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We find a positive association between institutional ownership and social capital. The social norms in a region, while not imposed by businesses or laws, play a monitoring role that disciplines managers from self‐serving behaviors. The resulting trustworthiness, through its mitigation of agency problems, drives the investment preferences of institutions. Our subsample analyses based on information asymmetry and financial performance support this inference. Further, the positive association is evident for transient investors and quasi‐indexers but not for dedicated institutional investors. Overall, our study underscores the impact of informal governance on institutions' investment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relevance of informal contracting mechanisms for corporate innovation. Using social capital to capture the social costs imposed on opportunistic behavior by management, we report evidence that firms headquartered in states with higher levels of social capital are associated with more innovation. This result is more pronounced when employees are more susceptible to holdup (e.g., firms with low labor union coverage, firms located in states with weak legal protections for employees, and firms surrounded by few external employment opportunities) and when employees face higher levels of information asymmetry. Our study highlights the importance of informal contracts for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show an inverse relation between the use of short-term debt and stock market liquidity. This finding is robust to a battery of control variables, alternative measures of the key variables, and various identification strategies. A difference-in-difference (DiD) approach suggests that the relation between debt maturity structure and stock liquidity may be causal. The impact of stock liquidity on debt maturity is stronger in the presence of large institutional holdings and when borrowers are subject to greater refinancing risk. We also provide evidence that firms with liquid stock tend to issue longer-term bonds and enjoy lower bond yield spreads. Overall, our results support the view that the governance function of stock market liquidity reduces the necessity of debt market monitoring, which allows firms to shift toward longer-term debt to avoid the costs and risk of frequent refinancing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To report on concurrent mutations of APC and MLH1 genes identified in a family affected with familial adenomatous polyposis(FAP). METHODS The proband was diagnosed with FAP based on her clinical manifestation, family history and histopathology examination. She developed endometrial epithelial neoplasia(EIN) two years later. With peripheral blood samples collected from her and members of her family, genomic DNA was extracted, and mutations of the APC and MLH1 genes were analyzed by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS Two novel heterozygous mutations were identified respectively in the APC gene(c.637C>T, p.R213X) and the MLH1 gene(c.1153C>T, p.R385C) in the proband. The former has resulted in a truncated protein, while the latter has led to substitution of Arginine by Cystine. CONCLUSION The concurrent mutations of the APC and MLH1 genes probably underline the FAP and Lynch syndrome(LS) in this pedigree. As the first female identified with such mutations, the proband manifested later onset of symptoms with certain degree of variation. For patient with FAP, a detailed family history should be taken.Potential mutation of the APC gene should be screened.Non-intestinal manifestations should be searched. For those who have developed endometrial lesion such as EIN, mutation of the MMR gene (associated with LS) should also be screened.