This study examines the association between customer base concentration and corporate public disclosure policy. When the customer base is more concentrated, large customers face lower costs of accessing the supplier firm's private information, reducing customers' overall demand for the supplier's public information, suggesting a negative association between customer concentration and the amount of public disclosure. Alternatively, large customers have greater bargaining power and may demand that the supplier firm provide more public disclosures. Consistent with customer concentration facilitating private information flow from the supplier to customers, we find that the frequencies of management earnings and sales forecasts are negatively associated with customer concentration among firms with major corporate customers. These associations are stronger when the supplier and customers are engaged in more relationship‐specific investments, when customers' private information acquisition costs are lower, and when it is less costly for customers to find another supplier.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of a firm’s customer base concentration on its loan contract terms and how this effect varies with the strength of its customer relationship. Design/methodology/approach This study is an archival research based on a sample of US public firms that have loan contract data between 1990 and 2008. Major customer sales data are used to construct customer concentration and customer relationship measures. A debt contract model is employed to relate loan spread and other contract terms to customer concentration and relationship. Findings This study finds that firms with more concentrated customer bases have higher loan spread and shorter loan maturity and are more likely to issue secured loans. These negative effects disappear when the supplier firm maintains strong relationship with its customers. Research limitations/implications Additional forward-looking measure of customer relationship could benefit future research. Practical implications A firm’s customer base characteristics can have significant impacts on the terms of its loan contracts. Findings from this study support the notion that customer relationship is an important intangible asset that is informative to stakeholders of the firm. Originality/value This study proposes a new measure of customer relationship based on the past repeated relationships between a firm and its major customers. It shows that customer characteristics may affect firms’ contracts with creditors: customer base concentration increases credit risk whereas strong customer relationship improves credit quality.

During the period from 1998 to 2000, China implemented several new asset write-down regulations that mandate lower of cost or market accounting (LCM) for most non-cash assets. This is a study of the relevance and reliability of those regulations for investors in China. The study measures the association of net asset value with market value of equity and the association of accounting income with stock return, on both a historical cost accounting (HCA) basis and on an LCM basis. A fixed-effects model controlling both year and firm effects is used in a balanced panel sample. The panel regressions show high levels of explanatory power. LCM values can be relevant but may be measured with sufficient error that they do not improve the prediction of firm values. Reliability is measured using non-nested, overlapping model comparison tests (J and Cox). The paper also considers whether discretionary motivations influence the amount of write-down. The study supports the relevance of LCM reforms, but finds that reliability is not increased over HCA during the period under study. Reliability appears to be reduced by the voluntary nature of LCM provisions during part of the period and by the effects of opportunism for some firms in the sample.

Three lanthanide-based metal–organic frameworks, [Tb­(HMDIA)­(H2O)3]·H2O (Tb-MDIA), [Ho­(HMDIA)­(H2O)3]·(H2O)2 (Ho-MDIA), and [Nd­(HMDIA)­(H2O)3]·(H2O)2 (Nd-MDIA) from the same V-shaped ligand 5,5′-methylenediisophthalic acid (H4MDIA), were prepared by mixing Ln3+ and H4MDIA under solvothermal conditions. The crystal structures of the three complexes were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The different coordination modes of the organic ligands resulted in different framework structures among the three complexes. The luminescent properties of Ln-MDIA in the ultraviolet–visible region were also studied. Interestingly, the bright-green emitter Tb-MDIA showed high selectivity and sensitivity to allow the naked-eye visualization of Fe3+ ions and picric acid (PA) explosive, and both sensing mechanisms were revealed. Finally, Ho-MDIA and Nd-MDIA were shown to work as heterogeneous catalysts for the cyanosilylation reaction of aromatic aldehydes, and the catalysts could be recycled at least three times without any decrease in activity.

a b s t r a c tA graft copolymer composed of poly(ε-caprolactone) as a hydrophobic chain and poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide) as a hydrophilic segment with an internal reference probe for oxygen sensing was prepared. Highly efficient platinum(II)meso-tetra(pentafluorophenyl)porphine (PtTFPP) was used as a typical oxygen probe. Although PtTFPP was highly efficient, it is hydrophobic, limiting its direct application for oxygen sensing in biological conditions. By using the amphiphilic graft copolymer, PTTFPP was successfully incorporated into the micelles formed by this polymer to not only enable the application of PtTFPP for biosensing in medium but also retain its high efficiency. The quantum efficiency of PtTFPP in the micelle solution under nitrogen can reach as high as 0.20. The PtTFPP-containing micelles were tested for high throughput cell respiration and bacteria detection. The influence of an antibiotic, antimycin as a representative example, on cell respiration was also studied. For achieving high accurate sensing, an internal built-in reference probe with aggregation induced emission properties were also polymerized in the graft copolymer. This study demonstrated that the graft polymer approach is a good way to enable highly efficient and hydrophobic oxygen probes for biosensing.