We provide evidence that firms with weak investment opportunities (those whose current earnings justify a greater valuation than firms with strong investment opportunities) signal their permanent earnings level through their dividends. In the cross-section, we show that both dividend levels and...

Stock markets perform a creation function if the inflow of financial capital in the birth of new privately-held firms is stimulated by the promise of stock market liquidity at a later point in time. Junior stock market segments, characterized by lighter listing procedures and costs, may be...

Reforms aimed at reducing the regulatory barriers to firm entry and bolstering greater firm creation have gained significant prominence in economies beyond the U.S. Given these facts and amid growing work on the link between firm creation and cyclical housing-market dynamics, we document a...