Impact of mortgage soft information in loan pricing on default prediction using machine learning

We analyze the impact of soft information on US mortgages for default prediction and provide a new measure for lender soft information that is based on the interest rates offered to borrowers and incremental to public hard information. Hard and soft information provide for a variation in annual default probabilities of approximately 3%. Soft information has a lesser impact over time and time since origination. Lenders rely more on soft information for high-risk borrowers. Our study evidences the importance of soft information collected at loan origination.     

Debt Structure Adjustments and Long-Run Stock Price Performance

We examine the long-run implications of debt structure adjustments using a sample of U.S. bond IPOs from 1971 to 1994. Bond IPOs result in simultaneous and pronounced changes in both debt maturity and debt ownership structures. We document that firms engaging in debt IPOs substantially underperform their size-and-book-to-market-matched benchmarks by 33.39 and 55.99% over the 3- and 5-year post-offer periods. Our results are strikingly similar to those reported for equity offers but contrast the evidence for seasoned debt offers. We find evidence that debt IPOs are timed to coincide with the market having the highest expectations concerning firms' prospects. A negative relation is documented between debt maturity and future growth opportunities. In part, the underperformance can be attributed to significantly reduced growth opportunities following the offering. Post-offer underperformance is more pronounced for (a) longer maturity issues and (b) firms that do not experience an increase in bank monitoring. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: G12, G24, G30, D82.     

我国海南黄花梨资源与开发研究

[目的]海南黄花梨列为国家保护的濒危树种,是热带珍贵树种,木材资源稀少,材质好。为开发海南黄花梨资源,发展经济效益较高的海南黄花梨种植业。[方法]文章论述了海南黄花梨的生长条件和分布情况,并对海南黄花梨资源匮乏因素和海南黄花梨资源开发可行性进行分析。[结果]认为海南黄花梨种植开发前景好,可持续提升乡村绿色经济,经济效益显著,可广泛种植于我国海南、广西、广东、云南、福建、贵州等热带亚热带地区。[结论]建议我国热带亚热带地区结合立地环境实际,科学规划种植海南黄花梨,利用坡地、荒地、零星土地、边角地和房前屋后地,农村村间道路,园林绿化、小公园、小游乐园的绿化地带开发种植海南黄花梨,造就具有地方特色的海南黄花梨经济发展带及景色和景点,增加林木经济资源,增添农村绿色财富。同时,营造全民爱花梨的良好社会舆论氛围,加强海南黄花梨保护,为海南黄花梨发展提供法治保障。     

Effects of audit committee chair characteristics on auditor choice,audit fee and audit quality

We investigate whether the characteristics of audit committee (AC) chairs are associated with decisions about auditor choice, audit fees and audit quality. Using hand-collected Australian data, firms with AC chairs who have longer tenure and multiple AC memberships across several boards are found to be more likely to choose Big 4 and/or industry specialist auditors, pay higher audit fees and have lower discretionary accruals. Those AC chairs with higher business qualifications are more likely to hire a Big 4 auditor, pay higher audit fees and have lower discretionary accruals, while AC chairs with professional qualifications are more likely to hire a Big 4 and/or industry specialist auditor. In contrast, firms with AC chairs who are executive directors are less likely to hire a Big 4 auditor and have higher discretionary accruals. Our findings contribute to the literature by documenting that various characteristics of AC chairs are important for enhancement of auditor selection and audit quality.     

Green financing for sustainable development: Insights from multiple cases of Vietnamese commercial banks

Although the public sector is seen as the main party responsible for taking action on climate change and sustainable development, private commercial banks are in a unique position to support or shift the funding focus on green investment. By employing a qualitative research approach based on six commercial banks, this paper aims to investigate the current practices of how commercial banks are contributing to advance green business initiatives. Accordingly, this research examines and identifies the facilitators and challenges in domestic and foreign commercial banks in Vietnam which support green business initiatives. In addition to addressing the recent calls for the investigation of the role of commercial banks in facilitating green finance, our study expands the emerging literature by demonstrating the current efforts of Vietnam's commercial banks in fostering green finance during the Covid-19 pandemic.