Because the less informed incorrectly estimate asset returns, they anticipate higher returns from their risky investments. They thus over-invest in risky securities. They are rewarded by higher total portfolio returns. Too high a proportion of less informed investors lowers the return on risky...

Economic theories of systems of cities explain why production and consumption activities are concentrated in a number of urban areas of different sizes and industrial composition rather than uniformly distributed in space. These theories have been successively influenced by four paradigms: i)...

This chapter provides a survey of recent developments of positive as well as normative theories of city systems. Static theory of city system emphasizes the factors that result in the formation of cities through the interaction between two opposing forces: i) agglomeration economy; ii)...

We report the results of a 2004 survey from managers of dividend-paying Norwegian firms listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange about their views on dividend policy. Specifically, we identify the most important factors in making dividend policy decisions and managers’ views about various...

We examine the expectational stability (E—stability) of rational expectations equilibrium under optimal interest rate rules in the context of the standard, “New Keynesian” model of the monetary transmission mechanism. We focus on the case where the monetary authority adds interest rate...

Existing literature has focused attention on the impact of Basle I and similar capital requirement regulations on developed countries where such regulations were found to be effective in increasing capital ratios and reducing portfolio credit risk of commercial banks. In the present study, we...

The weekend effect is described as the tendency for Monday security returns to be low (or negative) compared to other days of the week. The weekend effect may not be exploited by trading individual stocks because of transactions costs. However, the institutional characteristics of the US-based...

In this paper we use a modified neoclassical business cycle model to test two competing explanations of the expansion of the 1990s. The model can have indeterminate, multiple equilibria that give rise to expectation-driven business cycles. We fit into the model series of estimated speculative...

In this study, we examine the determinants of firms’ IPO decisions in Taiwan, for the sample period of 1989 to 2000. The regulations in Taiwan permit us to identify firms that met IPO requirements but chose not to go public. The unique regulatory environment allows a clear comparison of firms...

It is already well known that U.S. investors can achieve higher gains by investing directly in emerging markets (De Santis, 1997). Given the opportunity to invest directly in the shares of stocks in the developed (DCs) and emerging (EM) markets, it is interesting to know whether the U.S....