Does Shareholding Heterogeneity on First Major Shareholder Incentively Affect Audit Characteristics?-Evidence From Tobacco and Non-tobacco Enterprises

Objectives: This study is to examine the effect of first major shareholders on audit characteristics, and emphasize their incentives towards corporate reform. In addition, we also emphasize on the tobacco industry that is totally state-owned by Chinese central government, as their internal audits are mainly conducted by the State Council. Methods: Taking A-share listed enterprises in Chinese Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange as samples, this paper analyzes the changes in corporate audit characteristics, which are caused by the holding heterogeneity on the first major shareholders. Then a series of endogenous and robustness tests are to confirm the baseline results. Based on the results of population, we specifically analyze and forecast the tobacco industries. Results: This positive relationship remains significant. Also, the channels for the first major shareholder to reduce non-standard audit opinions originate from their constraints and incentives, which reflect on enhanced supervision, sustainable business operation and market competition. These contribute to their revised managerial behavior. Finally, additional tests illustrate that the effect of strengthened equity is heterogeneous in terms of size, equity nature and growth stage of enterprises. Conclusion: The study domestrates the importance of equity structure and first major shareholders, which calls attention to managerial motives and behavior. The marginal effect is supposed to be shrunk in tobacco business as it is initially in absolute control by public authority. The already economic profits have made it reached favorable audit report. The enhanced shareholdings of first major shareholders could alleviate managerial myopia and moral hazard, and give the inspiration to enterprises in the reform of the ownership structure. Research limitations/implications-Effect of increasing first major shareholders’ holdings on audits is required to be applied in certain situations. However, the unavailable data and minimal samples of listed tobacco enterprises make it hard to clearly estimate the shareholding effect in this certain industry. Therefore, we have to qualitatively analyse tobacco business based on average population. Originality/value-This paper enlarges the role of major shareholders in audit characteristics, and emphasizes their managerial behavior towards audit process. The study indicates that stronger first major shareholdings tend to obtain qualified and standard audit opinions, pay higher audit fees and select high-quality auditors. The results and anlyses could enlight the tobacco and non-tobacco industries.

Major Shareholders' Investment Background and Corporate Investment Behavior — Based on Evidence from China's Private Listed Companies

Investment behavior is one of the three major financial decisions of a company. Based on this, this paper takes China's private listed enterprises from 2004 to 2017 as samples, and through literature review and empirical analysis, studies the influence of the major shareholder's investment background on the company's investment behavior. It is found that the investment background of the major shareholder is positively correlated with the cash outflow from the company. At the same time, the major shareholders with investment experience tend to choose the pyramid shareholding structure with financing advantages. After the introduction of shareholding structure, the above positive relationship has a significant change: the internal capital market brought by the pyramid shareholding structure can promote the major shareholder with investment background to find more potential investment opportunities and promote the scale of cash outflow from the company's investment, while the direct shareholding structure can inhibit the promotion effect. To sum up, the investment background provides the major shareholder with subjective motivation and ability to conduct investment, while the pyramid shareholding structure creates objective conditions for him to some extent. The research conclusion of this paper enriches the theoretical research on the high-level echelon theory and the motivation of the existing corporate investment behavior, and provides some reference significance for the investors in the capital market to judge the investment decisions of the company and identify the sustainable development and expansion ability of the company.

Klotho: A Major Shareholder in Vascular Aging Enterprises

Accelerated vascular aging is a condition that occurs as a complication of several highly prevalent inflammatory conditions such as chronic kidney disease, cancer, HIV infection and diabetes. Age-associated vascular alterations underlie a continuum of expression toward clinically overt cardiovascular disease. This has contributed to the striking epidemiologic transition whereby such noncommunicable diseases have taken center stage as modern-day global epidemics and public health problems. The identification of α-Klotho, a remarkable protein that confers powerful anti-aging properties has stimulated significant interest. In fact, emerging data have provided fundamental rationale for Klotho-based therapeutic intervention for vascular diseases and multiple other potential indications. However, the application of such discoveries in Klotho research remains fragmented due to significant gaps in our molecular understanding of Klotho biology, as well as hurdles in clinical research and experimental barriers that must first be overcome. These advances will be critical to establish the scientific platform from which future Klotho-based interventional trials and therapeutic enterprises can be successfully launched.

