Thesis advisor: Thomas Chemmanur / My dissertation consists of three chapters. In the first chapter, I analyze the impact of firms' innovation success on their corporate financial policies. I hypothesize that innovation success reduces the information asymmetry facing firms and, through the information channel, affects their capital structure and dividend policies. I measure innovation success using the quantity and quality of patents. I show that firms with higher innovation success face lower information asymmetry, measured using analyst coverage, dispersion, and forecast error. Further, I show that firms with higher innovation success have lower leverage ratios; have a greater propensity to issue equity rather than debt; and have lower dividend payout ratios. I establish causality using instrumental variable analyses with patent examiner leniency as an instrument for patent grants. In the second chapter, co-authored with Thomas Chemmanur, Xuan Tian, and Qianqian Yu, we analyze the impact of trademarks in entrepreneurial firms' success. We hypothesize that trademarks play two economically important roles for entrepreneurial firms: a “protective” role, leading to better product market performance; and an “informational” role, signaling higher firm quality to investors. We develop testable hypotheses based on the above two roles of trademarks, relating the trademarks held by private firms to the characteristics of venture capital (VC) investment in them, their probability of successful exit, their valuations at their initial public offering (IPO) and in the immediate secondary market; institutional investor IPO participation; post-IPO information asymmetry; and post-IPO operating performance. We test these hypotheses using a large and unique dataset of trademarks held by VC-backed private firms. We establish causality using an instrumental variable (IV) analysis using trademark examiner leniency as the instrument. For private firms, we find that the number of trademarks held by the firm is positively related to the total amount invested by VCs and negatively related to the extent of staging by VCs. We show that the number of trademarks held by a firm increases its probability of successful exit (IPOs or acquisitions). Further, for the subsample of VC-backed firms going public, we show that the number of trademarks held by the firm leads to higher IPO and immediate secondary market firm valuations; greater IPO participation by institutional investors; a lower extent of information asymmetry in the equity market post-IPO; and better post-IPO operating performance. In the third chapter, co-authored with Thomas Chemmanur and Jinfei Sheng, we develop testable hypotheses and empirically analyze the effects of outside investors having access to soft information such as online employee ratings from the Glassdoor website on firms' financing and investment policies. We find that higher online employee ratings are associated with larger equity issue announcement effects; a greater propensity to have positive announcement effects and to issue equity rather than debt to raise external financing; higher investment expenditures; greater equity issue participation by institutional investors; and better long-run post-issue operating performance. We establish causality using a difference-in-differences methodology relying on the staggered adoption of anti-SLAPP laws across U.S. states. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Finance.

This work maps the supply of social assistance to prostitutes in Dubí. Its aim is to determine which organizations are active in this direction and what is their job. For this detection was used a method called "snowball", followed by an analysis of written documents of these organizations and data collection through interviews with their staff. It was found that five oraganizations were here. Of these are currently only three aktive: Rozkoš bez rizika, Diecézní charita i Litoměřice and WHITE LIGHT I. I managed to create an overview of the activities of all the identified entities. Some information about conditions that they have in Dubí were found at the same time. The results of my work can be used by organisations themself for their better work coordination, as well as for city hall, which could be able to gain a better view of services, which have been afforded in its scope.

