite data, regulators can protect investors from being misled by cherry‐picked emissions data. We begin with a case for standardization and a brief history of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting and metrics, both in the United States and internationally, as well as SEC efforts regarding climate change disclosures. We then explore the precedent for satellite use and space‐based technology in monitoring and regulatory compliance and argue that satellite and space data can be instrumental to help investors make more informed investment decisions based on reporting companies' true environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how algorithmic trading (AT) changes the trading environment for corporate insiders, specifically in terms of motivation to trade and timing of trade. Using SEC Form 4 insider filings and AT computed from the limit order book, we find that AT affects insiders' decisions to buy or sell, depending on whether the trades are information driven, resulting in changes in trading returns. AT reduces returns associated with routine insider sales by 0.9% of a change in AT. However being sophisticated and informed traders, insiders are able to trade strategically, leaving their purchase returns unaffected by AT. The results also show that while AT reduces information acquisition efforts in the pre‐earnings announcement period, insider trades counteract this effect by releasing information to the market. Our findings reinforce the important role of insider trading in providing fundamental information and aiding price discovery, especially in an era of computerized financial markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new proxy for the ex ante expectations of issuers and their underwriters about the direction of pricing revisions during the roadshows of an initial public offering (IPO): the way issuers elect to calculate the registration fees owed to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Consistent with fee‐minimizing decision‐making, I find that the choice of fee calculation method is associated with pricing revisions and IPO underpricing. This relationship suggests that issuers or their advisors may not incorporate economically significant private valuation information into the initial pricing range estimate and initial public offering price. The results provide empirical support for theoretical models of partial adjustment and IPO underpricing driven by the preferences of underwriters or managers of issuers for underpriced IPOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the controversial debate over the role of public enforcement and private litigation in detecting and deterring financial misreporting, we have only scant literature comparing their enforcement outcomes: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)‐sanctioned cases (Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases [AAERs]) and settled class actions against which the SEC did not file cases (securities class‐action lawsuits [SCALs]). This paper documents systematic differences between the two. Specifically, AAERs exhibit a larger magnitude of accruals prior to misreporting, as well as greater financing needs and insider trading during manipulation periods. After controlling for case backlogs in the SEC and the courts, the misreporting amount and period of AAERs are also greater and longer than those of SCALs, although SCALs represent greater settlement amounts. Further analysis indicates that resource constraints do not critically undermine the SEC investigations to detect more material misreporting cases. However, plaintiff investors appear to go forum shopping to earn greater settlement proceeds from SCALs. Finally, relative to SCALs, AAERs experienced significant drops in firm performance, analyst following and CEO tenure around SEC sanctions. Overall, this study provides consistent evidence supporting the SEC's optimization of detection rates under resource constraints and the strategic interaction between SEC enforcement and private litigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To describe logistics and outcomes of the accreditation program of centres of excellence in heart failure (HF) developed in Spain by the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) between 2016 and 2021. Methods and results: A scientific committee created by the SEC defined three types of HF units (community, specialized, and advanced), depending on the characteristics of the hospital and their portfolio of services and equipment, as well as the quality standards required for the accreditation of excellence. The units were required to submit to the SEC a document certifying compliance with the requirements and quality standards. Once verified these, the unit received accreditation of excellence from the SEC. Between 2017 and October 2021, 78 HF units spread throughout Spain applied for accreditation. This represents 50.6% of all Spanish national health system centres with cardiology departments. Accreditation was definitive in 56.4% of the applicant centres and provisional in the remaining 43.6%. Of the 78 units, 19 were community units, 44 specialized, and 15 advanced. Of the 34 units that received provisional accreditation for failure to meet any of the required quality standards, all resolved these deficits within 6 months of the initial evaluation, subsequently receiving definitive accreditation. Conclusions: Our experience indicates that implementation of an accreditation programme for excellence and quality of care of HF units at the national level by a scientific society is feasible and sustainable over time, leading the majority of HF units in the country to apply for accreditation and to meet the required quality standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voluntary disclosure in the audit committee report is expected to provide additional information about the activities undertaken to protect investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) ultimate aim in initially promulgating audit committee disclosure requirements was to reduce firms' cost of equity. However, prior research finds that voluntary disclosure in the audit committee report is akin to impression management. In 2015, the SEC issued a concept release encouraging audit committees to provide additional voluntary disclosures in their reports beyond mandatory requirements. In that context, this paper analyses the effect of the audit committee