During the 1990s, the asset portfolios of defined-benefit (DB) pension plans ballooned with the booming stock market. Due to current accounting guidelines, the robust growth in pension assets resulted in a stealthy but substantial boost to the profits of sponsoring corporations. This study...

This paper examines the relative importance of global, country-specific, and industry-specific factors in both the cash flow and discount rate components of equity returns between 1995 and 2003. Our framework draws upon previously separate literatures on country versus industry effects and...

In a model that emphasizes technological progress and human capital creator as essential features of economic development, this paper establishes a theoretical link between the financial system and per capita output growth. More specifically, it demonstrates that stock markets--by facilitating...