Customer concentration types and public debt contracts

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-269
Author(s):  
HyunJun Na
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Corporate Bond ◽  
Lower Yield ◽  
Debt Contracts ◽  
Yield Spreads ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Exogenous Shocks ◽  
Congressional Committees ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government

Purpose This paper aims to examine how a firm’s customer concentration, which is the amount of sales between a supplier firm and the major customers, affects corporate bond contracts. This study also investigates how the types of customer concentration have a significant impact on bond contracts. Design/methodology/approach The research uses the Compustat’s segment customer database and the Mergent fixed income securities database, which provides details about publicly offered US bond issues and issuers. The sample also includes the US Congressional committees’ data from the 96th to 115th congresses. To control any endogenous concerns, the author uses changes in the seniority of US senators on powerful committees and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) as exogenous shocks. For a robustness test, the author also uses the propensity score-matched pairs. Findings While higher customer concentration, on average, leads to higher yield spreads and strict covenants, firms that have the US Government as a major customer pay lower yield spreads and have higher issue ratings. However, as a firm’s sales depend too heavily on the US Government customer channel, the bond issuance is likely to have lower issue ratings. The main findings also show that firms with government concentrations take advantage of political links, leading to lower yield spreads after two exogenous events. Originality/value The findings in this paper show the importance of a firm’s customer types in bond markets by emphasizing the positive impact of the US Government as the sales channel. Exogenous event studies based on the propensity-matched sample alleviate the endogenous concerns.

June summits signal progress on EU-US trade ties

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Taxation ◽  
Gas Pipeline ◽  
Security Technology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Transatlantic Cooperation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Nord Stream ◽  
High Level ◽  
Two Sides

Significance The two sides have suspended tariffs arising from their dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing, are working on an international deal on corporate taxation and have established a high-level council to discuss issues at the nexus of security, technology and trade. Impacts A major aim of closer transatlantic cooperation is better coordination of policies with respect to China. Closer transatlantic cooperation over China might soften US opposition to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. It will be difficult for the US government to pass legislation concerning trade given the Democrats' precarious majority in both houses.

The US battle against brand marketing: circa 1930-1980

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross D. Petty
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Movement ◽  
Brand Marketing ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Second World

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the debate about brand marketing that occurred as part of the 1930s consumer movement and continued after the Second World War in academic and regulatory circles. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents an historical account of the anti-brand marketing movement using a qualitative approach. It examines both primary and secondary historical sources as well as legal statutes, regulatory agency actions, judicial cases and newspaper and trade journal stories. Findings In response to the rise of brand marketing in the latter 1800s and early 1900s, the USA experienced an anti-brand marketing movement that lasted half a century. The first stage was public as part of the consumer movement but was overshadowed by the product safety and truth-in-advertising concerns. The consumer movement stalled when the USA entered the Second World War, but brand marketing continued to raise questions during the war as the US government attempted to regulate the provisions of goods during the war. After the war, the public accepted brand marketing. Continuing anti-brand marketing criticism was largely confined to academic writings and regulatory activities. Ultimately, many of the stage-two challenges to brand marketing went nowhere, but a few led to regulations that continue today. Originality/value This paper is the first to recognize a two-stage anti-brand marketing movement in the USA from 1929 to 1980 that has left a small but significant modern-day regulatory legacy.

The speed of change and performance risk: examining the impacts of IT spending in the US hotel industry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Hua ◽  
Tingting Zhang ◽  
Melissa F. Jahromi ◽  
Agnes DeFranco
Keyword(s):  
Business Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Performance Risk ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Revenue Volatility ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speed Accuracy

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of the speed of change (trend) in information technology (IT) expenditures on performance risk indicated by revenue volatility in the US hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach To systematically investigate the impacts of IT expenditures on hotel performance risks, this study collects the same store proprietary data of 1,471 hotel properties from CBRE, a leading hotel consulting firm in the USA, from 2011 to 2017, with a total of 10,297 observations. Findings Econometric analyses are performed and results indicate a significant and positive impact of the speed of change of IT systems expenditures on the performance risk after comprehensively controlling for confounding factors following prior research. Originality/value With the increased importance of IT in day-to-day activities, hospitality business owners have started to quickly adjust their investment in IT infrastructure and superstructure to enhance their business performance. However, their fast-changing expenditures may introduce more risks to their businesses based on the speed–accuracy tradeoff, systems theory and the Schumpeterian Growth Model. This study is one of the pioneer projects that ever assessed the impact of IT expenditure and speed of change on performance risks of hotels.

Political sensitivity and government oversight in the US corporate bond market: evidence from federal contractors

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1173-1189
Author(s):  
Karen Ann Craig ◽  
Brandy Hadley
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Bond Market ◽  
Cost Of Debt ◽  
The Political ◽  
Yield Spreads ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Government Oversight ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
The Us ◽  
Government Contractors

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the political cost hypothesis and the effects of political sensitivity-induced governance in the US bond market by using yield spreads from bonds issued by a diverse sample of US government contractors. Design/methodology/approach Fixed effects regression analysis is used to test the relation between the political sensitivity of government contractor firms and their cost of debt. Findings Results illustrated that government contractors with greater political sensitivity are associated with larger yield spreads, indicating that bondholders require a premium when firms endure the costs of increased political oversight and the threat of outside intervention, reducing the certainty of future income. However, despite the overall positive impact of political sensitivity on bond yield spreads on average, the authors found that the additional government oversight is associated with lower spreads when the firm is facing greater repayment risk. Practical implications Despite the benefits of winning a government contract, this paper identifies a direct financial cost of increased political sensitivity because of additional firm oversight and potential intervention. Importantly, it also finds that this governance is valued by bondholders when faced with increased risk. Firms must balance their desire for government receipts with the costs and benefits of dependence on those expenditures. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature in its exploration of political sensitivity as an important determinant of the cost of debt for corporate government contractors. Specifically, the authors document a significant risk premium in bond pricing because of the joint effects of the visibility and importance of government contracts to the firm.

