This paper documents that underpriced firms substitute R&D spending with share buybacks to the detriment of innovation. To identify underpriced firms, I introduce a novel measure of non-fundamental price pressure induced by indirect exposure to industry-level shocks. This measure addresses...

Can companies increase the liquidity of their shares through repurchases? On the one hand, the presence of informed insiders increases adverse selection costs; on the other hand, repurchasing firms increase the demand of shares and therefore improves the liquidity. This paper examines the...

Mutual funds are held by investors in taxable and tax-qualified retirement accounts. We investigate whether the characteristics, investment strategies, and performance of mutual funds held by these diverse tax clienteles differ. Examining both mutual fund distributions and mutual fund holdings,...

We test the predictions of dividend signaling models using closed-end equity funds that adopt explicit policies committing them to pay minimum dividend yields. These policies represent deliberate attempts to reduce share price undervaluation relative to NAV. Funds that adopt minimum dividend...

This paper investigates the relationship between mutual funds' holdings and listed firms' dividend policies in China. We find that mutual funds prefer to hold the shares of listed firms that pay cash or stock dividends. However, mutual funds are not particularly attracted to firms that pay high...

Taking advantage of the unique Canadian setting where two governance mechanisms coexist, this study empirically examines the impact of the presence of the board of directors, as an internal governance mechanism, on fees and performance of mutual funds. Furthermore, the impact of the board...

The taxation of capital gains for Managed Investment Funds in New Zealand was dramatically changed in October 2007, putting these entities on a similar footing to private investors. Prior to this change most private investors were not taxed on capital gains from investments in New Zealand and...

Some mutual funds purchase stocks before dividend payments to artificially increase their dividends, which we call "juicing." Funds paid more than twice the dividends implied by their holdings in 7.4% of fund-years examined. Juicing is associated with larger inflows, and is more common among...

The fastest growing segment of private equity deals are secondary buyouts - sales from one PE fund to another. Using a comprehensive sample of leveraged buyouts we investigate whether SBOs are value-maximizing, or reflect opportunistic behavior. To proxy for adverse incentives, we develop buy...