This paper presents annual stock market capitalization data for 17 advanced economies from 1870 to today. Extending our knowledge beyond individual benchmark years in the seminal work of Rajan and Zingales (2003) reveals a striking new time series pattern: over the long run, the evolution of...

We analyse the motives and market valuation of various forms of stock market delisting. We show that firms that delist voluntarily are likely to have come to the market to rebalance their leverage rather than to finance their growth opportunities. During their public life, their leverage...

This paper describes regularities in the intraday spreads and prices quoted by dealers on the London Stock Exchange. It develops a measure of spread-related transaction costs, one that recognizes dealers' willingness to price trades within their quoted spreads. This measure of transaction costs...