Merton (1987) proposes that an increase in a firm's investor base increases the firm's value. In Japan, companies can reduce their stock's minimum trading unit-the number of shares in a "round lot"-which facilitates trading in the stock by small investors. We find that a reduction in the minimum...

The authors test the proposition that corporate control considerations motivate the means of investment financing-cash (and debt) or stock. Corporate insiders who value control will prefer financing investments by cash or debt rather than by issuing new stock, which dilutes their holdings and...

The managements of many public companies do not pay much attention to the liquidity of their securities. Many if not most CEOs and CFOs feel powerless to affect what goes on in financial markets, and a common attitude among top executives is that maintaining liquidity is the concern of the...

The theory of corporate finance has been based on the idea that a company's market value is determined mainly by just two variables: the company's expected after-tax operating cash flows or earnings, and the risk associated with producing them. The authors argue that there is another important...