This paper addresses two questions. First, what causes the paper-bill spread to vary over time in anticipation of income fluctuations’? Second, why has the predictive power of the spread declined in recent years? Consistent with previous empirical work, the paper provides evidence for the...

The spread between the yields on six-month commercial paper and six- month Treasury bills (the paper-bill spread) has been shown to be a good predictor of macroeconomic variables such as GDP and real income, at least through the mid-1980s. In this working paper, Ferderer, Vogt, and Chahil...

Pecking-order and free-cash-flow behavior are two explanations for the reliance of US corporations on cash flow from operations to finance capital expenditures. However, each explanation has different implications for financial management; cash flow hoarding for the former and cash flow payout...

This study examines possible agency problems in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by contrasting the performance, structure, and compensation of the two REIT forms from 1987 to 1992. Results show that "self-administered" REITs outperformed "advisor" REITs over the sample period even after...

This paper explores reasons for the strong relationship between cash flow and capital investment spending. The equilibrium level of Tobin's q is used to distinguish between liquidity constraints arising from asymmetric information and managerial over-investment of free cash flow. Results suggest...

In analyzing the decision to expense stock options, we find a greater likelihood of options expensing for firms with greater transparency and a closer alignment of interests between managers and shareholders. These results provide indirect evidence that expensing is more likely in firms that...

We explore one channel through which interest-rate derivatives usage affects loan growth positively in bank holding companies (BHCs). If interest-rate derivatives usage allows a BHC to substitute more freely among sources of funds, then its reliance on less interest-rate-sensitive sources such...

We develop a model of the dynamic interaction between CEO overconfidence and dividend policy. The model shows that an overconfident CEO views external financing as costly and hence builds financial slack for future investment needs by lowering the current dividend payout. Consistent with the...

We develop a model of the effect of CEO overconfidence on dividend policy and empirically examine many of its predictions. Consistent with our main prediction, we find that the level of dividend payout is lower in firms managed by overconfident CEOs. We document that this reduction in dividends...