William Moser

• Miami University

This study uses machine learning methods to predict next‐period change in profitability based on a model proposed by Penman and Zhang (2004; “PZ”). We find that new machine‐learning methods predict out of sample substantially better than traditional regression methods and provide richer interpretations about the role and impact of different predict...

This study examines whether bank lenders react differently to various types of real transaction management (RTM) by borrowing firms. Drawing upon the differential cash and cash flow effects of alternative forms of RTM, we predict and find that banks provide more favorable loan terms, i.e., lower interest spread and reduced likelihood of required co...

We examine the impact of terrorism risk on corporate tax avoidance. We find that firms headquartered in areas with a higher terrorism risk engage in more corporate tax avoidance. Further, we show that terrorism risk has a greater impact on corporate tax avoidance when terrorist attacks are severe in terms of the targets hit, damage, and the numbers...

Following the global financial crisis wrought by fraudulent activities of prominent US companies and considering the field’s lack of understanding about precursors to such vast corporate illegalities, this study measured firm prominence and financial conditions to identify corporate-organizational factors related to twenty-first century corporate f...

We investigate the stock price and trading volume effects of differential capital gains taxes applied to short- and long-term capital gains when firms disclose public information. We extend the theoretical framework developed in Shackelford and Verrecchia (2002) linking differential capital gains taxes to price and volume, allowing for positive and...

I examine whether terrorism or the risk of future terrorism affects audit fees paid by companies around the world. In the existing audit fee literature, it is unclear how terrorism risk enters the theoretical framework for audit fees. Using both a levels analysis and a changes analysis, I find a positive association between higher levels and higher...

Existing research provides evidence that providers of capital (banks, public debt, and equity) all increase the expected return on securities after the initiation of a shareholder lawsuit. Many of these lawsuits are dismissed or settled with trivial monetary penalties, which suggests that an across-the-board permanent increase in the cost of capita...

In this paper, we examine the impact of managerial ability on the relation between corporate tax avoidance and investment efficiency. Using a sample of US firms from 1994–2015, we find that as tax avoidance increases, firms with high (low) managerial ability exhibit increased (reduced) investment efficiency, that is, smaller (greater) deviations fr...

This paper examines the trading behavior of U.S. corporate insiders and certain groups of institutional investors (short‐term, transient, top‐performing, and those with fiduciary responsibility) in the eight quarters leading up to a U.S. firm bankruptcy filing. Using a matched sample based on year, industry, and Campbell et al.’s (2008) probability...

This study examines the association between tax avoidance and ex ante cost of equity capital. Based on prior research, we develop two proxies for investors’ expectations of tax avoidance and explore whether deviations from those expectations result in higher ex ante cost of equity capital. We find that the ex ante cost of equity capital increases w...

This paper examines the behavior of corporate insiders and certain groups of institutional investors (short-term, transient, top-performing, and those with fiduciary responsibility) in the eight quarters leading up to a firm’s bankruptcy filing. Using a matched sample based on year, industry and probability of future bankruptcy, we find that corpor...

We investigate the relationship between tax avoidance and ex ante cost of capital. We provide evidence that investors perceive tax avoidance differently at different levels of tax avoidance. We find that, if low tax-avoidance firms increase tax avoidance, ex ante cost of capital declines. In contrast, if high tax-avoidance firms increase tax avoida...

Background Acute type A aortic dissection frequently occurs in patients with normally sized aortic roots. The aim of this investigation was to describe the durability of aortic valve resuspension and root repair with a novel technique of reconstruction in type A dissection. Methods From 1993 to 2013, among 629 patients operated on for acute type A...

Objective: To present the outcomes of routinely performed hemiarch replacement in patients with acute type A aortic dissection. Methods: From 1993 to 2013, among 629 patients with acute type A dissection, 534 patients (85%) underwent hemiarch, 63 patients (10%) underwent hemiarch and antegrade thoracic stent grafting, 26 patients (4%) underwent...

Background and aim of the studyTranscatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is contraindicated in the presence of an ascending aortic aneurysm. Our aim was to design a composite endovascular device enabling ascending aortic repair and TAVI.Methods From 2007 to 2013, among 1196 patients with severe aortic stenosis screened for TAVI, 79 nonbicuspid...

Data on acute type A aortic dissection in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) syndrome are limited. This investigation evaluated the clinical details in patients with type A dissection stratified according to aortic valve morphology. Between 1993 and 2013, 629 patients (median age 61 years [50; 73], 64% men) underwent surgical procedures for...

Stanford type A aortic dissection in patients with previous cardiac surgery (PCS) is a catastrophic disease. This investigation evaluates the results of a standardized integrated approach to type A dissection after PCS. Between 1993 and 2013, 629 patients with acute type A dissection (median age 61 [50 to 73] years, 64% males) underwent aortic repa...

Aortic geometry changes throughout life are not well defined. This investigation delineates aortic geometry across the adult age spectrum and determines the gender-related influence of aging on aortic morphometry. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography scans of all aortic segments in 195 subjects (94 women, 101 men, average age 57 ± 20 years) free o...

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) does not enable concomitant or simultaneous ascending aortic intervention. This investigation evaluates the safety of TAVI in patients with ascending aortic dilatation and demonstrates mid-term follow-up. From November 2007 to December 2012, among 1143 patients with severe aortic stenosis screened for...

OBJECTIVES: Aortic geometry changes throughout life are not well defined. This investigation delineates aortic geometry across the adult age spectrum and determines the gender-related influence of aging on aortic morphometry. METHODS: Contrast-enhanced computed tomography scans of all aortic segments in 195 subjects (94 women, 101 men, average age...

