Chapter 7 or 13: Are Client or Lawyer Interests Paramount?

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Lefgren ◽  
Frank L McIntyre ◽  
Michelle Miller
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Specialized Knowledge ◽  
Personal Bankruptcy ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Financial Benefits ◽  
Financial Interests ◽  
Bankruptcy Code ◽  
Legal Fees

Abstract Households often rely on professionals with specialized knowledge to make important financial decisions. In many cases, the professional’s financial interests are at odds with those of the client. We explore this problem in the context of personal bankruptcy. OLS, fixed effects, and IV estimates all show that attorneys play a central role in determining whether households file under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code. We present evidence suggesting that some attorneys maximize profits by steering households into Chapter 13 bankruptcy even when the households’ objective financial benefits are low and the probability of case dismissal is high. An attorney-induced Chapter 13 filing increases household legal fees and reduces the probability of long-term debt relief.

EXPRESS: How Does Bonus Payment Affect the Demand for Auto Loans and Their Delinquency?

2021 ◽  
pp. 002224372110092
Author(s):  
Zhenling Jiang ◽  
Dennis J. Zhang ◽  
Tat Chan
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Products ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Consumer Panel ◽  
Loan Demand ◽  
Bonus Payments ◽  
Base Salary ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Shed Light

This paper studies how receiving a bonus changes the consumers’ demand for auto loans and the risk of future delinquency. Unlike traditional consumer products, auto loans have a long-term impact on consumers’ financial state because of the monthly payment obligation. Using a large consumer panel data set of credit and employment information, the authors find that receiving a bonus increases auto loan demand by 21 percent. These loans, however, are associated with higher risk, as the delinquency rate increases by 18.5 −31.4 percent depending on different measures. In contrast, an increase in consumers’ base salary will increase the demand for auto loans but not the delinquency. By comparing consumers with bonuses with those without bonuses, the authors find that bonus payments lead to both demand expansion and demand shifting on auto loans. The empirical findings help shed light on how consumers make financial decisions and have important implications for financial institutions on when demand for auto loans and the associated risk arise.

scholarly journals Long-Term Benefits of Intermunicipal Cooperation for Small Municipalities in Waste Management Provision

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1449
Author(s):  
Michal Struk ◽  
Eduard Bakoš
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Long Term Results ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste Management ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Financial Benefits ◽  
Intermunicipal Cooperation

Intermunicipal cooperation offers an interesting alternative in cases when municipalities are too small to individually provide public services at an efficient cost level but are reluctant to form a municipal amalgamation in order to benefit from economies of scale. Forming a body consisting of multiple municipalities with a specific focus provides a way to reduce costs on service provision while maintaining municipal sovereignty in other areas. In our paper, we quantify the cost benefits of utilizing intermunicipal cooperation in the field of municipal solid waste management. We examine this using data from a 10-year period from municipalities in the South Moravian Region in the Czech Republic, where high municipal fragmentation results in many dominantly small municipalities that often are not able to provide public services at reasonable costs. This analysis contributes to the literature by conducting a long-term study of the effects of intermunicipal cooperation on public service provision costs. Our results suggest that municipalities participating in intermunicipal cooperation focused on waste management experienced annual cost savings of approximately 13.5% for provision of this service throughout the examined period of 2010–2019 when compared to municipalities that did not cooperate. These long-term results show how beneficial intermunicipal cooperation can be in reducing service costs. In addition to the direct financial benefits, municipal representatives stated that intermunicipal cooperation often brings other qualitative and non-financial benefits such as better service quality, the possibility to share infrastructure, and relief from administrative and managerial burdens through the utilization of professional management, which was especially appreciated by the smallest municipalities with limited administrative staff.

Phytoplankton Adaptation to Environmental Stresses from Toxicants, Nutrients, and Pollutants — a Warning

1976 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 2089-2096 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Stockner ◽  
Naval J. Antia
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Pollutant Concentration ◽  
Subsequent Growth ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Test Chemical ◽  
Successful Adaptation ◽  
Shock Response ◽  
Chronic Pollution

Examples are cited from the literature of phytoplankton-related pollution and nutrition studies where the possibility of successful adaptation and subsequent growth could have been overlooked because of insufficient duration of algal exposure to the pollutant or nutrient tested. We present evidence from our investigations where: a) initial algal exposures as long as 20–40 days to the pollutant or alternative nutrient may be required for successful adaptation, and b) phytoplankters initially tolerating only a low level of pollutant concentration could be trained to accept severalfold higher levels by repeated exposure to gradually increasing pollutant concentration A plea is made for future investigators to recognize the importance of long-term bioassays ascertaining algal potential for adaptation, in order that their results may be ecologically realistic for the purpose of environmental protection against chronic pollution and eutrophication. The short-term "shock" response should be clearly distinguished from the long-term habituation response of phytoplankters to the test chemical in these bioassays. Possible problems raising questionable objections to the long-term bioassay approach are discussed.

