The recent decline in funding levels of defined benefit pension plans (DBPs) has attracted the attention of regulators in Australia and other jurisdictions. In light of such scrutiny, this study provides timely empirical evidence of the economic and regulatory implications of the recent change...

We quantify the effect of financial leverage on stock return volatility in a dynamic general equilibrium economy with debt and equity claims. The effect of financial leverage is studied both at a market and a firm level where the firm is exposed to both idiosyncratic and market risk. In a...

This thesis investigates the determinants of the use of debt and leasing in the UK using a comprehensive measure of debt and leases, in recognition of the link between lease and debt-type financing decisions, based on financial contracting theory and the tax advantage hypothesis. The design of...

Lally (2007) concludes that regulators must esimate the risk-free rate as the yield-to-maturity on Government debt with a term-to-maturity equal to the regulatory period, to ensure that the present value of expected cash flows equals the investment base. The analytics behind this conclusion...

While aggregate earnings should affect aggregate stock returns, standard portfolio theory predicts that the cross-sectional dispersion in firm-level earnings would not affect aggregate stock returns. Nonetheless, this paper demonstrates a surprisingly robust relation between cross-sectional...

This paper studies the effects of capacity utilization on accounting profit margins and stock returns. Since accounting profit margins represent the average profit per unit and not the economists' concept of unit contribution margin, the marginal/variable profit per unit, a firm with idle...

In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird der Rückkauf eigener Anteile vor dem Hintergrund der Informations- und Anreizkonflikte in den Beziehungen zwischen den Eigenkapitalgebern, den Fremdkapitalgebern sowie dem Management eines Unternehmens diskutiert. Um die Richtung der Anreiz- und...

Seit der Transformation der EG-Zwischenberichtsrichtlinie in deutsches Recht sind alle Emittenten aus dem amtlichen Markt verpflichtet, für nach dem 31. Dezember 1989 beginnende Geschäftsjahre einen Zwischenbericht über die ersten sechs Monate des Geschäftsjahres zu veröffentlichen. Mit...

Nach Unternehmensskandalen wie bei Enron, Worldcom oder Comroad steht das Thema Corporate Governance in vielen Ländern wieder ganz oben auf der Agenda. Als Reaktion auf die spektakulären Unternehmenskrisen wird weltweit in zahlreichen Ausschüssen über die optimale Ausgestaltung und Qualität...