In this study, we focus on firms that are listed on foreign exchanges from six countries: France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands and U.K. to provide some insights into the following questions: (1) what are the major perceived costs and benefits of foreign listing? (2) What are the...

This paper explores how motivating an incumbent CEO to make investments that improve the effectiveness of the firm's organization interacts with the replacement policy of the board of directors. We characterize the optimal compensation package (including severance pay) under governance...

Recent research has documented large differences between countries in ownership concentration in publicly traded firms, in the breadth and depth of capital markets, in dividend policies, and in the access of firms to external finance. We suggest that there is a common element to the explanations...

Tunnelling is defined as the transfer of assets and profits out of firms for the benefit of their controlling shareholders. We describe the various forms that tunnelling can take, and examine under what circumstances it is legal. We discuss two important legal principles--the duty of care and...

We present a model of the effects of legal protection of minority shareholders and of cash flow ownership by a controlling shareholder on the valuation of firms. We then test this model using a sample of 371 large firms from 27 wealthy economies. Consistent with the model, we find evidence of...

The paper offers theoretical and empirical insights into the links between banks and firms in industrial districts ans to the way way investment is financed. The conclusion is that the rise of district banking localism cannot be taken for granted and that industrial districts do not seem...

This paper analyzes processes of deflation and reflation in a debt-constrained economy. Nominally rigid debt obligations could limit firms' ability to reduce the output prices in response to a negative aggregate demand shock, giving ride to an under-employment equilibrium. The standard policy...

Traditionally share price returns and their variance have been explained by factors linked to the operations of the company such as systematic risk, corporate size and P/E ratios or by factors related to the influence of the macro-economic environment. In these models, the institutional...

This paper models the process of policy making at the top level of the firm: its board of directors. Directors are expected to both advise and monitor the CEO to ensure that shareholders' wealth is maximized. The more independent directors are the better they will fullfil this fiduciary duty....

In this paper, we use states' passage of anti-takeover legislation as a source of such independent variation. Passed in the 1980s, these laws serioulsy limited takeovers of firms incorporated in legislating states. Since many view hostile takeovers as an important disciplining device, these laws...