SHORT COMMUNICATION: Difficulties in using 137Cs to measure erosion in stubble-mulched soil

1995 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Bremer ◽  
H. H. Janzen ◽  
E. de Jong
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Short Communication ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Communication Difficulties ◽  
Cesium 137

Soil erosion may be difficult to quantify from redistribution of 137Cs at sites where stubble-mulch techniques were adopted prior to 137Cs deposition, because appreciable 137Cs may have been transported before it was mixed into the soil Ap layer. We present evidence that this occurred in two long-term cropping experiments in southern Alberta. Key words: Cesium-137, tillage, long-term crop rotations, fallow

Labor lawsuits and debt maturity

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omer Unsal
Keyword(s):  
Chief Executive ◽  
Debt Maturity ◽  
Employee Relations ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Debt Market ◽  
Legal Fees

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how firms’ relationships with employees define their debt maturity. The authors empirically test the role of employee litigations in influencing firms’ choice of short-term versus long-term debt. The authors study employee relations by analyzing the importance of the workplace environment on capital structure. Design/methodology/approach The author’s test hypotheses using a sample of US publicly traded firms between 2000 and 2017, including 3,056 unique firms with 4,256 unique chief executive officer, adopting the fixed effect panel model. Findings The authors document that employee litigations have a significant negative effect on the use of short-term debt and a significant positive affect on long-term debt. Employee litigations, along with legal fees, outcomes and charging parties, matter the most in explaining debt maturity. In addition, frequently sued firms abandon the short-term debt market and use less shareholders’ equity to finance their operations while relying more on the longer debt market. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the role of employee mistreatment in debt maturity choice. The study extends the lawsuit and finance literature by examining unique, hand-collected data sets of employee lawsuits, allegations, violations, settlements, charging parties, case outcomes and case durations.

Debt and International Organizations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Nemiña ◽  
María Emilia Val
Keyword(s):  
International Political Economy ◽  
Bank Lending ◽  
Labor Rights ◽  
Development Bank ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Financial Interests ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Political Spectrum

International financial organizations that lend to developing countries are the subject of controversy. Their functions, structures and effectiveness have generated important debates across disciplines, analysts and positions on the ideological-political spectrum. What interests and logic motivate the international financial institutions’ (IFIs) loans? Following an international political economy perspective and mainly based on the literature produced in the early 21st century, we analyze the role played by three variables: the geopolitical and financial interests of powerful global actors, institutional and bureaucratic logic, and the borrower’s interest and domestic policy. These three variables interact and influence the financial decisions made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the major regional development banks (the Inter-American Development Bank [IADB], Asian Development Bank [AsDB], and African Development Bank [AfDB]). On the other hand, what are the main economic and political effects in the recipient countries? The IMF’s credit tackles balance-of-payments crises mainly through adjusting domestic output and consumption, which usually has negative social costs. Development bank lending has diverse effects. Although it tends to boost growth and strengthen domestic accountability, it does not always guarantee the attainment of development goals. In this sense, the literature has found negative impacts on labor rights and forestry, while improvements in health and education cannot always be sustained in the long run.

Estimating Long Term Major Maintenance and Capital Spending Requirements of Trinidad’s Aging Power Plants

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Richwine ◽  
Michael Joseph ◽  
Charles Huguenard ◽  
Hafeez Baksh ◽  
Mike Elenbass
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Probabilistic Approach ◽  
Risk Profile ◽  
Periodic Review ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Capital Spending ◽  
Generation Company ◽  
Insight Into

This paper describes the process used by the Power Generation Company of Trinidad and Tobago (PowerGen) to estimate the range of major (expenditures greater than US$50,000) recurring and non-recurring costs that can be expected to be incurred from 2006–2025 by PowerGen’s three existing generating facilities: Port of Spain, Point Lisas and Penal. Since many of these Capital and O&M costs are not 100% certain, a probabilistic approach was used that incorporates a Monte Carlo methodology. The results of this approach allowed PowerGen to better understand the range of possible major capital and O&M expenditures that would likely be required over the next 20 years along with a quantification of the risk profile of those ranges. By adding these costs to the routine O&M costs, a total cost cash flow timeline was able to be developed that more realistically forecast the actual financial requirements of PowerGen’s power plants. Periodic review and updates of the data will also provide PowerGen with a continuing sound basis for long term technical and financial decisions. Additionally, a benchmarking analysis was performed that compared the reliability trends of similar but older technologies to those plants in PowerGen’s fleet in order to gain an insight into the reliability expectations for PowerGen plants over the next twenty years.

