In an efficient market, technical analysis cannot earn abnormal returns. Technical strategies are inferior to a buy and hold strategy since they typically churn investor accounts. Nonetheless, technical analysis appears to thrive. The purpose of this paper is to explain why technical analysis...

This study tests whether belief differences affect the cross-sectional variation of risk-neutral skewness using data on firm-level stock options traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange from 2003 to 2006. We find that stocks with greater belief differences have more negative skews, even...

This paper examines the behavior of managerial investment, dividend, and capital structure decisions subsequent to the adoption of stock options as part of the compensation package. Previous studies have documented a positive stock market reaction to changes in incentive compensation plans. The...

This paper analyzes the incentive affects of flat-fee and percentage commission systems from the perspective of the economic theory of agency. Under a plausible set of assumptions the systems provide equivalent incentives. However, the relative desirability of the two systems depends upon the...

This article presents an alternative system for selling real estate. It overcomes the well-known deficiencies of the percentage commission system. In our system, the agent purchases the property from the seller and simultaneously receives a put option. The put option gives the agent the right to...

Using data from the Senior PGA Tours we analyze the incentive effects of rank order tournaments. Previous studies using data from the PGA Tour reached conflicting conclusions. To resolve the issue, the Senior PGA Tour was chosen for its unique format where players are not cut from the tournament...

Tournament theory provides important insights into organizational reward systems. It examines the incentive properties of reward systems based on rank‐order rather than absolute individual performance. Tournament theory may explain the pattern of managerial pay. It may also explain...