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This paper presents the development and transformations of Bukharan Jewish newspapers and periodicals (1910–38) and situates them in the broader Central Asian mediascape. Over a period of 30 years, the Bukharan Jewish press was transformed from a pioneering privately owned enterprise that served the needs of the Jewish communities throughout Central Asia to one owned and regulated by the Soviet state, serving as a tool to transmit propaganda and to shape and educate a predefined 'national minority group'. The paper argues that the introduction of a Bukharan Jewish press in 1910 was intended to create a modernized language and ethnic awareness among the Jews of Central Asia. In the 1930s, Bukharan Jewish newspapers and journals were radically Sovietized and finally shut down by the state. From then until the collapse of the Soviet Union, no Bukharan Jewish publications appeared in the bloc and the existence of a distinct Central Asian Jewish identity was largely ignored. This case study sheds light on Tsarist and Soviet minorities' policies and helps us to better understand the various changes experienced and the cultural adaptations made by many 'minorities' of Central Asia in the Age of Colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze investors' perception and long-term effects of board gender diversity on firms' stock market performance in an international setting. Our results, controlling for the endogenous nature of board compositions, indicate that female board representation neither improves nor reduces firms' long-term stock performance. Hence, we argue that it is imperative to go beyond the conventional thinking in terms of the business case for gender diversity and broaden the perspective also to incorporate societal and ethical aspects in the strive to board gender equality. Even more so, as our results show that it does not entail reduced shareholder value, which the literature on mandatory gender quotas commonly seems to suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effect of private accounting information becoming public on small firms' access to bank debt. Both proprietary cost of disclosure and relationship banking have contributed to German private firms' traditional non-disclosure of financial statements. We employ a regulatory change, which increased enforcement and established severe fines for firms that do not publicly disclose financial statements, as a quasi-natural experiment. We find that small firms' access to bank debt has significantly increased after the disclosure shock. With our study based on a novel dataset in a non-voluntary private firm setting, we contribute to the discussion on private and public information in debt contracting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]