We develop a new method for detecting portfolio manager activity. Our method relies exclusively on portfolio returns and, consequently, avoids the pitfalls associated with disclosed portfolio holdings. We investigate the link between activity and performance of actively managed U.S. equity funds...

We evaluate the performance of 51 mutual fund families based on a study of their diversified US managed mutual funds over an 11 year period and explore the determinants of performance gross of published expenses. We find that mutual fund families which charge loads, high expenses to their most...

This paper examines time-series patterns of external financing decisions and shows that publicly traded U.S, firms fund a much larger proportion of their financing deficit with external equity when the cost of equity capital is low. The historical values of the cost of equity capital have...

This paper develops an alternative interpretation of the observed inverse relation between market-to-book ratio and long term indebtedness based on the market timing theory of capital structure and provides empirical evidence to substantiate the same. Our findings suggest that in the presence of...

This paper examines the impact of profitability, stock price performance and growth opportunity on the capital structure of firms in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In contrast to Kayhan and Titman (2007), it is found that firms in these three Chinese-dominated economies strongly prefer debt to...

This article analyzes the determinants of capital structure of Tunisian companies in the light of various financial theories. We test empirically with a panel data approach, the three main theoretical frameworks addressing the capital structure of company; the Trade-off Theory, the Pecking Order...

This paper shows that portfolio constraints have important implications for management compensation and performance evaluation. In particular, in the presence of portfolio constraints, allowing for benchmarking can be beneficial. Benchmark design arises as an alternative effort inducement...

We evaluate motives for share repurchases using a unified framework where a firm has a target capital structure and has equity that can be mispriced. We document that capital structure adjustments are a value-increasing motive for repurchases and that the extent to which adjusting capital...

This study uses Hofstede's (2001) cultural dimensions to investigate the impact of market reception on capital structure. We examine the interaction of these dimensions with stock returns, our proxy for market timing. Based on our market leverage results, we find evidence that firms do engage in...