We investigate the impact of growth opportunities on the financing decisions of investor-owned electric utilities in the U.S. when the electricity sector was deregulated. We find that the relationship between leverage and growth opportunities can be positive or negative, depending on the nature...

This paper investigates real options behavior in capital budgeting decisions using a firm-level panel data set of U.S. companies in the manufacturing sector. Specifically, this paper looks are the relationship between the firm's investment to capital ratio and total firm uncertainty, measured as...

There is a sharp contrast when one compares firm leverage ratios between U.S. and British electric utilities, which have both been deregulated in the past decade. In the U.S., leverage ratios have been declining while in the U.K., they show a marked increase. To better understand the decline in...

A significant number of dividend omissions are actually good news, signaling a turnaround in the fortunes of the omitting firms after a period of poor performance, and frequently resulting in a resumption in dividend payments within five years of the omission. The market reaction, however, is...

We study the timing and significance of dividend initiations in the life cycle of a firm. We follow a sample of firms from their IPO, and using a hazard model of dividend initiations, examine which firm characteristics are important in predicting initiations. We find that dividend initiators are...

We investigate the relationship between CEO performance pay incentives and firm productivity. In general, we find an inverse U-shaped relationship between productivity and the sensitivity of CEO wealth to share value (delta) and a positive relationship between productivity and the sensitivity of...

We examine the extent to which uncertainty delays investment and the effect of competition on this relationship using a sample of 1,214 condominium developments in Vancouver, Canada built from 1979-1998. We find that increases in both idiosyncratic and systematic risk lead developers to delay...

We study the timing and significance of dividend initiations in the life cycle of a firm. Following a sample of firms from the IPO onwards, and using a hazard model to examine which factors predict initiations, we find that: (i) initiators are large firms with relatively high profitability and...

We examine the central prediction of the pecking order theory of financing among firms in two distinct life cycle stages, namely growth and maturity. We find that within a life cycle stage, where levels of debt capacity and external financing needs are more homogeneous, and after sufficiently...

We examine the extent to which uncertainty delays investment and the effect of competition on this relationship using a sample of 1,214 condominium developments in Vancouver, Canada built from 1979-1998. We find that increases in both idiosyncratic and systematic risk lead developers to delay...