Does reputation of sponsors matter in IPO? Evidence from Hong Kong

Contrary to other markets where underwriters perform a combined role of underwriting and sponsoring in an Initial Public Offering (IPO), IPO issuers in Hong Kong must appoint at least one sponsor in addition to the underwriters. The splitting of the single role of underwriters into two separate ones offers an ideal setting to disentangle the effects of the two roles and to examine which of the two roles—sponsor or underwriter—is more important in explaining IPO underpricing and initial volatility in the Hong Kong equity market. Interestingly, our findings provide supportive evidence that the sponsor reputation does matter in an IPO and it is even more significant than the underwriter reputation in explaining the IPO underpricing phenomenon. Given the recent high-tech fervor, our research goes deeper to examine specifically the role of sponsors on high-tech firms, with results indicating that the reliance on sponsors is higher for traditional issuers than for technology firms. We further discover that sponsors and underwriters are playing substitution roles rather than complementary roles. In order to examine the regulatory policy impact, our research also compares the role of IPO sponsors before and after the launch of the new sponsor regulatory regime in 2013. The empirical findings lend support to our argument that after the launch of the new regulations, public awareness of sponsors is raised, respect towards more reputable sponsor increases, and thus, the role of sponsors becomes more important than before.     

Can mutual funds time investor sentiment?

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - This paper examines the ability of mutual fund managers to time aggregate investor sentiment. Our results indicate that mutual fund managers alter...     

Auditors' Responses to Workload Imbalance and the Impact on Audit Quality*

Using detailed data for fieldwork hours and audit hours by rank from audit engagements in Korea, we examine whether audits conducted under workload imbalance, proxied by busy‐season audits, impair audit quality, and how auditors adjust staff assignments for busy‐season audits. We generally find that busy‐season audits are associated with lower audit quality, and that audit firms reduce the involvement of senior auditors during busy‐season audits. In addition, the greater the involvement of senior auditors and junior auditors, the lesser the deterioration in audit quality. Finally, although there is no increase in interim audits in response to workload imbalance during busy seasons, increasing interim audits can mitigate the negative impact of busy‐season audits on audit quality. Our results are relevant to auditors and regulators, who have expressed concerns about the adverse effects of workload imbalance on audit quality.     

论中职教师到企业实践进修难点——从中职教师到企业实践进修的难点看建立专业工作室的必要性

文章通过对当前中职院校教师轮训的现状分析探讨其中存在的问题,提出成立专业工作室来解决教师实践的有效策略。     

海水取水处理工程及应用分析

本文对秦皇岛最具景观效应的一线海景住宅建筑进行海水冲厕的取水工程方案分析,提出了澄清滤池处理方案,对水利工程的工艺流程进行设计。     

IMMEDIATE SETTLEMENT OR ENDURING A STRIKE: THE CHOICE OF SIGNALS

Some labour contract negotiations involve strikes while most conclude with immediate settlement. This article offers a model of union‐firm negotiation with private information to show that either strikes or immediate settlement will take place in the equilibrium. Different from most signalling literature where the signals are exogenously given, this article endogenizes the choice of signals. We compare two signals, the employment level and the strategic delay. We show that the low‐revenue firm will choose the signal which gives it higher payoff while separating itself from the high‐revenue firm.     

基于银行理财顾客特征的产品模式创新研究

基于“感知利益”与“感知风险”权衡视角构建了银行理财顾客识别模型,将银行理财顾客划分为感知高利益—高风险敏感型顾客群体、感知低利益—高风险消极型顾客群体、感知低利益—低风险冷漠型顾客群体、感知高利益—低风险积极型顾客群体.应针对不同类型顾客群体的感知利益与感知风险对于购买意愿综合影响作用的差异、感知利益与感知风险构成维度重要程度的差异及人口统计特征和购买理财产品特征的差异,采取不同的提升感知利益且降低感知风险的创新产品模式.     

Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Risk Management: A Case of R&D Investment

Increasing gender diversity in the boardroom has been promoted as a way to enhance corporate governance and risk management. This study empirically examines whether boards with more female directors play a role in reducing R&D risk. We first show that female directors help to reduce the positive relationship between R&D investment and future performance volatility. We then report that firms with more gender-diverse boards exhibit a lower adverse effect of R&D on the cost of debt. These results are robust to endogeneity analysis, alternative measures of gender diversity and risky investment, and other sensitivity tests. Overall, our results suggest that female directors improve board effectiveness in risk management with respect to R&D investment.     

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone: Background,Developments and Preliminary Assessment of Initial Impacts

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (SPFTZ) founded one year ago is a trial for China's new round of reform and opening up, which has promised liberalisation on the capital account and trade facilitation as its main objectives. Here, we discuss why China adopted such a pilot zone after three decades of economic development, and explore what the differences are between the SPFTZ and other free trade areas, and developments of the SPFTZ in the past year. We also make a preliminary assessment of the SPFTZ's initial impacts, especially of its impact on China's capital account opening and financial liberalisation. It is possible that the successful practice of the SPFTZ and more pilot policies replicated in China will give rise to a more balanced Chinese economy in the following decade.     

产权流动是国有传媒机构改革的根本出路

产权流动是市场经济改革深化的重要形式之一,是按市场规律发展的必然趋势。通过国际视野的对照与案例分析可以看出,中国国有传媒机构的产权流动是一个急迫的现实问题,由于所有制的限制、行政干预过多等原因,国有传媒机构进行产权流动应将决策权、执行权和监督权分开而独立,探索国有传媒机构的产权改革,着力改变"发展惰性",进行有限创新,全面探索多元资本进入机制。