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Full-Text Articles in Business

Trade Secrets Law And Corporate Disclosure: Causal Evidence On The Proprietary Cost Hypothesis, Yinghua Li, Yupeng Lin, Liandong Zhang Mar 2018

Trade Secrets Law And Corporate Disclosure: Causal Evidence On The Proprietary Cost Hypothesis, Yinghua Li, Yupeng Lin, Liandong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study exploits the staggered adoption of the inevitable disclosure doctrine (IDD) by U.S. state courts as an exogenous shock that generates variations in the proprietary costs of disclosure. We find that firms respond to IDD adoption by reducing the level of disclosure regarding their customers’ identities, supporting the proprietary cost hypothesis. Our results are stronger for firms in industries with a higher degree of entry threats, for firms in more volatile industries, and for firms with a lower degree of external financing dependence. Overall, this study represents one of the first efforts in identifying the causal effect of proprietary …


What Does It Take To Become A Partner At An Accountancy Firm?, Qiang Cheng, Yang Hoong Pang, Gary Pan, Poh Sun Seow, Kwong Sin Leong Oct 2017

What Does It Take To Become A Partner At An Accountancy Firm?, Qiang Cheng, Yang Hoong Pang, Gary Pan, Poh Sun Seow, Kwong Sin Leong

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Having ‘hard’ skills are important but one cannot do without the soft skills that will advance your career.


Takeover Defenses In The Era Of Shareholder Activism, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin Apr 2016

Takeover Defenses In The Era Of Shareholder Activism, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper examines the interplay between takeover defenses and shareholder activism. Using a comprehensive sample of shareholder activism events between 2006 and 2014, I find a differential impact of takeover defense measures on the likelihood of being targeted for activism; a dual-class structure or a staggered board deters activism, whereas firms with a poison pill in place are more likely to become targets. Activists are more likely to demand removal of takeover defense measures and/or sale of the target firm if the firm has a staggered board or a poison pill in place, suggesting that when takeover defenses block the …


Should Singapore Adopt ‘Say On Pay’, Clarence Goh Oct 2014

Should Singapore Adopt ‘Say On Pay’, Clarence Goh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

In the corporate setting, the remuneration of chief executive officers (CEOs) and senior executives is typically determined by the board of directors. In many countries, corporate governance codes have been developed to provide guidance on such remuneration practices. However, there has been a recent trend of countries adopting regulations which allow shareholders some form of voting rights on executive remuneration. Such voting rights are commonly referred to as Say on Pay (SoP) votes.


Activist Directors: Determinants And Consequences, Ian D Gow, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin, Suraj Srinivasan Jun 2014

Activist Directors: Determinants And Consequences, Ian D Gow, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin, Suraj Srinivasan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper examines the determinants and consequences of hedge fund activism with a focuson activist directors, i.e., those directors appointed in response to demands by activists.Using a sample of 1,969 activism events over the period 2004–2012, we identify 824 activistdirectors. We find that activists are more likely to gain board seats at smaller firms and thosewith weaker stock price performance. Activists remain as shareholders longer when they haveboard seats, with holding periods consistent with conventional notions of “long-term” institutionalinvestors. As in prior research, we find positive announcement-period returns of around4–5% when a firm is targeted by activists, and a 2% …


The Agency Problem, Corporate Governance, And The Asymmetrical Behavior Of Selling, General, And Administrative Costs, Hai Lu, Hai Lu, Theodore Sougiannis Oct 2011

The Agency Problem, Corporate Governance, And The Asymmetrical Behavior Of Selling, General, And Administrative Costs, Hai Lu, Hai Lu, Theodore Sougiannis

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) costs represent a significant proportion of thecosts of business operations. On average, the SG&A costs to total assets ratio is 27 percent,compared to the research and development (R&D) to total assets ratio of 3 percent(Banker, Huang, and Natarajan 2011). Due to the importance of SG&A costs, practitionerspay close attention to controlling SG&A spending. Understanding SG&A cost behaviorand the role of managers in adjusting the costs is thus important to researchers andpractitioners. Recent empirical research indicates that SG&A costs behave asymmetrically,that is, they increase more rapidly when demand increases than they decline when demanddecreases (Anderson, Banker, …


Firm Structure And Corporate Cash Holdings, Venkat Subramaniam, Tony Tang, Heng Yue, Xin Zhou Jun 2011

Firm Structure And Corporate Cash Holdings, Venkat Subramaniam, Tony Tang, Heng Yue, Xin Zhou

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We analyze whether the organizational structure of firms (i.e., whether a firm is diversified or focused) affects their cash holdings. Using Compustat firm level and segment-level data, we find that diversified firms hold significantly less cash than their focused counterparts. Our results are robust to industry adjustments at the segment level and to different factors previously found to be important determinants of cash holdings. Using time-series, cross-sectional, and additional robustness tests we are able to attribute the lower cash holdings among diversified firms to complementary growth opportunities across the different segments of these firms and the availability of active internal …