We find that changes in oil prices strongly predict future stock market returns in many countries in the world. In our thirty year sample of monthly data for developed stock markets, we find statistically significant predictability in 12 out of the 18 countries and in a world market index. For...

Large institutional investors allocate their funds over a number of classes (e.g. equity, fixed income and real estate), various geographical regions and different industries. In practice, these allocation decisions are usually made in a hierarchical (top-down), consecutive way. At the higher...

The present paper examines firm size effects on the decision of venture capital firms to participate in a venture capital investment syndication network. The authors submit that firm size effects in venture capital syndication are dependent on resource acquisition motives and transaction cost...

We analyze if the value-weighted stock market portfolio is second-order stochastic dominance (SSD) efficient relative to benchmark portfolios formed on market capitalization, book-to-market equity ratio and industry classification. During the period from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, the...

We use a sequential trade model to clarify two mechanisms following the introduction of an option that may lead to increased efficiency in the underlying. On the one hand, market makers learn from trades in the option market and set more accurate prices. On the other hand, the proportion of...

This paper discusses statistical inference on the second-order stochastic dominance (SSD) efficiency of a given portfolio relative to all portfolios formed from a set of assets. We derive the asymptotic sampling distribution of the Post test statistic for SSD efficiency. Unfortunately, a test...

According to uncovered interest rate Parity (UIP), the expected relative change in an exchange rate is equal to the difference between interest rates between the two currencies. Empirically, UIP is frequently rejected. In this paper, we examine whether exchange rates have at least any tendency...

The central question of this study involves the relation between the use of takeover defenses and IPO firm value. We report that management frequently uses takeover defenses before taking the firm public. The use of takeover defenses is primarily motivated by managerial entrenchment. IPO...

We develop an empirical test for Second-order Stochastic Dominance (SSD) efficiency of a given investment portfolio relative to all possible portfolios formed from a set of assets. Contrary to the Linear Programming test of Post, Thierry, 2003, Empirical tests for stochastic dominance...

This paper shows that stock market contagion operates through a domino effect, where small crashes evolve into more severe crashes. Using a novel unifying framework we model the occurrence of local, regional and global crashes in terms of past occurrences of these different crashes and financial...