We explore the relation between the establishment of a regulatory agency and the performance of the electricity sector. We exploit a dataset comprising firmlevel information on a representative sample of 220 electric utilities from 51 development countries for the period 1985 to 2005. Our...

Limited competition has been a serious concern in infrastructure procurement. Importantly, however, there are normally a number of potential bidders initially showing interest in proposed projects. This paper focuses on tackling the question why these initially interested bidders fade out. An...

Shareholder interests diverge from management (and employee) option holders' on use of corporate cash for reinvestment, dividends, and buybacks. If options equal 25% of shares, shareholders/option holders in theory quot;contractquot; to split future stock profits 80/20. Dividends, however,...

The case of Evergreen Solar (ESLR) suggests counterparty risk exposure be added to the litany of misgivings on the economic efficiency, absolute performance, and governance conflicts of ASRs. Evergreen Solar in July 2008 issues a convertible, enters into an offsetting, broker-backed long...

The current study adds consideration of a $1.7 billion accelerated stock repurchase (ASR) by Hewlett-Packard (HP) to a recent analysis of 2006-2007 ASRs by Applied Materials, Cypress Semiconductor, Linear Technology, and Xilinx. The HP addition to company case studies leaves fundamental findings...

A previous study failed to identify economic benefits to explain the 2006-2007 popularity of accelerated stock repurchase programs (ASRs) funded through issuance of convertible debt. The case study of a $600 million transaction by Cypress Semiconductor did find cosmetic advantages in terms of...

Antigravity introduces a transaction so implausibly attractive it would be deemed impossible were it not that U.S. companies already float an inferior equivalent at a rate of nearly $500 billion per year. A Cashless Buyback(tm) is exactly like a cash buyback minus the risk and should be viewed...

An earlier report suggested that counterparty risk exposure be added to the litany of misgivings on the economic efficiency, absolute performance, and governance of accelerated stock repurchase agreements (ASRs). In that study, Evergreen Solar in July 2008 issues a convertible, enters into an...

It is time for accounting to recognize the existence of stock exchanges and stop treating the equity accounts of public corporations as if they belonged to 15th century private partnerships. When Pacioli's codification of the principles of accounting was published in 1494, stock exchanges did...

In 2002, the SEC, citing a need for transparency, promulgated new disclosure rules pertaining to corporate stock repurchase programs. As a result, companies since 2004 have been required to provide monthly reports on the volume and pricing of their stock buybacks. Under the new reporting...