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AbstractTHREE ESSAYS IN BEHAVIORAL FINANCEByByoung-Hyoun HwangWhile not devoid of sentiment, self-interested rational decisionmakers in traditional economic models are assumed to be immune toits influence. The purpose of this dissertation is to explorewhether financial markets can be better...

The limited body of empirical research concerning the proxy contest provides little evidence that shareholders have suffered material equity losses. In addition, the inferences derived by prior researchers examine narrow time periods and provide analysis devoid of a long-term perspective of this...

The first essay examines the determinants of returns for bidding firms' stocks in mergers and tender offers using cross-sectional micro-firm data. First, we find that potential overpayments to target shareholders are important for explaining cross-sectional differences in bidders' returns upon...