This paper looks at the evolution of U.S. stock prices from the time of the Presidential elections to the end of 2017. It concludes that a bit more than half of the increase in the aggregate U.S. stock prices from the presidential election to the end of 2017 can be attributed to higher actual...

Optimal investment of firms implies that expected stock returns are tied with the expected marginal benefit of investment divided by the marginal cost of investment. Winners have higher expected growth and expected marginal productivity (two major components of the marginal benefit of...

Trillions of dollars are invested through index funds, exchange-traded funds, and other index derivatives. The benefits of index-linked investing are well-known, but the possible broader economic consequences are unstudied. I review research which suggests that index-linked investing is...

We offer an investment-based interpretation of price and earnings momentum. The neoclassical theory of investment implies that expected stock returns are tied with the expected marginal benefit of investment divided by the marginal cost of investment. Winners have higher expected growth and...

We study the interactions between the stock market and the labor market. When aggregate risk premiums are time-varying, predictive variables for market excess returns should forecast long-horizon growth in the marginal benefit of hiring and thereby long-horizon aggregate employment growth....

Do firms with liquid stocks hold more cash? If so, why? We show that liquidity has a positive effect on the level and value of cash holdings. Using a regression discontinuity design based on the Russell 1000/2000 index reconstitution, we also show that there is a causal link between liquidity...

Using the split-share structure reform in China as a quasi-natural experiment, we examine the effect of stock liquidity on investment efficiency. Consistent with feedback and incentive theories, investment efficiency increases after the reform but only for under-investing firms. Higher stock...

The paper tests if the documented size effect in the Indian stock market is an anomaly with respect to market efficiency or an artifact with respect to data or methodology employed. The study employs two related datasets (one being held constant through the study period, the other being revised...

This research considers the strategies on the initial public offering of company equity at the stock exchanges in the imperfect highly volatile global capital markets with the nonlinearities. We provide the IPO definition and compare the initial listing requirements on the various markets. We...

This study examines how equity market fragmentation affects firms’ capital investment decisions. Recent empirical research finds that market fragmentation lowers trading costs and thus improves market quality. We examine whether this increase in market quality translates into greater...