Vanderbilt University

About: Vanderbilt University is a education organization based out in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 45066 authors who have published 106528 publications receiving 5435039 citations. The organization is also known as: Vandy.

Social Movement Organizations: Growth, Decay and Change

Abstract: Social movements manifest themselves in part through a wide range of organizations. These organizations are subject to a range of internal and external pressures that affect their viability, their internal structure and processes, and their ultimate success in attaining goals. This chapter discusses the relation of movement organizations to the environment in which they exist, both the society at large and more narrowly the social movement of which they are a manifestation. The ebb and flow of sentiments, the results of success and failure in attaining goals, and the problems of coordination and cooperation among movement organizations are treated. The chapter focuses to a greater extent on internal processes related to goals and commitment. It also discusses the causes of factionalism and schismogenesis and the relation of leadership to organizational transformation. Factions and schisms occur not only because of the heterogeneity of a movement organizations support base, but also because of concern with doctrinal purity.

Energy shocks and financial markets

Abstract: This study analyzes the information transmission mechanism linking oil futures with stock prices, where we examine the lead and lag cross-correlations of returns in one market with the others. We investigate the dynamic interactions between oil futures prices traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and U.S. stock prices, which allows us to examine the effects of energy shocks on financial markets. In particular, we examine the extent to which these markets are contemporaneously correlated, with particular attention paid to the association of oil price indexes with the SP 12 major industry stock price indices and 3 individual oil company stock price series. We also examine the extent to which price changes or returns in one market dynamically lead returns in the others and whether volatility spillover effects exist across these markets. Using VAR model estimates for various time series of returns we find that petroleum industry stock index and our three oil company stocks are the only series where we can reject the null hypothesis that oil futures do not lead Treasury Bill rates and stock returns, while we can reject the hypothesis that oil futures lag these other two series. Finally, the return volatility evidence for oil futures leading individual oil company stocks is much weaker than is the evidence for returns themselves.

Hedge Fund Activism, Corporate Governance, and Firm Performance

Abstract: Using a large hand-collected data set from 2001 to 2006, we find that activist hedge funds in the United States propose strategic, operational, and financial remedies and attain success or partial success in two-thirds of the cases. Hedge funds seldom seek control and in most cases are nonconfrontational. The abnormal return around the announcement of activism is approximately 7%, with no reversal during the subsequent year. Target firms experience increases in payout, operating performance, and higher CEO turnover after activism. Our analysis provides important new evidence on the mechanisms and effects of informed shareholder monitoring. ALTHOUGH HEDGE FUND ACTIVISM IS WIDELY discussed and fundamentally important, it remains poorly understood. Much of the commentary on hedge fund activism is based on supposition or anecdotal evidence. Critics and regulators question whether hedge fund activism benefits shareholders, while numerous commentators claim that hedge fund activists destroy value by distracting managers from long-term projects. However, there is a dearth of large-sample evidence about hedge fund activism, and existing samples are plagued by various biases. ∗ We thank the Acting Editor who handled our submission. Brav is with Duke University, Jiang

Premature coronary-artery atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Abstract: Background Premature coronary artery disease is a major cause of illness and death in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, but little is known about the prevalence, extent, and causes of coronary-artery atherosclerosis. Methods We used electron-beam computed tomography to screen for the presence of coronary-artery calcification in 65 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (mean [±SD] age, 40.3±11.6 years) and 69 control subjects (mean age, 42.7±12.6 years) with no history of coronary artery disease. When calcification was detected, the extent was measured by means of the Agatston score. The frequency of risk factors for coronary artery disease was compared in patients and controls, and the relation between the patients' clinical characteristics and the presence or absence of coronary-artery calcification was examined. Results The two groups were similar with respect to age, race, and sex. Coronary-artery calcification was more frequent in patients with lupus (20 of 65 patients) than in control ...