American Libraries and the US Federal Government: an overview of partnerships for enhanced resource access

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 2-6
Author(s):  
Bethany Latham
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Us Federal Government ◽  
Partnership Program

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the US Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) partnership program: what it is, how the GPO defines partnership, the types of institutions that are participating and the resources these institutions are making available through partnership. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the available literature and information from the US GPO on its partnership program, examines the institutions contributing to the program and what those contributions entail, surveys the resources made available through these partnerships and examines how this affects access to government information. Findings – Partnership with the US GPO provides benefits to libraries, museums, government agencies and other entities, increasing discoverability and enhancing access to digital collections of government information and other resources. Originality/value – This paper examines the parameters of the US GPO’s partnership program, why libraries and other institutions might wish to partner with the GPO and the effect these partnerships have had on enhancing access to government information resources, an area that has not been extensively covered in library literature.

China-US summit yields more strains than gains

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
International Image ◽  
Economic Slowdown ◽  
Government Workers ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Significance Several recent strains in the relationship guaranteed a tense official dialogue and tepid reception of Xi across Washington -- the impact of China's economic slowdown on the US stock market, accusations of Chinese cyber theft of US government workers' personal data, and continued maritime tensions. Impacts China's climate change commitments will improve its international image, but will not reduce tensions on other issues. Washington will impose sanctions if it believes China is breaking the new cybercrime agreement. US politics ahead of next year's presidential election will put more strain on China-US relations. Dialogue on the South China Sea is unlikely to bear fruit while Washington's policy is undecided.

US charges designed to make Russia hacking irrefutable

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Content Type ◽  
White House ◽  
Russian State ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
To Come ◽  
High Level ◽  
First Time

Subject The US indictment of Russian intelligence officers. Significance The latest indictment to come out of the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is the most striking yet as it targets Russian state actors for the first time. It sets out charges of hacking into Democratic Party networks, stealing more than 50,000 documents and using them for disruptive purposes in the 2016 US presidential election. Despite the considerable level of detail in the evidence offered, the White House has yet to address publicly the issues raised or confronting Russia. Impacts US government, election software providers, parties and social media platforms will face pressure to prepare for the midterm elections. Detailed attribution of cyber interference will likely weaken the notion that perpetrators enjoy a high level of plausible deniability. Hackers will continue to employ 'spearphishing' for its simplicity, success rate and cost-effectiveness.

Canada asylum pressures may bring political friction

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Asylum Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Federal Politics

Subject Asylum-seekers and Canada. Significance After an uptick in asylum claims in recent months, including via the United States, asylum policy is likely to feature more heavily in Canadian state and federal politics. Impacts New migrant flows to Canada will likely be triggered as the US government reduces its grants of Temporary Protected Status. Quebec’s government will face off against the Ottawa federal government over responsibility for new migrant arrivals. Ottawa and Washington will likely eventually update the Safe Third Country Agreement, but this could require bargaining. Canada may invest more in border policing and associated technologies.

Taiwan will benefit from US-China friction

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
North Korea ◽  
State Department ◽  
The State ◽  
Military Cooperation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Opening Ceremony ◽  
Us Military ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
At Home

Significance Taiwan-US relations got a symbolic boost when the US government opened a new 250-million-dollar institute to house the de facto embassy in Taipei, Taiwan's capital, on June 12. President Tsai Ing-wen, and a US delegation that included representatives from Congress and the State Department, attended the opening ceremony. It may have received greater attention and perhaps higher-ranking US representation had the first US-North Korea summit not been scheduled for the same day. Impacts Taiwan's president will be constrained from improving China ties by anti-China sentiment at home. More businesses could come under Chinese pressure as cross-Strait relations deteriorate further. Taiwan-US military cooperation will prompt more aggressive Chinese efforts to diminish Taiwan's standing and increase military intimidation.

Bloomberg story to fuel suspicion of China's hardware

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reporting Standards ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Global Norms ◽  
Libel Suits

Subject Bloomberg report on Chinese supply chain attack. Significance Amazon and Supermicro on October 24 joined Apple in calling on Bloomberg Businessweek to retract its October 4 story about an alleged Chinese supply chain attack on 30 US companies, including Apple and Amazon. Based on evidence provided by 17 anonymous sources from the affected companies and the US government, the story alleged that Chinese agents planted malicious chips in server motherboards manufactured by Supermicro, a major hardware supplier in the United States and globally. Thus far, no one has been able to corroborate Bloomberg's claim, and Bloomberg has provided no further verification itself. Impacts Bloomberg will face pressure to review its reporting standards if it fails to deliver credible evidence for the story. The controversy could end in costly libel suits against Bloomberg if it fails to retract or verify its report. There are no global norms on cyber or supply chain attacks; no agreement is forthcoming.

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