License and Entry Strategies for an Outside Innovator Under Duopoly with Combination of Royalty and Fixed Fee

We consider a choice of options for an innovating firm to enter the market with or without licensing its new cost-reducing technology to an incumbent firm using a combination of royalty and fixed license fee, or to license its technology without entry. When the innovating firm licenses its technology to the incumbent firm without entry, the optimal royalty rate for the innovating firm is zero. When the innovating firm enters the market with a license, its optimal royalty rate is positive. In that case if cost functions are concave, the optimal royalty rate is one such that the incumbent firm drops out of the market with negative fixed fee, and license without entry strategy and entry with license strategy are optimal; if cost functions are strictly convex, there is an internal solution of positive optimal royalty rate with positive or negative fixed fee and entry with license strategy is optimal.     

The Use and Abuse of Mutual Fund Expenses

Prior research shows that mutual fund investors are often aware of up-front charges like sales loads, but they are less mindful of annual operating expenses, even though both types of fees lower overall performance. This study documents the historical trend and recent abuse of annual mutual fund expenses. As the industry becomes more adept at segmenting customers by level of investment sophistication, we claim that load mutual fund companies take advantage of this ability and charge higher expenses to their target customer: the less-knowledgeable investor. No-load fund companies, which tend to attract the more sophisticated investor, offer lower expenses. For example, over 2000–2004 the average annual expense ratio of load equity funds was 50 basis points higher than no-load equity funds. We show evidence of this widening cost disparity since the early 1990s among new and existing equity, bond, and index funds. We also document a growing abuse of sales distribution or 12b-1 fees among funds that are closed to new investors, almost all of which are load funds. Thus, load fund investors are more susceptible to paying higher expenses and receiving lower returns over time. Todd Houge is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Iowa. Jay Wellman is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Binghamton University.     

中国资本市场融资顺序新证:可转债发行公告效应研究

This paper empirically shows that the announcements of the issue of convertible bonds (CBs) by Chinese firms have significant negative effects on shareholders’ wealth. We find that when the samples are partitioned by equity component negative market responses towards the announcements of issuing equity-like CBs are more than that of debt-like CBs. This finding is different from the “pecking order hypothesis” of Myers and Majluf (1984). By analyzing the firm characteristics of convertible bond issuers, we find that the wealth effects are negatively related to equity component, firm size and issue size of convertible bonds, and are positively related to financial leverage, liquidity structure of equity, book value of non-liquidity equity and market-to-book ratio. The underlying reason of equity finance taking precedence of bond finance in Chinese capital market can be attributed the to special “two-system-ownership structure” and corporate governance of Chinese listed companies. Translated from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2006, (6): 19–27     

The effects of firm size and firm performance on CEO pay in Canada: A Re-Examination and Extension

Using insights from academic and practitioners' perspectives and recent data, this paper extends the literature by using pay variables that are typically used by practitioners, including those not studied in previous academic research. Consistent with previous findings, firm size, measured by three-year average revenues, has strong effects on CEO pay. However, the relationship is not the same for firms of different sizes. Revenue elasticity is strong among small companies and disappears for medium and large companies. Firm performance, measured by accounting-based measures (return on assets and return on equity), and market-based measures (total shareholder return and shareholder value), have little effects on CEO cash compensation, but strong positive effects on equity compensation. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

日本金融ADR机制探析

日本在其ADR机制发展成熟的基础上,创设了一套独特的金融ADR机制。该机制以纠纷解决机构为中心,构建了一套旨在保护金融消费者,并兼顾金融服务机构利益的运作体系。在效率与公平方面具有深刻实体制度价值的日本金融ADR机制,仍面临着协调与其他机制关系,确定更明晰的法律定位等诸多问题,并需逐步向统一金融ADR机制的方向发展。     

Dynamic analysis of innovation and international transfer of technology through licensing

This paper develops a quality-ladder type dynamic general equilibrium model with endogenous innovation and technology licensing as a major source of international technology transfer in developing countries. Examining the dynamic characteristics of the model fully, we explore the short- and long-run effects of both an improvement in the probability of reaching a licensing agreement with a given effort and an increase in the license fee rate. The model shows that the former promotes innovation and technology transfers in both the long and short run, while the latter discourages them.     

The Dynamic Relationship Between Investments in Brand Equity and Firm Profitability: Evidence Using Trademark Registrations

Abstract

Most marketing practitioners and scholars agree that marketing assets such as brand equity significantly contribute to a firm’s financial performance. In this paper, we model brand equity as an unobservable stock that results from up to 30 years of past brand-related investment flows. Using firm-specific trademarks as investment proxies, our results show a significant long-run impact on financial performance. The dynamic profile of brand-related investments has an inverted-U shape that reaches its peak after 11 years. On average, it takes four years before brand-related investments show a positive return, and investments older than 19 years show no significant impact. For the median trademarking firm, brand equity contributes €265,000 to annual profits.     