voluntary disclosure on the cost of equity, with financial analysts playing a mediating role. The sample comprises the top US bank holding companies from 2006 to 2015. We manually code the voluntary disclosure in audit committee reports using a scoring grid. Results show that audit committee voluntary disclosure increases the cost of equity. In addition, the association between voluntary disclosure and the cost of equity is mediated by financial analysts. Hence, we infer that the impression management undertone of voluntary disclosures affects financial analysts' coverage and forecasting properties, which in turn lead to an increase in the cost of equity. The paper's empirical evidence highlights the effects of impression management disclosure by analysing corporate governance voluntary disclosures, cost of equity and financial analysts and brings the issue to the attention of banking regulators, SEC and investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing public attention to climate change has led to many studies to investigate the impact of climate change in various fields. However, the topic demands a further thorough examination of the impact of climate change on firms' accounting behavior, such as firm disclosure. There are currently no mandatory U.S. accounting standards issued by accounting standards‐setting bodies such as the FASB or SEC on reporting the impact of climate change on firms' business. However, firms have started to report the impact of climate change on a voluntary basis. In order to help academia, professionals, and investors better understand voluntary climate change disclosure, this study surveys theories of corporate accounting disclosure related to corporate social responsibility and environmental reporting, particularly in the areas of voluntary climate change disclosure. This study integrates multi‐dimensional corporate climate change disclosure theories to help future policymakers, investors, and other stakeholders provide appropriate corporate climate disclosure theoretical assistance and respond to the government and society's calls for a low‐carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s review of voluntary non‐GAAP disclosures in 10‐K reports varies with firm ownership structure. Relying on the voluntary disclosure literature, we argue that managers voluntarily disclose financial and non‐financial information in order to resolve information asymmetries arising from firm ownership structure. We find, using a sample of firms over the period 2006–2018, that family ownership reduces the likelihood of receiving a comment letter related to non‐GAAP disclosures. We also show that family firms take a longer period and exchange a larger number of correspondence letters with the SEC before the latter closes the case. These findings contribute to the family firm literature and expand the literature investigating the SEC review of voluntary non‐GAAP disclosures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the recent revival of zero‐based budgeting (ZBB) in the US. Using archival data, we show that the renewed interest in ZBB was linked to the activities of a hedge fund, 3G Capital, which introduced the practice in newly acquired firms. Other firms picked up the practice, particularly so in some industries, and justified adoption mainly on the basis of expected cost savings. In addition, we show that these adopting firms were smaller than non‐adopters, suggesting that less complexity favours adoption. We also find some evidence that they were more strongly leveraged than non‐adopters, suggesting a cost discipline effect of debt financing. However, in terms of the consequences of adoption, we do not find evidence for significant cost savings in adopting firms overall, although we find some evidence of significant cost savings among those firms referencing 3G in their SEC filings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the SEC's Regulation SHO as a natural experiment, we examine the effect of an increase in short selling pressure on the year‐over‐year modification of management discussion and analysis (MD&A) section of firms' 10‐K reports. We find that the elevated threat of short selling, resulting from the removal of short‐sale constraint, causes the randomly selected pilot firms to modify the MD&A section less relative to the previous year than non‐pilot firms during the Regulation SHO period (2005–2007). Moreover, cross‐sectional analyses indicate that this effect is pronounced in firms with moderately good news; firms that increase investment or equity issuance; larger or overvalued firms; and firms with conservative managers, financial stability, and opaque information environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three novel starch derivatives with antibacterial properties are synthesized through a rather simple multistep synthesis route. In a first step, sodium periodate oxidation of the hydroxyl groups (C2–C3) of starch yields a di‐aldehyde structure, which is used to attach N,N‐dimethylbenzylamine by Schiff base formation. Then, the amino groups of aminated starch are quaternized with three different ammonium salts (4‐bromobutyl‐pyridinium bromide, 4‐bromobutyl‐benzalkonium bromide, and 4‐bromobutyl‐quinolinium bromide). The different resulting products are fully characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, and SEC analysis. Their antibacterial properties are evaluated against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in vitro to obtain minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations. All the starch derivatives show strong antibacterial activities against Gram‐negative E. coli strain and Gram‐positive S. aureus. Finally, hemolysis assays show that two of the starch derivatives obtained have no significant hemolytic effect on isolated human red cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires firms to provide disclosures on the expected financial statement impact of newly issued accounting standards that have yet to be adopted. In this study, we explore the extent, nature, and timeliness of disclosures regarding the expected impact of the new lease standard in the transition period (2016–2018). We find that 62% of sample firms provide no firm‐specific disclosure regarding an expected increase in lease liabilities in the first year of the transition, which is unexpected given the clear balance sheet impact of the new lease standard. We investigate the determinants of timely