Leveraged exchange traded funds (LETFs) are marketed as short-term trading vehicles that magnify the daily returns of an underlying index. With the proliferation of LETFs over the last 10 years, a diversified portfolio that mimics the returns of a 100% investment can be created using only a...

This study demonstrates how a barbell strategy invested primarily in fixed income assets coupled with in-the-money long-term call options on various equity asset classes can achieve a significant percentage of upside appreciation and significantly reduce downside risk. An examination of...

We test a set of theoretic postulates predicting the choice and value impact of foreign asset divestiture strategies. Following Chen and Gou (2005), we argue that firms may be driven by a variety of motives to divest their foreign assets depending on their pre-divestiture performance, financial...

To understand the performance implications of corporate strategies as conditioned by business group affiliations, we analyze the relationship between corporate diversification and performance for 889 Indian firms. We find that diversified firms perform significantly worse than focused firms and...

The purpose of this study is to determine whether earning management is exacerbated or alleviated in diversified firms. An explicit distinction is made between industrial and geographic diversification. The empirical evidence shows that earnings management is mitigated by 1.8% in industrially...

This paper empirically examines the economic effects of both corporate industrial and geographic diversifications. Using a sample of 28,050 firm year observations from 1990 to 1998, we find that industrial and geographic diversifications are associated with firm value decrease. Consistent with...

This paper discusses important features of financial dollarization and its implications for the macro economy and financial sector deepening. Despite the need to slow down the rate of inflation and keep exchange rates under control, to achieve growth and economic development, monetary policies...

This study analyzes how prevailing institutional arrangements i.e., property rights, contracting rights, political institutions, and corporate governance practices affect privatized firms' performance, capital markets development, and economic growth. Most of the studies surveyed show that...

We investigate the effect of the power of creditors, property rights protection, and institutional quality, on bank profits using a panel of 498 banks from 46 countries. Results show that better institutions and stronger property rights protection reduce bank profits, while stronger power of...

Pledging collateral to secure loans is a prominent feature in financing contracts around the world. Existing theories disagree on why borrowers pledge collateral. It is even more challenging to understand why in some countries collateral coverage exceeds, e.g., 300% of the value of a loan. This...