This paper statistically tests the option theory of irreversible investment under uncertainty. Using contingent claims valuation, we derive the value of options to invest in capacity, where the projects are endogenous to the economic circumstances prevailing at the investment date. We then test...

Several governments have designed tax incentive programs to promote small business finance, yet evidence of their efficiency is very scarce. This article analyzes the QBIC program, introduced in Quebec to help capitalize SME. Individual investors in holding companies that finance one or more...

To close an asserted equity gap, the Canadian regulators implemented the Capital Pool Company program, which enables small firms to directly access the stock market, thus bypassing the conventional growth cycle. Similar to American Blind Pools/Blank-Checks, Capital Pool Companies have spawned...

We analyze the survival and success of a large sample of Canadian penny stock initial public offerings (IPOs), launched mostly by small and unprofitable firms from 1986 to 2003. The failure rate of these IPOs is lower than the one observed in the U.S. for larger IPOs, probably because of lax...

The recent financial crisis has led to a critical evaluation of the role that fair value accounting may have played in undermining the stability of the financial system. Reacting to the pressures of banking regulators and governments, standard-setters have brought forward additional guidance on...

Using a unique proprietary dataset of primary insurers and reinsurers, we analyze the structure of the reinsurance market. The dataset, which spans six years, contains the quotes for different reinsurance layers, for different clients, for different treaties, and for different lines of business....

We characterize a firm as a nexus of activities and projects with their associated cash flow distributions across states of the world and time periods. We propose a characterization of the firm where variations in the market price of risk induce adjustments in the value-maximizing combination of...

This paper examines the impact of capital structure on the optimality of contingent financial contracts. The role of financial relationships is not only to provide funds but also to offer insurance to a risk adverse entrepreneur through contingent financial transfers. Since such financial...

Stochastic volatility models, aka SVOL, are more difficult to estimate than standard time-varying volatility models (ARCH). Advances in the literature now offer well tested estimators for a basic univariate SVOL model. However, the basic model is too restrictive for many economic and finance...

Value-at-Risk (VaR) has emerged as the standard tool for measuring and reporting financial market risk. Currently, more than eighty commercial vendors offer enterprise or trading risk management systems which report VaR-like measures. Risk managers are therefore often left with the daunting task...