Prior research uses the basic one-period European call-option pricing model to compute default measures for individual firms and concludes that both the size and book-to-market effects are related to default risk. For example, small firms earn higher return than big firms only if they have...

Prior research uses the basic one-period European call-option pricing model to compute default measures for individual firms and concludes that both the size and book-to-market effects are related to default risk. For example, small firms earn higher return than big firms only if they have...

The Securities and Exchange Commission's September 2008 emergency order introduced a near complete shorting ban of some 800 financials traded in the US. This paper provides an empirical analysis of the equity options market during the three months that include the duration of the ban. Using...