Thesis advisor: Rui Albuquerque / Thesis advisor: Thomas J. Chemmanur / In my first essay, I develop a model of investor behavior around prescheduled macroeconomic announcements to analyze the optimal allocation of investor attention between systematic and idiosyncratic risk factors when a macroeconomic announcement is anticipated. Skilled investors, when producing information under a limited attention capacity, optimally allocate more of their attention to analyzing the idiosyncratic risk factor when they anticipate more precise public information about the systematic risk factor from the macroeconomic announcement. Consequently, my model predicts that, the more informative (precise) the macroeconomic announcement is expected to be about the underlying risk factors, ceteris paribus, the more uncertainty pre-announcement, the more resolution of uncertainty post-announcement, and the higher the trading volume around the announcement on the market index. My empirical analysis of trading by investors around both FOMC and CPI announcements support my model's predictions. In particular, my empirical findings are consistent with model predictions about the effect of the anticipated macroeconomic announcement precision on investor attention allocation, the effect of investor attention on the levels of pre-announcement and post-announcement trading volumes, and the effect of investor attention on the ratio of post-announcement trading volume over the pre-announcement trading volume. In my second essay, we analyze, theoretically and empirically, how investor attention affects the stock market reaction to innovation announcements. In a dynamic model with limited investor attention, we show that the immediate reaction to innovation announcements increases, while the post-announcement stock return drift decreases, in investor attention. We empirically confirm our model predictions using a matched sample of pharmaceutical industry patent grant and subsequent FDA drug approval announcements and also a general USPTO patent sample. We show that post-announcement drift has predictive power for firm growth, profitability, and productivity, drawing implications for enhancing measures of patents' economic value and for trading strategy. In my third essay, we analyze, theoretically and empirically, the implications of a fraction of investors in the equity market paying only delayed attention to SEO announcements. We first show theoretically that, in the above setting, the announcement effect of an SEO will be positively related to the fraction of investors paying attention to the announcement and that there will be a post-announcement stock-return drift that is negatively related to investor attention. In the second part of the paper, we test the above predictions using the media coverage of firms announcing SEOs as a proxy for investor attention, and find evidence consistent with the above predictions. In the third part of the paper, we develop and test various hypotheses relating investor attention paid to the issuing firm (between the announcement and the equity issue) to various SEO characteristics. We empirically show that SEO underpricing, institutional investor participation in SEOs, and the post-SEO equity market valuation of firms are all positively related to investor attention. The results of our identification tests show that the above results are causal. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Finance.

This thesis aims to study the Capacocha, which is an Inca ritual where children were offered to their gods in the sacred places called Huacas (places of origin) and offered artefacts together with the children links to the Inca's sacred symbol, the Chakana, which in turn it is the life philosophy of the Inca culture. This thesis uses this philosophy to understand the phenomenon and the elements that define Huacas and the Capacocha ritual. Furthermore, a hermeneutic approach with phenomenology and phenomenology of landscape theory is applied to understand the symbolism and meaning from the Inca's cultural perspective. For this thesis, three specific case studies are analysed: the children from Llullaillaco, Chuscha and Cerro El Plomo, all situated at high altitudes (5200 - 6739 m) in the Andes. These selected places by the Incas were Huacas. The analysis is built on a comprehensive study of the cultural value and the symbolic meaning of the Capacocha ritual in relation to the Huacas and the Incas' perspective (Chakana) since previous studies concerning the Capacocha ritual, and Huacas did not consider the Chakana philosophy in their interpretations. The aim is to narrow the gap in understanding the Inca worldview