Securitization is a financial innovation that experiences a boom-bust cycle, as many other innovations before. This paper analyzes possible reasons for the breakdown of primary and secondary securitization markets, and argues that misaligned incentives along the value chain are the primary cause...

We investigate the link between employee ownership and price levels of stocks. Using a comprehensive sample of firms in the Société des Bourses Françaises (SBF) 120 Index from 2000 to 2007, we document a negative correlation between share price levels and employee ownership. This suggests...

We analyze stock market reactions to announcements of political appointments from the private sector and corporate appointments of former government officials. Using unique data on corporate affiliations and announcements of all Senate-confirmed U.S. Defense Department appointees of six...

This paper investigates the market reaction to a firm switching from a male CEO to a female CEO. We compare these firms against a four dimensional matched sample of male to male CEO appointments. Our results indicate that female CEO appointments are followed by small insignificant negative...

To examine the market response to positive revelations of chief executive officer (CEO) quality, this study focuses on CEOs who withdraw acquisition bids when the price becomes increasingly expensive. Firms that withdrawal for price-related reasons earn higher withdrawal returns than firms that...

We examine the relation between corporate diversification, real earnings management, and firm value. Our analysis indicates that industrial diversification and the combination of industrial and global diversification exacerbate real activities manipulation, whereas global diversification...

It is often taken as axiomatic that investors prefer high levels of regulation.  Yet companies have increasingly chosen to list on stock exchanges with lower regulatory requirements.  In this paper we analyse whether investors value high regulatory standards for quoted companies.  We use the...

The study investigates the price behavior after initial public offerings (IPOs) listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange from 2004 to 2009. It focuses on possible explanations for the IPO phenomenon within the context of Poland and provides evidence on the relation between both the company size and...

Regulations in the pre-Sarbanes-Oxley era allowed corporate insiders considerable flexibility in strategically timing their trades and SEC filings, for example, by executing several trades and reporting them jointly after the last trade. We document that even these lax reporting requirements...

This paper investigates politically connected firms in Germany. With the introduction of a new transparency law in 2007, information on additional income sources for all members of the German parliament became publicly available. We find that members of the conservative party (CDU/CSU) and the...