The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), like many other development agencies and donors, increasingly emphasizes evidence-based programming. This requires assessments of project performance at all stages of implementation, comprising ex-ante impact assessment, monitoring...

In this paper we introduce a new financial product named Outperformance Certificates. We study the €43 billion sample by examining 1,507 issues of the certificates outstanding in August 2005 issued by banks in Europe. We present formulas to price the certificates and empirically examine the...

This study examines two channels through which Chinese government intervenes in business activities: direct intervention via government ownership and indirect intervention via strategic development plans in selected areas. The findings show that these interventions affect corporate policies...

In this paper, we find a 'reverse%rsquo; weekend effect - whereby returns for Monday are positive and significantly greater than returns for the preceding Friday - in recent data for major stock indexes. We also find that, while a weak weekend effect exists in portfolios of smaller firms, the...

Investors in tax-exempt bonds may invest in bonds that are insured against default risk. Research in this paper explores whether it makes a difference to investors which insurer provides the default risk protection. Using a sample of bonds insured by each of the major insurers, evidence is...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief review of pre-2003 work on the weekend effect and then discuss how recent selected work has extended our knowledge of the subject. Design/methodology/approach – Results of recently published studies are organized and summarized by...

Do credit risk transfers in general, and loan sales and securitizations in particular, by financial institutions enhance credit availability and financial stability? Or do they allow assets of poor credit quality to spread to unprotected investors, and thus create financial crises and destroy...

This study examines if tradings on stocks based on the inside information about the "Heard on the Street" column of the Wall Street Journal could generate abnormal returns. The authors found significant abnormal returns on days t = -1 and t = 0 (publication date) for the stocks related to...

On April 26, 1982, Moody's Investors Service refined its rating system for the first time in its seventy-three year rating history. We examine the information content of the rating refinement in the study. We find a statistically significant change in the yields on bonds whose ratings were...