Lame-Duck CEOs
Marc Gabarro, Sebastian Gryglewicz, Shuo Xia
SSRN Working Papers,
2018
Abstract
We examine the relationship between protracted CEO successions and stock returns. In protracted successions, an incumbent CEO announces his or her resignation without a known successor, so the incumbent CEO becomes a “lame duck.” We find that 31% of CEO successions from 2005 to 2014 in the S&P 1500 are protracted, during which the incumbent CEO is a lame duck for an average period of about 6 months. During the reign of lame duck CEOs, firms generate an annual four-factor alpha of 11% and exhibit significant positive earnings surprises. Investors’ under-reaction to no news on new CEO information and underestimation of the positive effects of the tournament among the CEO candidates drive our results.
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The Economic Development of Saxony-Anhalt since 1990
Oliver Holtemöller, Axel Lindner
Abstract
In diesem Beitrag wird die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung Sachsen-Anhalts seit 1990 im Kontext des ostdeutschen Transformationsprozesses von einer Zentralverwaltungswirtschaft zu einer Marktwirtschaft beschrieben. Die wirtschaftliche Leistungsfähigkeit Sachsen-Anhalts hat in den frühen 1990er Jahren zunächst schnell gegenüber Westdeutschland aufgeholt, vor allem weil der Kapitalstock modernisiert und erweitert worden ist. Seit einiger Zeit stagniert der Aufholprozess jedoch, und das Bruttoinlandsprodukt je Erwerbstätigen liegt etwa 20% unter dem westdeutschen Niveau. Die wirtschaftspolitische Herausforderung besteht darin, den Aufholprozess durch die Förderung von Forschung und Innovation und durch bessere Qualifizierung der Erwerbstätigen weiter voranzubringen.
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Do Venture Capital Firms Benefit from a Presence on Boards of Directors of Mature Public Companies?
Iftekhar Hasan, Arif Khurshed, Abdulkadir Mohamed, Fan Wang
Journal of Corporate Finance,
2018
Abstract
This paper examines the benefits to venture capital firms of their officers holding directorships in mature public companies in terms of fundraising and investment performance. Our empirical results show that venture capital firms raise more funds, set higher fund-raising targets, and are more likely to successfully exit their investments post-appointment of their officers to boards of directors of S&P 1500 companies. Directorship status in mature public firms provides venture capital firms with enhanced networks, visibility, and credibility, all of which facilitate their fundraising activities. In addition, the knowledge, expertise, and experience acquired through holding directorships in mature public firms are beneficial for their portfolio companies, as measured by the likelihood of successful exits.
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Does Administrative Status Matter for Urban Growth? – Evidence from Present and Former County Capitals in East Germany
Bastian Heider, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld, Albrecht Kauffmann
Growth and Change,
No. 1,
2018
Abstract
Public sector activities are often neglected in the economic approaches used to analyze the driving forces behind urban growth. The institutional status of a regional capital is a crucial aspect of public sector activities. This paper reports on a quasi-natural experiment on county towns in East Germany. Since 1990, cities in East Germany have demonstrated remarkable differences in population development. During this same period, many towns have lost their status as a county seat due to several administrative reforms. Using a difference-in-difference approach, the annual population development of former county capitals is compared to population change in towns that have successfully held on to their capital status throughout the observed period. The estimations show that maintaining county capital status has a statistically significant positive effect on annual changes in population. This effect is furthermore increasing over time after the implementation of the respective reforms.
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State Enforceability of Noncompete Agreements: Regulations that Stifle Productivity!
S. Anand, Iftekhar Hasan, P. Sharma, Haizhi Wang
Human Resource Management,
No. 1,
2018
Abstract
Noncompete agreements (also known as covenants not to compete [CNCs]) are frequently used by many businesses in an attempt to maintain their competitive advantage by safeguarding their human capital and the associated business secrets. Although the choice of whether to include CNCs in employment contracts is made by firms, the real extent of their restrictiveness is determined by the state laws. In this article, we explore the effect of state‐level CNC enforceability on firm productivity. We assert that an increase in state level CNC enforceability is detrimental to firm productivity, and this relationship becomes stronger as comparable job opportunities become more concentrated in a firm's home state. On the other hand, this negative relationship is weakened as employee compensation tends to become more long‐term oriented. Results based on hierarchical linear modeling analysis of 21,134 firm‐year observations for 3,027 unique firms supported all three hypotheses.
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01.11.2017 • 38/2017
IWH Policy Talk „Risk Sharing and Risk Reduction – The Challenges that Lie Ahead“
The Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association is pleased to inform about its next upcoming IWH Policy Talk „Risk Sharing and Risk Reduction – The Challenges that Lie Ahead“ with Andrea Enria, first Chairperson of the European Banking Authority (EBA). The talk will take place on Tuesday, No¬vember 7, 2017, 5:00 p.m., in the IWH conference room. You are hereby cordially invited to attend.
