New York University

About: New York University is a education organization based out in New York, New York, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 72380 authors who have published 165545 publications receiving 8334030 citations. The organization is also known as: NYU & University of the City of New York.

Corporate Governance and Risk Taking

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between investor protection and corporate insiders' incentive to take value-enhancing risks. In a poor investor protection environment corporations are often run by entrenched insiders who appropriate considerable corporate resources as personal benefits. When these private benefits are large, insiders may undertake sub-optimally conservative investment decisions to preserve them. Better investor protection reduces these private benefits and may therefore induce riskier but value enhancing investment policy. Such a relationship can also result from risk-averse behavior on the part of dominant shareholders with undiversified exposure in their own firms, which is again more prevalent in countries with poorer investor protection. If prominent non-equity stakeholders such as banks, labor unions or the government can influence corporate investment, and their influence is decreasing in investor protection, that can also give rise to a positive relationship between investor protection and investment risk. We test these predictions using a large cross-country panel. We find empirical confirmation that corporate risk-taking and firm growth rates are positively related to the quality of investor protection. On the other hand, the data do not lead to consistent evidence for the alternative channels.

Investor Sentiment and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns

Abstract: We examine how investor sentiment affects the cross-section of stock returns. Theory predicts that a broad wave of sentiment will disproportionately affect stocks whose valuations are highly subjective and are difficult to arbitrage. We test this prediction by studying how the cross-section of subsequent stock returns varies with proxies for beginning-of-period investor sentiment. When sentiment is low, subsequent returns are relatively high on smaller stocks, high volatility stocks, unprofitable stocks, non-dividend-paying stocks, extreme-growth stocks, and distressed stocks, consistent with an initial underpricing of these stocks. When sentiment is high, on the other hand, these patterns attenuate or fully reverse. The results are consistent with theoretical predictions and are unlikely to reflect an alternative explanation based on compensation for systematic risks.

Gene Expression Profiling of B Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Reveals a Homogeneous Phenotype Related to Memory B Cells

Abstract: B cell–derived chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) represents a common malignancy whose cell derivation and pathogenesis are unknown. Recent studies have shown that >50% of CLLs display hypermutated immunoglobulin variable region (IgV) sequences and a more favorable prognosis, suggesting that they may represent a distinct subset of CLLs which have transited through germinal centers (GCs), the physiologic site of IgV hypermutation. To further investigate the phenotype of CLLs, their cellular derivation and their relationship to normal B cells, we have analyzed their gene expression profiles using oligonucleotide-based DNA chip microarrays representative of ∼12,000 genes. The results show that CLLs display a common and characteristic gene expression profile that is largely independent of their IgV genotype. Nevertheless, a restricted number of genes (<30) have been identified whose differential expression can distinguish IgV mutated versus unmutated cases and identify them in independent panels of cases. Comparison of CLL profiles with those of purified normal B cell subpopulations indicates that the common CLL profile is more related to memory B cells than to those derived from naive B cells, CD5+ B cells, and GC centroblasts and centrocytes. Finally, this analysis has identified a subset of genes specifically expressed by CLL cells of potential pathogenetic and clinical relevance.

Collateral, loan quality, and bank risk

Abstract: Most commercial loans are made on a secured basis, yet little is known about the relationship between collateral and credit risk. Several theoretical studies find that when borrowers have private information about risk, the lowest-risk borrowers tend to pledge collateral. In contrast, conventional wisdom holds that when risk is observable, the highest-risk borrowers tend to pledge collateral. An additional issue is whether secured loans (as opposed to secured borrowers) tend to be safer or riskier than unsecured loans. Empirical evidence presented here strongly suggests that collateral is most often associated with riskier borrowers, riskier loans and riskier banks.