We compare the importance of opportunities for market timing with incentives to manage EPS, in decisions to repurchase. We distinguish between repurchases which are done to distribute cash (payout-related) and those which are conducted to provide shares for re-issue to staff (pay-related). Firms...

We examine the impact of institutional shareholders on the investment activity and financing constraints of established private companies. Our sample of institutional owners is derived from company share registers and is comprehensive regarding type of institution and size of equity stake....

This paper examines the impact of Kyoto Protocol target setting regime on environmental efficiency and carbon shadow pricing. We extract shadow price estimates and efficiency scores from a comprehensive dataset of 125 countries in the first Kyoto commitment period (2008-2012) using a stochastic...

This paper examines the impact of Kyoto Protocol target setting regime on environmental efficiency and carbon shadow pricing. We extract shadow price estimates and efficiency scores from a comprehensive dataset of 125 countries in the first Kyoto commitment period (2008-2012) using a stochastic...

The relation between defined-benefit pension discount rates and funding status is more complex than it might first appear. Existing evidence suffers from estimation biases which makes precise inference unreliable. We document the biases and quantify their impact on inference in relation to...

We study payout by U.K. listed companies during 1993-2018. Regular dividends remain the dominant channel, but flexible payouts (special dividends and repurchases) have grown, and they make total payout more responsive to earnings. Flexible payouts are used to augment regular dividends: few...

UK companies have been making large contributions to reduce the deficits of their pension funds, and are believed to fund such contributions in part by reducing dividends. Using data from 2003-16, we find little evidence that large deficit-reduction contributions are associated with reductions...

Research question: In 2010, the governing body of European football, UEFA, approved “Financial Fair Play” regulations. Designed to encourage financial discipline, promote stability and foster competitive balance, they focus on a financial breakeven constraint. We analyse the impact of such...