We evaluate the effect of index option initiation on a stock market in which short sales are prohibited. Our focus is the effect on the price volatility of the underlying asset. In a very simple dynamic model with successive generations of single-period investors, we show that volatility can...

We recognize a conflict that is largely neglected in the corporate finance literature. Shareholders want to maximize their portfolio value while capital budgeting rules direct managers to choose projects that maximize firm (equity) value. Managerial stock options can reduce this conflict between...

We analyze the relative advantage of option grants compared to stock compensation when shareholders are diversified. Our analysis recognizes a conflict that is largely neglected in the corporate finance literature. Shareholders want to maximize their portfolio value while capital budgeting rules...

We evaluate the effect of index option initiation on a stock market in which short sales are prohibited. Our focus is the effect on the price volatility of the underlying asset. In a very simple dynamic model with successive generations of single-period investors, we show that volatility can...

We evaluate the effect of short sale constraint removal on a stock market. The intuition is derived from simple geometry. We show that the price curve as a function of the uncertain future payoff changes when investors are able to act on the belief that the price of the share is relatively high....

We analyse the puzzling behavior of the volatility of individual stock returns around the turn of the Millennium. There has been much academic interest in this topic, but no convincing explanation has arisen. Our goal is to pull together the many competing explanations currently proposed in the...

We study the effect of a firm's dividend policy on the relation between the levels of institutional ownership and stock return volatility. We find that the sign of the correlation between institutional ownership and volatility depends on the firm's dividend policy: institutional ownership is...