to contribute with academic knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon that defines Huacas and the Capacocha ritual from the Incas' perspective. The study shows that the Incas had a holistic perspective where everything is entangled through time and space, and this demonstrates that the children were not just offered to the Inca gods. Instead, the children lived among the gods because they became gods through the Capacocha ritual, a transformation process. / Denna uppsats syftar till att studera Inkaritualen Capacocha, där barn offrades tillsammans med andra offergåvor till sina gudar på de heliga platserna som kallas Huacas (ursprungsplatser) och barnen och offergåvorna hänger samman med Inkafolkets heliga symbol, Chakana, som är inkakulturens livsfilosofi. Denna studie använder denna filosofi för att förstå fenomenet och de element som definierar Huacas och Capacocha-ritualen. Vidare tillämpas ett hermeneutiskt förhållningssätt med fenomenologi och fenomenologi inom landskapsteorin för att förstå symboliken och innebörden ur inkafolkets kulturella perspektiv. I denna uppsats analyseras tre specifika fallstudier: barnen från Llullaillaco, Chuscha och Cerro El Plomo och alla är belägna på hög höjd (5200 - 6739 m) i Anderna. Dessa utvalda platser av inkafolket var Huacas. Analysen bygger på en omfattande studie av det kulturella värdet och den symboliska innebörden av Capacocha-ritualen i relation till Huacas och inka perspektivet (Chakana) sedan tidigare studier angående Capacocha-ritualen, och Huacas beaktade inte Chakana-filosofin i sina tolkningar. Syftet är att minska klyftan i förståelsen av inkavärldsbilden för att bidra med akademisk kunskap och förståelse för det fenomen som definierar Huacas och Capacocharitualen ur inkafolkets perspektiv. Studien visar att inkafolket hade ett holistiskt perspektiv där allt är sammanflätat i tid och rum, och detta visar att barnen inte bara offrades till inkagudarna. Istället levde barnen bland gudarna eftersom de själva blev gudar genom Capacocharitualen, som står för en förvandlingsprocess. / Esta tesis tiene como objetivo estudiar el ritual de Capacocha, el cual es un ritual inca donde se ofrecían niños junto con artefactos a sus dioses en los lugares sagrados llamados Huacas (lugares de origen), los cuales estaban vinculados al símbolo sagrado de los Incas, el Chakana, que en a su vez es la filosofía de vida de la cultura Inca. Esta tesis utiliza esta filosofía para comprender el fenómeno y los elementos que definen a las Huacas y el ritual de la Capacocha, aplicando un enfoque hermenéutico con la fenomenología y la fenomenología de la teoría del paisaje para comprender el simbolismo y el significado desde la perspectiva cultural de los incas. Para esta tesis se analizan tres casos de estudio específicos: los niños de Llullaillaco, Chuscha y Cerro El Plomo, todos ellos situados a gran altura (5200 - 6739 m). Estos lugares seleccionados por los Incas fueron las Huacas. El análisis se construye a partir de un estudio integral del valor cultural y el significado simbólico del ritual Capacocha en relación con las Huacas y la perspectiva de los Incas (Chakana). El estudio derivó debido a que estudios previos sobre el ritual Capacocha, y Huacas no consideraron la filosofía Chakana durante sus interpretaciones, lo cual dejó una brecha de entendimiento del ritual y los lugares, ya que el Chakana está conectado al ritual y los lugares, misma que es una filosofía de vida que rige mucho la perspectiva de los Incas. Al ignorar esta filosofía, muchas de las interpretaciones de los estudios previos son incompletas o sesgadas debido a la influencia de la perspectiva occidental. Por ello, el objetivo de mi tesis es acortar la brecha en la comprensión de la cultura Inca y para contribuir con el conocimiento académico y la comprensión del fenómeno que define a Huacas y el ritual Capacocha desde una perspectiva más cercana a su origen, los Incas y el Chakana.   Como resultado, el estudio demostró que los incas tenían una perspectiva holística donde todo se entrelaza a través del tiempo y el espacio, y demostrando que los niños no solo eran ofrecidos a los dioses incas. En cambio, los niños vivieron entre los dioses porque se convirtieron en dioses a través del ritual Capacocha, un proceso de transformación influenciado por la filosofía del Chakana. El resultado, también mostró que la filosofía del Chakana influenció todo el proceso, y que para los Incas, no hubo sacrificios; ellos dieron ofrendas a sus dioses. Y que en realidad, desde su perspectiva, los niños no murieron, sino que tomaron otra forma de vida para formar parte de un vínculo a través de los mundos de los Incas.