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TV and Entrepreneurship
Viktor Slavtchev, Michael Wyrwich
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 17,
2017
Abstract
We empirically analyse whether television (TV) can influence entrepreneurial identity and incidence. To identify causal effects, we utilise a quasi-natural experiment setting. During the division of Germany after WWII into West Germany with a free-market economy and the socialistic East Germany with centrally-planned economy, some East German regions had access to West German public TV that – differently from the East German TV – transmitted images, values, attitudes and view of life compatible with the free-market economy principles and supportive of entrepreneurship. We show that during the 40 years of socialistic regime in East Germany entrepreneurship was highly regulated and virtually impossible and that the prevalent formal and informal institutions broke the traditional ties linking entrepreneurship to the characteristics of individuals so that there were hardly any differences in the levels and development of entrepreneurship between East German regions with and without West German TV signal. Using both, regional and individual level data, we show then that, for the period after the Unification in 1990 which made starting an own business in East Germany, possible again, entrepreneurship incidence is higher among the residents of East German regions that had access to West German public TV, indicating that TV can, while transmitting specific images, values, attitudes and view of life, directly impact on the entrepreneurial mindset of individuals. Moreover, we find that young individuals born after 1980 in East German households that had access to West German TV are also more entrepreneurial. These findings point to second-order effects due to inter-personal and inter-generational transmission, a mechanism that can cause persistent differences in the entrepreneurship incidence across (geographically defined) population groups.
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06.07.2017 • 28/2017
Politicians share responsibility for the risk of their state defaulting
Investors assume higher risks of default when a country is politically unstable or governed by a party at the left or right end of the political spectrum. However, according to findings obtained by Stefan Eichler from the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), the more democratic the country is and the more it is integrated into the global economy, the lower is the impact that such political factors have.
Stefan Eichler
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Expertise in the Political Process — Benefits, Limits and Risks
Aida Ćumurović, Reint E. Gropp, Lars Brozus, Oliver Geden, Uwe Schneidewind, Karl-Heinz Paqué, Lars P. Feld
Wirtschaftsdienst,
No. 4,
2017
Abstract
Die Wahl Donald Trumps, der Brexit und der Erfolg populistischer Parteien in Europa zeigen tiefsitzende Skepsis gegenüber Experten und Eliten und deren komplexen Erklärungen der politischen und wirtschaftlichen Zusammenhänge. Ökonomen wird vorgeworfen, sich in Detailfragen zu verlieren und ein unrealistisches Menschenbild zu pflegen. Tatsächlich wäre es aber wichtig, die Unabhängigkeit der Ökonomen abzusichern, mehr Transparenz über die Hintergründe ihrer Ergebnisse herzustellen und stärker auf die Relevanz ihrer Forschungsfragen zu achten. Zudem sollten sie mehr Wert auf eine für alle verständliche Kommunikation mit Politik und Medien legen. Umgekehrt sollten letztere sich aber auch ernsthaft mit den ökonomischen Ergebnissen auseinandersetzen.
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Im Fokus: Industrielle Kerne in Ostdeutschland und wie es dort heute aussieht – Das Beispiel des Zentrums Mikroelektronik Dresden
Gerhard Heimpold
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 1,
2017
Abstract
Das Unternehmen IDT Europe GmbH mit Sitz in Dresden, das bis Dezember 2015 als Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden (ZMDI AG) firmierte, kann ein Beispiel auch für andere Industrieunternehmen in Deutschland sein: Fokus auf Forschung, Entwicklung und Design – ohne eigene Fertigung. Die IDT Europe GmbH war als Forschungseinrichtung für die mikroelektronische Industrie der DDR gestartet und konnte nach der Herstellung der Deutschen Einheit als ein wichtiger Bestandteil der Halbleiterindustrie und -forschung in der Region Dresden erhalten werden. Das Unternehmen befand sich bis 1998 faktisch im Eigentum des Freistaates Sachsen. Ende 1998 erfolgte die Privatisierung. In den 2000er Jahren spezialisierte sich das ZMDI vor allem auf Halbleiter-Erzeugnisse für energieeffiziente Lösungen insbesondere in Automobilen, der Medizintechnik, Industrieautomatisierung und Konsumelektronik. Im Jahr 2007 wurde die eigene Halbleiterfertigung aufgegeben, und es erfolgte eine Konzentration auf Forschung und Entwicklung. Das ZMDI profilierte sich als ein mittelständisches Headquarter-Unternehmen mit Sitz in Dresden. Im Dezember 2015 wurde die ZMDI AG vom US-Halbleiter-Unternehmen Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT) erworben, bildet im neuen Unternehmensverbund das Exzellenzzentrum für Halbleiteranwendungen in Automobilen und entwickelt auch Produkte für industrielle Anwendungen und die Konsumelektronik.
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