Venture capital trusts and the expiration of IPO lock-up provisions

Venture capital trusts (VCTs) were introduced to provide private equity capital for small expanding companies and to promote innovation. Investors in initial public offerings are rewarded with tax relief on the cost of lock-up provisions to stabilize the market. This paper examines the market reaction and trading activity around the expiration of lock-up provisions of 148 VCTs listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1995 to 2006. Downward-sloping demand curve theory suggests that an increased supply of VCT shares at the expiry date could shift their value to a new equilibrium at a lower price. Supporting this prediction, we document evidence of negative abnormal returns as well as permanent increases in the price discount relative to net asset value and trading volumes at and around the expiries of the required holding periods of VCTs. In addition, less negative abnormal returns, lower abnormal discounts and lower abnormal trading volumes are associated with VCTs that invest in AIM-listed companies due to lower information asymmetry, that experience lower prior performance due to a less pronounced disposition effect, and that are subject to a shorter lock-up horizon or are offering more generous tax benefits.     

商业银行的操作风险、声誉效应与市场反应

我们通过比较银行市场价值损失与发生操作风险造成的损失的差异来分离出纯声誉效应,并实证分析了该声誉效应对不同银行及损失事件不同阶段的市场收益率的影响的差异。研究发现,操作风险事件在不同时期会产生迥异的市场反应。在披露期,银行遭受损失时会出现显著为负的异常收益率,在结算期却出现显著为正的异常收益率,而在承认期,该效应却并没有表现出一定的规律性;且上述声誉效应造成市场收益率的动态变化在不同类型的银行差异明显。这也启示我们,声誉效应的存在使银行有必要对操作风险造成的损失进行有效控制以及适时回应事件中的不确定信息。这将有助于减少银行的损失及保持市场的稳定。     

Corporate Lobbying and Firm Performance

Corporate lobbying activities are designed to influence legislators, regulators and courts, presumably to encourage favorable policies and/or outcomes. In dollar terms, corporate lobbying expenditures are typically one or even two orders of magnitude larger than spending by Political Action Committees (PAC), and, unlike PAC donations, lobbying amounts are direct corporate expenditures. We use data made available by the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to examine this more pervasive form of corporate political activity. We find that, on average, lobbying is positively related to accounting and market measures of financial performance. These results are robust across a number of empirical specifications. We also report market performance evidence using a portfolio approach. We find that portfolios of firms with the highest lobbying intensities significantly outperform their benchmarks in the three years following portfolio formation.     

营销传播视角下的角色分离机理研究

在购买者和使用者角色分离的情境下,企业的营销说服投入往往转变为沉默成本,由于目标市场不能精确锁定以及角色分离导致的传播鸿沟,使得企业推销产品或服务的理念难以写进消费者的认知结构,也就难以取得预期的营销说服效果。本文从营销传播视角出发,从消费者学习、反馈联结、营销传播信息的错位阐释等角度来深入探析角色分离机理,以期有助于企业的营销传播效果。     

关于“钓鱼执法”问题的法律思考

＂钓鱼执法＂事件引发了社会各界的广泛关注。这种非理性执法行为不仅有损法律的尊严和政府公信力,还存在着极大的道德风险。我们应在深入剖析具体事件根源的基础上,从立法、财政体制、教育等层面探讨制度上的应对方法。     

智慧通古今思想达天下——五句《论语》经典的本意解读和现实意义

儒家思想是中国传统思想的核心资源。2007年9月28日，在山东曲阜举行的祭孔大典上揭晓了“国人不可不知的五句《论语》经典”，这五句《论语》经典分别是“有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎”“四海之内皆兄弟也”“己所不欲，勿施于人”“德不孤，必有邻”和“礼之用，和为贵”。深刻领悟这些思想，对于我们构建社会主义和谐社会以及建设和谐世界都具有重要的现实意义。     

贵州制药业的发展现状、问题与对策研究

制药业已发展成为贵州省重要的支柱产业,对贵州省的经济发展有着重要的战略意义。本文从制药业的发展现状出发,分析其存在的主要问题,并提出了加快贵州制药业发展的对策建议。     

论在国际多边贸易体系下是否应该正式承认国际环境协定

国际贸易与环境保护之间存在矛盾,但这种矛盾不是不可调和的,二者统一于可持续发展的综合战略。国际贸易的增长可以可以提高各国处理环境问题的经济实力和技术力量,而生态环境又是国际贸易进行的基础,使国际贸易得以存在并获得资源。因此,WTO应该改革其相关的环保条款,使国际多边贸易体系正式承认国际环境协定。     

Start-up and hiring practices of immigrant entrepreneurs: An empirical study from an evolutionary psychological perspective

Strong social ties embedded in ethnic communities of immigrant populations have been considered key assets for immigrant entrepreneurs. However, little research has been done on how biological kinship and the biological theories of altruism influence the behavior of ethnic entrepreneurs. In this study, we have applied a neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory of kinship to examine adaptive functions of kin and ethnic altruism in business start-up and hiring practices of Korean immigrant entrepreneurs in the United States. We confirmed that the patterns of help received by Korean entrepreneurs for business start-ups were congruent with an evolutionary perspective on altruism. However, the results for hiring patterns suggested that customer ethnicity trumped kin and co-ethic interests. We close by offering suggestions for future research.