Signing the letter to shareholders: Does the Signatory's role relate to impression management?

In this paper, we study whether and how impression management in the letter to shareholders (LTS) is affected and related to the role of signatory (i.e. the person whose signature appears in the letter). Specifically, we argue and expect that impression management is associated with the underlying incentives to mislead outsiders that stem from the role of signatory. We find that impression management is more present when Insiders (executives or major shareholders) sign. We also find that the highest level of impression management is when the signatory holds an executive position and is not a major shareholder. Our evidence also suggests that the dichotomous classification between Insiders and Independent Directors is not sufficient to explain cross-sectional variation in impression management.

Status of studies on zooplankton fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, India

This paper gives a brief review of the studies on zooplankton fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, the major shareholder of the eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot. Altogether, 66 species of zooplankton (45 Rotifera, 20 Cladocera, & one Copepoda) have been recorded along with their distribution in the state, wherever available. It is apparent that there is a lack of serious taxonomic studies on all three major groups of zooplankton from this Himalayan state. The urgency and importance of documenting the zooplankton fauna of this biogeographically unique and biodiversity-rich state is highlighted in view of the fragility of the ecosystem as well as the effect of climate change.

Real-world effectiveness of antipsychotic treatments among patients with schizophrenia and affective symptoms

IntroductionThe clinical distinction between schizophrenia and affective psychoses is often not clear-cut, and very little is known about the effectiveness of treatments among patients having both schizophrenia and affective symptoms.ObjectivesTo study the comparative real-world effectiveness of antipsychotic treatments among patients having schizophrenia and affective symptoms.MethodsWe studied the risk of all-cause rehospitalization during use of specific antipsychotics during 1996–2012 among all patients who had been previously hospitalized with both schizophrenia and mood disorder diagnoses in Finland since 1987 (n = 28,015). We linked nation-wide databases on hospitalization, mortality, and filled prescriptions. The primary analysis was within-individual analysis, in which each individual was used as his/her own control to eliminate selection bias. The effect of concomitant psychotropic medications, and the temporal orders of exposure and non-exposure periods were adjusted.ResultsWhen 22 specific antipsychotic treatments were compared with the most frequently used antipsychotic quetiapine, the lowest rehospitalization risks were observed during the treatment periods of olanzapine long-acting injection (LAI) (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.34–0.80), risperidone LAI (0.67; 0.56–0.81), and clozapine (0.68; 0.63–0.74). The worst outcome was observed for periciazine (1.19; 0.96–1.48) and no antipsychotic use (1.09; 1.04–1.13).ConclusionsOlanzapine LAI, risperidone LAI, and clozapine use are associated with the lowest risk of rehospitalization among patients with schizophrenia and affective symptoms.Disclosure of interestJari Tiihonen has served as a consultant to The Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, F. Hoffman-La Roche, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Organon, and Finnish Medicines Agency he has received fees for giving expert testimony to AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Otsuka and Pfizer lecture fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and grants from Stanley Foundation and Sigrid Jusélius Foundation. Tiihonen is a member of advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, and Otsuka, and has research collaboration with Lilly and Janssen. Markku Lähteenvuo is a major shareholder and board member at Genomi Solutions ltd, a Finnish based bioinformatics company. He has also received research grants or awards from Boehringer-Ingelheim, and is working as a coordinator for a research project funded by the Stanley Foundation. Fabian Hoti and Pia Vattulainen are employed by EPID Research, which is a contract research organization that performs commissioned pharmacoepidemiological studies and thus its employees have been and currently are working in collaboration with several pharmaceutical companies. Antti Tanskanen and Heidi Taipale have participated in research projects funded by Janssen with grants paid to the Karolinska Institutet.