We investigate the impact of universal banks on the dividend policy of affiliated companies, in an environment characterised by poor investor protection, booming stock markets and strong banks. Our results, based on a unique sample of 428 listed companies in pre-World War I Belgium, are...

This study investigates whether modern theories can explain capital structure in a historical environment which was characterized by poor investor protection, booming stock markets and strong banks, and in which taxes did not affect leverage. Our results, based on a unique, hand-collected sample...

We investigate the impact of universal bank relations on the performance and the risk of listed companies in Belgium in the period 1905-1909. Our results are consistent with the view that universal banks are efficient institutions which overcome problems of asymmetric association inevitably...

We investigate the determinants of trade credit granted by suppliers in a historical environment which was characterized by high-information asymmetries and strong banks, focusing on the role of bank-firm relationships. Our results, which are based on a unique sample of 535 firm-year...

We investigate the determinants of corporate financial reporting in an unregulated setting. Prior to the First World War, limited liability companies in Belgium were obliged to publish financial statements, but financial reporting was virtually unregulated. Investor protection was generally very...

We investigate the impact of universal banks on the performance and the risk of affiliated companies in an unregulated environment with booming financial markets. For a unique sample of 129 Belgian companies listed in the period 1905-1909, we find that universal bank affiliation had a positive...

This study investigates whether capital structure theory can explain debt ratios in an historical environment which was characterized by poor investor protection, booming stock markets and strong banks, and in which corporate income tax did not affect capital structure. Our results, based on a...

<title>Abstract</title>In this paper we use firm level data from a listed multinational to investigate how several designs for the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) formula could affect the allocation of the consolidated tax base. The design is relevant in the light of member states’ concern for...

In March 2011, the European Commission launched a proposal for a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB). However, a Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB), leaving consolidation and apportionment out of consideration, appears to be a more realistic proposition for corporate tax harmonization...

This book argues that active labour market policies are necessary to improve the position of the unemployed but have so far performed relatively poorly. The contributing authors seek ways to improve active labour market policy and consider three means of doing so: improving the quality by better...