We extend research that investigates the relation between tax avoidance and ex ante cost of capital by providing evidence that investors perceive tax avoidance differently at different levels. We partition our sample according to three measures of tax avoidance (book-tax differences, permanent book-tax differences, and 5-year cash effective tax rat...

We investigate whether the level of ownership by institutional shareholders with a long-term horizon is associated with firms’ tax avoidance activities. In theory, tax avoidance increases firm value through tax savings; however, institutions with long-term investment horizons are likely to discourage tax avoidance activities if such activities enco...

Among the patients in this study, TEVAR was both safe and effective in the short and long term to treat thoracic aortic aneurysms and offered similar survival to open therapies. TEVAR patients did require repeat interventions more frequently, although the vast majority of these are performed by an endovascular approach. Aneurysm dimensions appear t...

We present a comparison of porcine bioroot and composite mechanical root replacement in a large series of patients younger than 60 years who required full root replacement for true root pathology. Between 1997 and 2007, we performed 986 aortic root replacement procedures, including 391 porcine bioroots and 515 composite mechanical roots for true ro...

A traditional view of tax avoidance (or tax aggressiveness) is that it limits payments made to the tax authorities. A first order implication is that tax avoidance will positively impact firm cash holdings. However, recent research contends that tax avoidance strategies impede the flow of firm specific information and consequently permits managers...

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between firm tax avoidance and firm capital expenditures. In theory, a dollar saved through tax avoidance activities is an immediate extra dollar available for the firm and its shareholders in the current period. We conjecture that firms with high levels of tax avoidance generally have higher new capit...

We examine the relation between accounting-based debt contracts and the economic response of firms with trust preferred stock (TPS) to mandated liability recognition under Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) 150. Our results show that firms’ financial covenants significantly affect their choice to redeem versus reclassify their outstanding TPS. Spe...

This paper examines the relation between corporate tax avoidance and firm cash holdings. Corporate tax avoidance limits payments made to the tax authorities. However, recent research notes that tax avoidance also restricts the flow of firm specific information and thereby exacerbates manager-shareholder conflict of interest. Specifically, it is arg...

We report a case of a patient with a history of previous coronary artery bypass grafting undergoing endovascular aortic repair of a large pseudoaneurysm in the ascending aorta. Due to the limitations of the current technology, the endograft was deployed through a left ventricular transapical approach by using a left mini-thoracotomy.

This paper examines whether the investment horizon of a firm’s institutional shareholders affects the extent of tax aggressiveness as proxied by a firm’s five-year cash effective tax rate and yearly permanent book-tax differences. Using a sample of firms with institutional ownership data from 1995-2008, we find more tax aggressiveness for firms hel...

In this paper we examine whether institutional ownership affects firm tax aggressiveness. We use five-year cash effective tax rate and yearly permanent book-tax differences to proxy for a firm’s level of tax aggressiveness. Using a sample of firms with institutional ownership data from 1995-2008, we find that firms with higher levels of total insti...

Acute DeBakey I dissection repair consists of ascending aortic resection, aortic root repair or replacement, and variable aortic arch replacement. This "proximal" strategy leaves most patients with a patent residual "type B" dissection which leads to greater than 30% distal "open" reoperations for dissecting aneurysm. This report tests whether ante...

We investigate institutional investors' preference for dividend-paying stocks following changes in the dividend tax penalty during the sample period from 1987 until 2004. Following prior literature we separate institutions into tax-advantaged and taxable cohorts and find that when the dividend tax penalty is positive, high-dividend firms constitute...

This study investigates whether the difference in individual shareholder tax rates between dividend income and capital gain (the dividend tax penalty) affects a firm's choice between distributing funds to shareholders through dividends or share repurchases. The results of this study suggest that, in periods in which the dividend tax penalty increas...

Stroke has emerged as an important complication of thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). Identifying risk factors for stroke is important to define the risks of this procedure. All neurologic complications were analyzed in a prospective database of patients in thoracic aortic stent graft trials from 1999 to 2006. Serial neurological examinat...

Six years ago an endovascular program for repair of descending thoracic aneurysms was established at the University of Pennsylvania. We report on the hypothesis that results are improving with new stent design iterations and describe our experience and lessons learned. From April 1999 to March 2005, 99 patients with descending thoracic aneurysms un...

Paraplegia is a recognized complication after endovascular stent repair of descending thoracic aortic aneurysms. A management algorithm employing neurologic assessment, somatosensory evoked potential monitoring, arterial pressure augmentation, and cerebrospinal fluid drainage evolved to decrease the risk of postoperative paraplegia. Patients in tho...

We estimate firm-level implied cost of equity capital based on recent advances in accounting and finance research and examine the effect of dividend taxes on the cost of equity capital. We investigate whether dividend taxes affect firms' cost of capital by testing the relation between the implied cost of equity capital and a measure of the tax-pena...

We estimate firms' implied cost of capital and examine the effects of dividend taxes on this ex ante measure. The results support the dividend tax capitalization hypothesis. We find a positive relation between implied cost of equity capital and dividend yield that is decreasing in aggregate institutional ownership. We further explore the effect of...

Anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that price is an important determinant of firms' share repurchase decisions. We investigate a factor that could affect a firm's stock price around a repurchase and thus the number of shares a firm repurchases. We predict that tax-sensitive investors' reluctance to sell stocks for which they have unrealized c...