Debt financing puzzle and internationalization

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karren Lee-Hwei Khaw
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Firm Risk ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Business Operations

PurposeThis study aims to examine the relation between long-term debt and internationalization in the presence of the agency costs of debt and business risk.Design/methodology/approachSample firms consist of 517 non-financial listed firms in Malaysia, with 4,197 firm-year observations from the year 2000 to 2014. This study uses panel data regressions and a series of robustness tests to examine the hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that multinational corporations (MNCs) are more likely to sustain less long-term debt than domestic corporations (DCs) to mitigate the costs related to agency problem and firm risk. Meanwhile, foreign-based MNCs maintain less long-term debt than local-based firms, and the finding is more significant at a higher degree of internationalization. Robustness tests confirm the negative relations.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings indicate that the ongoing debate on the debt financing puzzle can be explained by internationalization. Moreover, the findings suggest that in addition to the systematic differences between MNCs and DCs, studies on the debt financing and internationalization should also account for the systematic differences among MNCs such as the local-based MNCs, foreign-based MNCs and DCs that later expand their business operations abroad.Practical implicationsMNCs have to be responsive to the diverse institutional environments as they diversify their business operations geographically. When the adverse effects of internationalization outweigh the benefits, MNCs could use the long-term debt financing decision to mitigate the costs of doing business abroad. This is because debt financing is also a primary concern in the corporate financial decisions for the maximization of shareholders’ wealth.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the debt financing literature from the international perspective by providing evidence from an emerging market. In addition, this study highlights the importance of recognizing firms by their firm-specific characteristics, such as internationalization, given the systematic differences among firms.

scholarly journals Relaxed Substrate Specificity in Qβ Replicase through Long-Term In Vitro Evolution

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Kohtoh Yukawa ◽  
Ryo Mizuuchi ◽  
Norikazu Ichihashi
Keyword(s):  
Substrate Specificity ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Rna Replication ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
In Vitro Evolution ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Major Transition

A change from RNA- to DNA-based genetic systems is hypothesized as a major transition in the evolution of early life forms. One of the possible requirements for this transition is a change in the substrate specificity of the replication enzyme. It is largely unknown how such changes would have occurred during early evolutionary history. In this study, we present evidence that an RNA replication enzyme that has evolved in the absence of deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs) relaxes its substrate specificity and incorporates labeled dNTPs. This result implies that ancient replication enzymes, which probably evolved in the absence of dNTPs, could have incorporated dNTPs to synthesize DNA soon after dNTPs became available. The transition from RNA to DNA, therefore, might have been easier than previously thought.

scholarly journals Long-term time-course of strength adaptation to minimal dose resistance training: Retrospective longitudinal growth modelling of a large cohort through training records

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Steele ◽  
James Fisher ◽  
Jürgen Giessing ◽  
Patroklos Androulakis-Korakakis ◽  
Milo Wolf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Resistance Training ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Strength Development ◽  
Minimal Growth ◽  
Minimal Effective Dose ◽  
Minimal Dose

Objective: Public health guidelines for resistance training typically emphasize a minimal effective dose approach. The intention for such guidelines is that individuals engage in these behaviors over the long-term. However, relatively few studies have examined the longitudinal time-course of strength adaptations to resistance training and those which have typically utilize small samples and/or athletic populations. Further, no studies have employed approaches to incorporate participant level random factors into modelling. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the time-course of strength development resulting from continued participation in minimal dose resistance training in a large sample through retrospective training records. Methods: Data was available for analysis from 14,690 participants who had undergone minimal dose resistance training (1x/week, single sets to momentary failure of six exercises) with records ranging up to 352 weeks (~6.8 years) in length. Linear-log growth models examining the development of strength over time were fit allowing random intercepts and slopes by participant. In addition, the interaction of sex and age were examined as fixed effects. Results: All models demonstrated a robust linear-log relationship which on the untransformed time scale clearly demonstrated the presence of a plateau in strength development around ~1 year into training after which strength was essentially maintained with minimal growth. Sex and age had minimal interaction effects. Conclusions: Substantial strength gains are possible with the use of a minimal dose resistance training approach. Though, these begin to plateau after ~1 year of training with little impact from sex or age on the emergence of this plateau. It is unclear if this plateau can be overcome through alternative approaches. Considering this, our results support public health recommendations for minimal dose resistance training to induce and maintain strength adaptations in adults.

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