Reaping the financial and strategic benefits of a divestiture by spin-off

Because of their remarkable history of financial success, corporate spin-offs are the subject of perennial interest and investigation. We critically review quantitative and case-based research to determine the conditions under which a spin-off divestiture provides beneficial results for the conglomerate, the newly independent subsidiary, and the stockholders. The shared goal of spin-off researchers is to understand the rationale for the financial success that spin-off firms and their newly disconnected conglomerates experience. Our review and synthesis of the findings include 30 years of academic research by scholars in strategic and business management, commercial research by independent researchers and consulting firms, and IRS and US Treasury documents that detail when a spin-off qualifies for a corporate tax-free exchange. Our central finding is that spin-offs, conglomerates, and stockholders benefit from tax-free divestiture and subsequent refocusing by the companies. The article explains the breadth of spin-off divestitures and the benefits of their success in the US. These results center on helping decision-makers recognize the situational factors that support the choice of a spin-off strategy.     

The portrayal of women in Canadian corporate annual reports

We assess the inclusion of women in Canadian corporate annual report (CAR) photographs and on boards of directors at TSX100 firms and evaluate whether either is related to financial performance. We find that women are underrepresented in CAR photographs and on boards. In CAR photographs women are frequently portrayed as outsiders or less powerful organizational members than men. Higher return on equity (ROE) was found at companies that more frequently depicted women in their CAR photographs. However, no association was observed between the inclusion of women on the board and the ROE of the firm. The applied and theoretical implications of these results are discussed. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reassessing the relationships between private equity investors and their portfolio companies

The scope and purpose of this special issue is to reassess the relationships between private equity (PE) investors and their portfolio companies in the light of the need for venture capital/ private equity (VC/PE) firms to adapt their strategies for value creation in the light of the recent financial crisis. We particularly focus upon VC/PE characteristics that differently contribute to portfolio firm performance. The papers presented in this special issue capture this aim in various ways, reflecting the heterogeneity of VC/PE investors and the firms in which they invest. We begin this introductory paper by providing a brief overview of each paper’s contribution. We articulate themes for an agenda for future research relating to the heterogeneity of investor types and the contexts in which they invest.     

我国民营上市公司资本结构影响因素的实证分析

以我国沪市交易所的民营上市公司为研究对象,以SPSS10.0为分析工具,运用多元逐步回归分析法,对我国民营上市公司的资本结构影响因素进行实证分析,结果表明:公司的资本结构与资产规模、净资产收益率、营业利润增长率、固定资产周转率正相关,与流动比率、每股净资产、总资产报酬率负相关。     

Factors That Affect the Probability That a Food Retailer Sells a Specialty Food Product,Hybrid Striped Bass

ABSTRACT

Survey data from grocery retailers are analyzed to determine if sellers of hybrid striped bass have different socioeco-nomic and demographic characteristics than nonsellers. The results indicate that sellers are more likely to be chain stores, have larger seafood sales per customer, and have upper income clientele. Probit and logit analyses indicate that the probability that a retailer is a seller of hybrid striped bass increases as the firm sells more aquaculture products. The probability also increases if the retailer is a chain store whose average seafood sales per customer exceed $10, and whose annual seafood sales per store exceed $100,000.     

Board Committee Meetings and Firm Financial Performance: An Investigation of Australian Companies

This article examines how the frequency of board committee meetings impacts on Australian firms' financial performance. Data were collected from 118 Australian listed companies – including 26 financial firms and 92 nonfinancial firms – for the period 1999–2007. Analysis of that data shows that the frequencies of audit committee meetings and remuneration committee meetings are positively and significantly associated with return on equity and return on assets. The frequencies of risk committee meetings do not show any significant effects on the financial performance of Australian firms. Estimated results are found to be robust after controlling for internal as well as external governance mechanisms that might affect Australian firm performance.     

Reward me,charity, or both? The impact of fees and benefits in loyalty programs

This research examines the effects of loyalty program annual fees (no fee vs. $10 fee in Study 1, and no fee vs. $10 vs. $25 fee in Study 2) and benefit structures (self benefit, altruistic benefit, and combination self/altruistic benefit in both Studies 1 and 2) on intentions to join a loyalty program (LP) and future spending if one is willing to join the LP. Using random assignment in a between-subjects research designs and general linear modeling analyses in two different studies, this research finds that an annual fee does decrease consumers’ intentions to join an LP but may also increase the future spending intentions of customers who join a fee-based LP. Furthermore, a benefit structure that shares the reward with both the customer and a charity of his or her choice is found to be an appealing option. Thus, offering a fee-based LP that provides benefits to both the user and a charity could increase a retailer’s profitability and competitiveness through additional revenues, differentiation, and image enhancement.     