A well working communication between students and lecturers, both in and outside of class, has shown to be very important for a positive learning experience and an effective learning environment. Students need to have a critical mindset of their own cognitive reasoning and their learning process. With support from the lecturer, this will improve the student’s selfassessment but also their academic journey through their higher education. As students are becoming more native online, it is of utter most importance the online communication works as well as the direct physical communication does. This can be achieved through having a learning management system (LMS) that assists lecturers with handing out information and assists students with an easy way to receive information regarding their educational work. This study aims to examine whether the current LMS systems are sufficient enough. This by gathering data from both students and lecturers at two different universities through a survey and six semi-structured interviews to find out what the current issues are. The gathered data made it possible to determine the specific needs of both students and lecturers for a well-functioning LMS. DeLone and McLean created a system success model (D&M model), aimed to analyse the quality of an information system, which could be applicable to an LMS. The model consists of different variables and their relationship to one another. An adaptation of the D&M model is the Hexagonal E-learning assessment model (HELAM model) that includes similar but adapted variables for the information system. By comparing the results with the variables from these models it was concluded that both universities face similar issues, even though their systems are different. The results also indicated that there are significant variables in the D&Mand HELAM model that relates to how learning management systems are used to its best potential. / Väl fungerande kommunikation mellan studenter och föreläsare, både i och utanför klassrummet, har visat sig vara mycket betydande för en positiv läroupplevelse och effektiv lärmiljö. Studenter behöver ha ett kritiskt tankesätt över deras egen kognitiva tankegång och deras läroprocess. Med stöd från föreläsare kan detta förbättra studenternas självbedömning men även deras akademiska resa genom deras högre utbildning. Eftersom studenter bli mer vana online så är det viktigt att kommunikationen online fungerar lika väl som den direkt fysiska kommunikationen gör. Detta kan uppnås genom att ha en läroplattform (LMS) som kan assistera föreläsare med utdelningen av information men även assistera studenterna att genom ett enkelt sätt ta emot information angående deras studiearbete. Den här studien ämnar undersöka om det nuvarande LMS systemen är tillräckliga. Detta genom att samla data från både studenter och föreläsare på två olika universitet genom en enkät och sex stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer för att ta reda på vad de nuvarande problemen är. Den insamlade datan gjorde det möjligt att avgöra vad de specifika behoven är från studenter och lärare för ett väl fungerande LMS. DeLone och McLean skapade en systemframgångsmodell (D&M-model) ämnad att analysera kvaliteten av ett informationssystem som kan vara applicerbart på en LMS. Modellen består av olika variabler och deras relationer till varandra. En variant av D&M-modellen är “Hexagonal E-learning assessment model” (HELAM-modellen) som inkluderar liknande men anpassade variabler för informationssystemet. Genom att jämföra resultatet med variablerna från dessa modeller drogs slutsatsen att båda universiteten har liknande problem, trots att de inte använder samma system. Resultaten tyder även på att det finns variabler från D&Moch HELAM modellen som har signifikans och relaterar till hur en läroplattform bör användas för sin bästa potential.

The problem of this thesis may be stated in four questions: (1) To what extent are "Fast Offerings" paid by the membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? (2) What changes, if any, have occurred in the amounts of these fast offerings paid over the years 1916 to 1936, inclusive? (3) What differences and similarities appear to exist in the amounts of fast offerings paid in the several stakes of the Church? (4) How do the rates of change in the amounts of fast offerings paid during these years compare with the rates of change in the Church population?