disclosure and find a positive association with operating lease activity. Given concerns that firms will seek alternate vehicles for off‐balance‐sheet (OBS) financing under the new lease standard, we investigate changes in lease activity and disclosures for a sample of firms with extreme decreases in operating lease activity. We find a downward trend in operating lease activity around the passage of the new lease standard, but find few firms disclosing expected changes to their leasing activity. Our evidence suggests that information in early transition period disclosures, or lack thereof, may provide important signals for assessing lease liabilities and overall debt levels under the new lease standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As with any important policy decision, the question of mandated disclosure for private equity must weigh the potential benefits against the costs of implementation. At the 2022 Private Equity Research Symposium hosted by Oxford University, Oxford's Ludovic Phalippou and UNC‐Chapel Hill's Gregory Brown debated the merits of greater mandated financial reporting for private companies. Phalippou's arguments in favor of more disclosure center on the potential lack of alignment between private equity fund general partners (GPs) and limited partners (LPs), which can distort the incentives of GPs to be transparent and honest with LPs. Brown's arguments against increasing mandated disclosure focus on the potentially large costs associated with substantially more reporting, especially for smaller companies. These costs could change the landscape of private investments in a way that reduces investment in innovative, high‐growth companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of political connectedness (PC) on enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Our analysis confirms that SEC is not captured and shows that firms or executives with stronger PC are more likely to be criminally charged or face bar or suspension than firms or executives with weaker PC. In addition, we document that imposed fines are relatively higher for prosecuted firms and executives with stronger PC. These findings are robust to inclusions of controls for Republican Congress, Republican President, and recent regulatory reforms and are not driven by endogeneity concerns and sample selection bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasoned equity issuers file Forms S and 424B with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We find that 424B filings' weak‐modal tone is positively related to offer price discounts and negatively related to offer‐day stock returns. Increases in cautionary (weak‐modal, uncertain, and negative) tone from the initial to final filing are followed by lower abnormal stock returns. Preliminary evidence indicates that cautionary tone relates positively to litigation risk and increased after the passage of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act. Our findings suggest that the cautionary tone of seasoned equity issuers' prospectuses has negative information content, which is gradually incorporated into the stock prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cost‐efficient deterministic method of moments solvers, as widely used to calculate average characteristics of chemical processes driven by population variations (e.g., average chain lengths), can be a posteriori extended with approximated solutions delivering distributed properties (e.g., chain length distributions). However, these solutions are rarely verified, specifically for complex systems with many population members and strong coupling, as is the case for industrially relevant free‐radical‐induced grafting (FRIG) toward graft copolymer (GC) synthesis with monomer unit dependent reactions. FRIG, as studied in the present work with polybutadiene at low styrene conversions, is an important chemical process, for example, the production of compatibilizers and high‐impact materials. Deterministic model validation is uniquely performed by benchmarking the low to medium molar mass (MM) results (29 topologies) in the log‐molar mass distribution with detailed matrix‐based kinetic Monte Carlo simulation output, inherently capable of mapping distributions. The GC product is identified to be a heterogeneous mixture in MM, chemical composition, and molecular topology at any styrene conversion. The molecular structural evolution during GC synthesis is further theoretically related to both one‐dimensional size‐exclusion chromatography (1D‐SEC) and two‐dimensional liquid chromatography (2D‐LC) analysis. It is shown that conventional SEC—even in the absence of broadening—is insufficient for GC separation, mainly due to the unavoidable coelution of topologically different GC species. In any case, the parallel running of advanced modeling tools allows for detailed molecular interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses recent developments in the interbranch struggle over control of the bureaucracy, specifically independent federal agencies and the impact of the unitary executive theory during the presidency of Donald Trump. It examines controversies that involved two Supreme Court cases about independent agencies: Lucia v. SEC (2018), which addressed administrative law judges and the president's appointment power, and Seila Law v. CFPB (2020), which addressed agency leadership and the president's removal power. The two cases have received some attention from legal scholars, but they are not well known among presidency scholars, and they are important for understanding how the unitary executive theory and the interbranch struggle over control of the bureaucracy have developed in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intangible investments such as R&D are expensed rather than capitalized due to accounting conservatism. Thus, firms with mostly intangible assets are subject to more constraints in external financing than others and need alternatives. I find that they increasingly use equity warrants as a solution by developing a novel data set from textual analysis. Out of 181,425 annual reports submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission during 1994–2018, 10,300 discuss the fair value of warrants. The proportion of warrant firms increased from 0.4% in 1994% to 8% in 2018. Logistic regressions confirm that intangible investments and financial constraints explain warrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]