Trajectories of Small Business Financial Structure

A dynamic theory of the small firm is expounded, assuming entrepreneurs maximise business value over a finite time horizon. Predicted trajectories for key financial variables are seen to depend on whether debt or equity are cheaper. The predicted trajectories are compared with actual trajectories, using empirical evidence from three years of detailed primary source data on one hundred and fifty new business startups in Scotland. Evidence largely confirms predictions of the model, for the cheap equity case. For this case, as capital and sales rise steadily, debt is retired rapidly, except when interest rates on long-term debt are low. This finding is supported by explicit empirical trajectories of key financial variables.     

Corporate ownership and control contestability in emerging markets: The case of Colombia

This study examines the structure of voting control and blockholders’ contestability for a sample of 233 non-financial listed firms in Colombia during 1996–2004. Corporate control is characterized by high ownership concentration and blockholder power, which implies low separation ratios between cash flow rights and voting rights. On average the separation ratios for the largest voting block is 0.95, while that for the fourth largest shareholder is 0.75. Corporate control is privately biased when there is direct monitoring of firm management by controlling owners. Regression results show that a more equal distribution of equity among large blockholders has a positive effect on firm value. Contestability matters most when firm shares are liquid and actively traded on the stock market. This finding is reinforced when the probability that the largest block can form a winning coalition decreases and performance variables, such as market to sales ratio and return on equity, are included in the estimating equations as substitutes for firm value. In addition, our estimations provide evidence that diversion of rents (tunneling) is limited by blockholders’ contestability.     

企业环境行为与企业价值相关关系研究

近年来,经济的迅速发展带来越来越严重的环境问题,社会各界逐渐认识到保护环境的重要性。企业作为经济活动的基本组成单位,既是环境效益的最大受益者,也是环境质量的最大破坏者。因此,研究企业环境行为和企业价值之间的关系非常重要。本研究在总结国内外相关文献研究的基础上,以采矿业,造纸业,金属冶炼及压延加工业,电力、热力、燃气、水的生产和供应业的A股303家上市公司为样本,从上市公司2017年年报、社会责任报告、可持续发展报告和环境报告书中搜集整理得到环境行为相关数据,提出研究假设,选取“三废(废气、废水、废渣)”排放量、排污费、企业从政府获得的环保补助、环保设备等方面的投入以及上市公司及其子公司是否属于环境保护部门公布的重点排污单位五方面作为企业环境行为的代表变量,以企业价值作为被解释变量,引入控制变量有企业规模、第一大股东持股比例和净资产收益率,建立分析模型,对数据进行统计描述、相关性检验及回归分析,以验证假设是否成立。研究结论表明,“三废”排放量、环保补助、重点排污单位与企业价值相关关系不显著,排污费与企业所有者权益比值和企业价值负相关,环保投入与企业总资产的比值与企业价值正相关关系显著。企业规模与企业价值负相关关系显著。净资产收益率和企业价值正相关关系显著。第一大股东持股比例与企业价值之间的相关关系不显著。最后提出有针对性的若干建议。通过本文的研究希望可以促使更多企业提高环境管理水平,提升环境责任意识,实现可持续发展理念。     

Risk and Return in the 20th and 21st Centuries

The single most important contemporary issue in finance is the equity risk premium. This drives future equity returns, and is the key determinant of the cost of capital. The risk premium – the expected reward for bearing the risk of investing in equities, rather than in low-risk investments such as bills or bonds – is usually estimated from historical data. This article starts by summarising new evidence on historical returns in twelve major world markets from the authors' recent book, 'The Millennium Book: A Century of Investment Returns'. The authors show that the historical equity risk premium has been lower than previously believed, and argue that the future risk premium is likely to be lower still. They discuss what this implies for the cost of capital, stock market values, and companies' target rates of return. They suggest that many companies are seeking too high a rate of return and thus run the risk of under-investing.     

The Role of Financial Ratios in the Variance of Stock Trading Volume in Emerging Stock Markets

The study used quarterly panel data of 6 years from 2010 to 2015 of all companies listed on both Vietnamese stock markets including the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange and Ha Noi Stock Exchange, and on three leading industries consisting of insurance-banking, foodstuff, and real estate to explore the relationship among four key financial ratios and stock trading volume. Two models, fixed effects model (FEM) and random effects model (REM), with robust standard errors, were applied for this study. The key findings showed that earnings before tax on sales, debt on owner’s equity, and owner’s equity on total assets significantly influenced trading volume.     

十大科技园区

Langfang Economic and Technical Development Zone Founded in June 1992, the development zone is along Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu Expressway, in the center of Bohai Economic Circle, between Beijing and Tianjin. There are more than 100 high and new technology companies in the zone, in- cluding 14 of the top 500 enterprises in the world. The average annual economic growth rate is 53.1 percent in the zone. The number of electronic information companies with a certain scale in the zone reaches 40 plus, with 37 leading in domestic and international market, and the annual sales income exceeds RMB 3 billion.