Thesis advisor: Thomas Chemmanur / My Ph.D. dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay studies the economic consequence of the current patent screening process on firm performance using a machine-learning approach. Using USPTO patent application data, I apply a machine-learning algorithm to analyze how the current patent examination process in the U.S. can be improved in terms of granting higher quality patents. I make use of the quasi-random assignment of patent applications to examiners to show that screening decisions aided by a machine learning algorithm lead to a 15.5% gain in patent generality. To analyze the economic consequences of current patent screening on both public and private firms, I construct an ex-ante measure of past false acceptance rate for each examiner by exploiting the disagreement in patent screening decisions between the algorithm and current patent examiner. I first show that patents granted by examiners with higher false acceptance rates have lower announcement returns around patent grant news. Moreover, these patents are more likely to expire early. Next, I find that public firms whose patents are granted by such examiners are more likely to get sued in patent litigation cases. Consequently, these firms cut R&D investments and have worse operating performance. Lastly, I find that private firms whose patents are granted by such examiners are less likely to exit successfully by an IPO or an M&A. Overall, this study suggests that the social and economic cost of an inefficient patent screening system is large and can be mitigated with the help of a machine learning algorithm. The second essay studies how investor attention affects various aspects of SEOs. Models of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) such as Myers and Majluf (1984) assume that all investors in the economy pay immediate attention to SEO announcements and the pricing of SEOs. In this paper, we analyze, theoretically and empirically, the implications of only a fraction of investors in the equity market paying immediate attention to SEO announcements. We first show theoretically that, in the above setting, the announcement effect of an SEO will be positively related to the fraction of investors paying attention to the announcement and that there will be a post-announcement stock-return drift that is negatively related to investor attention. In the second part of the paper, we test the above predictions using the media coverage of firms announcing SEOs as our main proxy for investor attention, and find evidence consistent with the above predictions. In the third part of the paper, we develop and test various hypotheses relating investor attention paid to an issuing firm to various SEO characteristics. We empirically show that institutional investor participation in SEOs, the post-SEO equity market valuation of firms, SEO underpricing, and SEO valuation are all positively related to investor attention. Lastly, we also use the number of SEC EDGAR file downloads as an alternative proxy for investor attention, and our findings are robust to this alternative investor attention measure. The results of our identification tests show that the above results are causal. The third essay studies how the location of a lead underwriter in its network of investment banks affects various aspects of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). We hypothesize that investment banking networks perform an important economic role in the SEO underwriting process for SEOs, namely, that of information dissemination, where the lead underwriter uses its investment banking network to disseminate information about the SEO firm to institutional investors. Consistent with the above information dissemination role, we show that firms whose SEOs are underwritten by more central lead underwriters are associated with a smaller extent of information asymmetry in the equity market. We then develop testable hypotheses based on the information dissemination role of underwriter networks for the relationship between SEO underwriter centrality and various SEO characteristics, which we test in our empirical analysis. Consistent with the above hypotheses, we find that more central lead SEO underwriters are associated with less negative SEO announcement effects; smaller SEO offer price revisions; smaller SEO discounts and underpricing; higher immediate post-SEO equity valuations for issuing firms; and greater post-SEO long-run stock returns for issuing firms. We also find that SEOs with more central lead underwriters are associated with greater institutional investor participation. Our instrumental variable (IV) analysis using the industry-average bargaining power of underwriters relative to issuers as the instrument shows that the above results are causal. Consistent with greater value creation by more central lead underwriters, we find that more central lead underwriters receive greater compensation. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Finance.

Context The number of Initial Public Offerings on the Swedish market has increasedrapidly over the last decade, reporting over 100 IPOs only in 2021. Although theincrease has been extraordinary, the majority of the IPO performance researchhas been conducted on larger markets such as the US, Germany, and China. Thiscreates a gap in the research regarding the performance of IPOs on the fastgrowing Swedish stock market.  Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to fill the identified research gap and examine howthe Swedish IPOs perform in relation to established firms listed on the OMXSSmall Cap. Findings on long-term over-or underperformance would lay afoundation for potential investment strategies as well as show signs ofinformation asymmetry and mispricing. To further extend the use of ourfindings, firm-specific factors will be tested in a regression model to find ifspecific firm characteristics have a positive or negative impact on the long-termperformance of the IPOs.  Questions at issue 1. Does the Swedish Initial Public Offerings over/underperform comparedto the OMXS Small Cap in the long run? 2. Which firm-specific factors affect the long-term performance of an IPO? Methodology To find if the IPOs over-or underperform the OMXS Small Cap index, the Buyand Hold Abnormal Returns over 24 and 36 months are calculated with theOMXS Small Cap as a benchmark index. Further, a regression analysis with 15explanatory variables is performed with the received BHAR results as thedependent variable to find if there are any significant relationships between thefirm-specific variables measured before the IPO and the long-term performance.  Results The Buy and Hold Abnormal Returns presented a positive abnormal return forboth periods measured, with a significant overperformance of 9,91% over the36-month period, and 21,14% for the 24-month period. Further, the regressionanalysis showed a positive relationship between firm performance and firm sizeand Return On Equity, indicating that a high ROE, as well as a larger firm sizeat the date of the listing, increases the chances of higher long-term returns.

