Dramatic fluctuations in the stock market raise questions about whether actual prices correspond to fundamentals. Even if there are "bubbles", they may not distort real behaviour if managers base investment decisions on fundamentals. Using a new specification testing strategy based on combining...

The two key questions which motivate our work are: do bubbles exist (in the sense that stock market prices do not always correspond to the present value of expected future profitability) and, if bubbles exist, do they have an effect on business fixed investment? The case of Japan is particularly...