We develop a measure (based on the relative slopes of the demand and supply schedules) quantifying the asymmetric presence of liquidity traders in the market: a steeper slope of the demand (supply) schedule indicates a concentration of liquidity traders on the demand (supply) side. Using the...

Consistent with the agency cost rational, this paper documents that managers having larger private benefits of control purchase more insurance to reduce their own exposure to the probability of left-tail outcomes and hence the volatility of the firm's cash flows. Private benefits of control are...

This study re-examines the impact of the differential taxation of dividends and capital gains on assets’ prices. Our analysis shows that the time horizon used to define and measure the dividend period is a key issue when interpreting the empirical results. Our results indicate that most of the...

We examine the behavior of call options surrounding the underlying stock's ex-dividend date. The evidence is inconsistent with the predictions of a rational exercise policy; a significant fraction of the open interest remains unexercised, resulting in a windfall gain to option writers. This...