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Using a large sample of bond rating downgrades of US firms announced by the three largest rating agencies during 1997-2023, I find that cumulative abnormal stock returns (CAR) spanning the day of and day following downgrade announcements are significantly and negatively related to annual report readability, indicating that downgrades are more informative among firms with more readable annual reports. My baseline regression results indicate that a one standard deviation improvement in annual report readability corresponds to a reduction in the announcement CAR of approximately forty-three basis points, which is economically meaningful given that it constitutes roughly 27% of the sample average announcement CAR of -1.62%. Furthermore, additional analysis reveals that the informativeness enhancing effect that better annual report readability has on rating downgrades is stronger among firms that should be more difficult to monitor and evaluate, including lower rated firms, firms with high stock return volatility, and younger firms. Overall, the results strongly support the hypothesis that well-written annual reports facilitate more timely and informative bond rating downgrades, especially among more informationally problematic firms.

This is a study about the financing of large group health insurance in the United States. Almost 8 in 10 covered employees in private large firms are enrolled in self-insured (or self-funded) health plans in contrast to only 20 percent of employees in small firms. More than half of all large standard (non-supplemental) health plans are self-insured although their number is decreasing. Considering their significantly greater risk of exposure and transaction costs, the question for scholarly investigation is why (and how) do private large firms self-fund employer-sponsored health insurance? Using plan-level data from health plan administrator filings of Forms 5500 and Summary Annual Reports (2014-2022) with the U.S. Department of Labor, six variables are examined in this study relative to large group self-insurance: industry/sectoral distribution, plan size/enrollment, plan administration, benefits coverage, plan assets and investments, and statutory compliance. Findings suggest that industry/sectoral and enrollee distributions of large health plans are not widely dispersed while their assets and investments and statutory exemptions offer comparative advantages. These plans have also increasingly relied on stop-loss insurance, third-party administration, supplemental health benefits, and less major medical plans to mitigate actuarial risks that involve considerable financial exposure to fluctuating claims costs, potential for catastrophic claims, and cash flow unpredictability. The intertwining theoretical and practical implications of large group self-insurance in healthcare finance and risk management are addressed by way of conclusion.    

In the loanable funds theory, the interest rate serves as a balancing factor between the savings offered for loans and the funds borrowed for investment. In Keynes’s theory, by contrast, it is a monetary phenomenon that balances the demand and the supply of money. At first glance, the monetary phenomenon of the interest rate may seem quite different and is often considered groundbreaking and revolutionary. In Keynes’s theory, people hold part of their savings in money to cope with uncertainty about the returns from long-term bonds, and it is savings held in money that leads the interest rate to be a monetary phenomenon. While people hold part of their savings in money, they also invest their savings by purchasing long-term bonds. The interest rate also balances savings offered, though only in part and not the whole, and funds borrowed in the bond market, as in the loanable funds theory. In this regard, Keynes’s theory and the loanable funds theory are not as strikingly different as it may first appear. The main exegetical work of Keynes’s ideas is Keynesian economics. In this theory, the interest rate is also a monetary phenomenon, as is expected of exegetical work. However, it is not due to savings held in money as in Keynes’s theory; rather, it is due to the cash holdings required for purchasing goods and services. This paper examines the differences among these three interest rate theories, the reasons behind them, and their practical implications.    

This paper examines the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) and its impact on home inflation in Bangladesh, particularly in the post-pandemic era. Examining important economic factors including the nominal exchange rate (NER), money supply (M2), industrial production (IP), and global commodity index (GCI) using monthly data from January 2002 to August 2023 helps one to grasp their combined influence on consumer price inflation (CPI). By means of Johansen cointegration and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) approaches, the study reveals important short-term and long-term dynamics. Contrary to patterns in many emerging nations, the results show that changes in exchange rates have apparently little impact on home prices. Rather, changes in the money supply and world commodities prices mostly influence inflation; the latter becomes a major factor. The study also exposes an unexpected positive link between industrial production and CPI, implying complexity in Bangladesh's production-driven economic structure. Moreover, this investigation underlines how complex monetary expansion, external commodities shocks, and devaluation of money interact to shape inflationary pressures. These results offer legislators important new perspectives and support strong monetary policies and focused involvement in world commodities markets to help to lower inflation. This study clarifies ERPT in developing countries and provides direction on inflation control techniques for Bangladesh.