Accountability is the cornerstone of democracy. Fiscal accountability is particularly important to an electorate. The system of fiscal accountability developed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is too complex and technical for the public, being beyond all but specially trained...

Financial regulations require publicly traded firms to disclose firm-specific information relating to their financial performance as well as forecasts of future prospects disclosed to anyone outside the firm. Profit warnings present important market information as to the recent past firm...

This dissertation examines the stock price behavior of newly public firms following two separate events, acquisition announcements and a large single day price change. For the first essay on overreaction, the changes in both liquidity and information are considered in studying the stock price...

This dissertation examines the pricing behavior of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in three essays. (1) The Overreaction of International ETFs, (2) Fragmentation of Night Markets, and (3) The Impact of the Creation of the QQQ on the Underlying Securities. The overreaction study examines the role of...

Since the early 1990s there has been a substantial increase both in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as well as in divestitures of high-tech companies. This dissertation examines the takeover and divestiture activity in high-tech markets in an effort to extend our current knowledge regarding...

This dissertation analyzes the financial history of the U.S. airline industry from the perspectives of earnings, dividends, risk and capital structure. The airline industry is chosen because of its transition from economic regulation to competition. Within the area of earnings, I examine the...

Despite extensive research, the rationale behind firms' decision to issue convertible debt is still unknown. On average, results indicate that the market reacts more negatively to new convertible debt issues of companies with higher cash ratios. Hence, I test whether convertible issuers are...

The dissertation consists of three research works about special topics of financial intermediation. The main goal of the first study is to determine the effect of some corporate governance-related variables on bank initial public offerings (IPOs). The testable hypotheses involve three dependent...

This dissertation analyzes the impact of takeover defenses and cancellations in three essays: (1) The Impact of the Strength of Targets' Takeover Defense Mechanisms on Acquiring Firms; (2) The Impact of the Announcement of Shareholder-Friendly Poison Pill Provisions on Shareholder Wealth; and...

Researchers of Initial Public Offerings, IPOs, have, traditionally, filtered out low-priced stocks with cut-off prices depending on individual study. This study examines underpricing, short- and long-run performance of one special class of such low-priced stocks. I examine IPOs filed for and...