Combining agency theory and the resource-dependence perspective as well as signalling theory, this thesis examines the role venture capitalists (VCs) and founders play with respect to both structural board characteristics and board capital in terms of experience and prestige and whether these are linked to performance. It claims that VCs and founders shape the governance system of the firms going public and are influential in the professionalisation of the ventures especially in terms of human and social capital of its board of directors. It also argues that the board of directors represents a signal of firm quality in the initial public offering (IPO) market and should thus be linked to performance. Similarly, according to the venture capital certification hypothesis, being funded by VCs signals a firm¿s quality and potential. In order to assess these claims, this thesis employs a unique sample of matched venturecapital- backed and non-venture-capital-backed entrepreneurial IPOs that floated either on the London Stock Exchange¿s Official List or the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Extending previous research this thesis employs more fine-grained measures and introduces new conceptually relevant variables in the analysis. The findings indicate that VCs and founders are influential in shaping corporate governance of IPO-stage ventures both from an agency and resource-provision perspective. Findings from the examination of governance and professionalisation characteristics with respect to IPO short-run performance (underpricing) indicate that it may the involvement of prestigious auditors that signal firm quality while a founder bias discount seems to exist. While evidence is found that VC involvement (and to a lesser extent director/board characteristics) is related to post-IPO market performance, this seems to depend on the time period following the IPO examined, whereas auditor prestige shows a positive association in all of these time periods. / Bradford University School of Management

This thesis examines three important topics in corporate finance: the relation between the dividend-paying status of a firm and its investment and operating performance following a seasoned equity offering (SEO), the market's view on one-dollar CEO salary announcements, and the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the event of a data breach. First, I provide an in-depth analysis of the connection between dividend payouts and corporate investment of SEO firms. Empirical studies have documented the decline in post-issue operating performance of SEO firms, and the potential overinvestment of SEO proceeds seems to be a critical factor. Studies on dividend payouts argue that the agency cost of overinvestment could be lowered when dividends are paid to reduce free cash flows held by managers. To examine the connection, I utilize two post-issue dividend policies, paying consecutive dividends or nothing, to separate my sample of SEO firms and compare the two groups' post-issue investment and operating performance. I find that non-dividend-paying SEO firms overinvest more, leading to the deterioration of asset turnover and worse post-issue operating performance compared with dividend-paying ones. The results suggest a beneficial effect of consistent dividend payouts on post-SEO business operations. Second, I examine the market reaction to the public announcement of a $1 CEO salary decision using explicit reasons for the decision and mechanisms for dealing with the base salary to disentangle possible explanations for the reaction. It shows that the market does not favour the so-called personal sacrifice when CEOs eliminate their salary to counter a downturn or crisis. When a firm is in a predicament or has poor performance, the market sees its CEO’s decision to give up the salary as a signal that the outlook for the firm is bleak and the CEO is attempting to save their position. However, when newly hired CEOs start with a $1 salary, the market reacts positively. The results ascertain that a $1 salary is not seen purely as a vehicle for interest alignment. Third, I investigate whether public firms' CSR activities pay off when they suffer a data breach that potentially harms their reputation and hurts firm value. I use a sample of US data breaches and two sources of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) ratings to investigate whether CSR engagement by public firms mitigates the negative stock market reactions to their data breach announcements. I utilize pre-breach ESG scores to separate my sample of breached firms into high and low CSR groups. Using event study methodology, I find that the market reacts significantly negatively to only the low CSR group's announcements. Consistent with previous studies on how firms benefit from CSR activities when they face adversity and lose public trust, the results suggest that social performance protects firms against information leakage incidents. However, the extent to which the market assesses the ratings from different providers is still divergent, which is a concern for practitioners. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)