Why do firms go public? Despite the existence of many theories addressing this question, lack of data on private firms before they are public hampers our ability to test these theories. We circumvent this challenge by testing reverse predictions of going public theories using firms' decisions to...

Recent evidence indicates that cycles in valuation and managers ability to time the market partly explain the pattern of many corporate financing activities, such as equity issuances and mergers. In this paper, we challenge the importance of market timing in driving financing waves by examining...

The use of stock repurchases increased dramatically in the mid 1980s and declined in the early 1990s. In this paper, I investigate why this fluctuation occurred by examining the changes in firms' motives for repurchasing stock over the period of 1977 to 1993. I find that the increased use of...

This paper investigates how firms determine the capital structure of a subsidiary that is divested in a spin-off. In a spin-off, the parent divides the assets of the firm and chooses the capital structure for the new, stand-alone entity. Unlike the firms in other capital structure studies, the...

This paper investigates how firms determine the capital structure of a subsidiary that is divested in a spin-off. In a spin-off, the parent divides the assets of the firm and chooses the capital structure for the new, stand-alone entity. Unlike the firms in other capital structure studies, the...

In this paper, I investigate the relations between stock repurchases and distribution, investment, capital structure, corporate control, and compensation policies over the 1977-96 period. I allow the significance of each motive to change over time to account for adjustments in the percentage of...

We study a sample of diversified firms that alter their organizational structure by divesting a business segment. These firms experience a reduction in the diversification discount after the divestiture. We show that the efficiency of segment investment increases substantially following the...

This paper examines the impact of financial sponsor competition on corporate buyers. We find that corporate acquirers who purchase targets that financial buyers also bid on outperform corporate acquirers who buy targets bid on by corporate firms only. Deal characteristics, acquirer abilities,...

We study a sample of diversified firms that alter their organizational structure by divesting a business segment. These firms experience a reduction in the diversification discount after the divestiture. We show that the efficiency of segment investment increases substantially following the...