We analyse the reasons why companies issue units when they raise additional capital. In contrast to previous evidence, our results show that units are not offered to mitigate the agency conflicts or to signal security mispricing as they are predominantly issued during cold periods, in public...

We examine board structure in France, which since 1966 has allowed firms freedom to choose between unitary and two-tier boards. We analyze how this choice relates to characteristics of the firm and its environment. Firms with severe asymmetric information tend to opt for unitary boards; firms...

Research on the impact of open market share repurchases has been hindered by the lack of data available on actual share repurchases in many countries, including the US. Using a previously unused database containing detailed information on 36,848 repurchases made by 352 French firms, we show that...

This paper examines the impact of market liquidity on seasoned equity offerings (SEO) characteristics in France. We find that, besides blockholders’ takeup, liquidity is an important determinant of SEO flotation method choice. We document higher direct equity offering flotation costs, but also...

We examine how ownership concentration and the separation of ownership and control affect market liquidity in France. We find that firms with a large insider blockholder exhibit significantly lower liquidity. Different methods of concentrating control affect liquidity in different ways. Pyramid...

The shareholder brings resources to the enterprise and requires as his counterpart a return of the risk borne. The management of the enterprise is more frequently delegated to an executive officer who has to be controlled by the shareholder. This control can be carried out either directly...