We consider a firm with two investment projects (divisions) each run by a manager who can provide (i) (unverifiable) information about the quality of either or both projects and (ii) (unverifiable) access to valuable resources that can enhance the cash flows of either or both projects. We then...

We develop a simple closed 0form valuation model for options when the volatility of the underlying asset is stochastic. Out approach differs from previous research in that we model the pricing density directly. We show that implied volatility estimates from the Black-Scholes model can be very...

A model of security design based on the principle of information aggregation and alignment is used to show that (i) firms needing to finance their operations should issue different securities to different groups of investors in order to aggregate their disparate information and (ii) each...

Passage of the Canada Income Tax Act of 1971 permitted Canadian corporations to issue two classes of equity, one paying ordinary cash income and the other paying capital gains income. The shares are known as "interconvertible" because each share is freely convertible one-for-one into a share of...

The paper analyzes the possibility of reaching an equilibrium in a market of marine mutual insurance syndicates, called Protection and Indemnity Clubs, or P&I Clubs for short, displaying economies of scale. Our analysis rationalizes some empirically documented findings, and points out an...

Note: This paper has been published in the "International Review of Finance." It is published in: Vol 3, No.1, March 2002,pp. 27-52 of the journal.

The determination of stock prices and equilibrium expected rates of return in a general equilibrium setting is still imperfectly understood. In particular, as Grossman and Shiller (1981) and others have argued, stock returns appear to be too volatile given the smooth process for dividends and...

In this paper we show the possibility of existence of preferred stocks in a tax induced equilibrium. We show that the Miller equilibrium framework can accommodate more than two securities if different investor classes are taxed differently and the tax schedule is not flat. The introduction of...

An unresolved issue in empirical research on corporate control is the extent to which takeovers improve target and bidder firm value. We provide estimates of value improvements that avoid the bidder-revelation bias present in previous studies. Our approach, the intervention method, is based on a...

We provide an explanation for loan commitments unrelated to borrower credit-worthiness. In our model, banks can use loan commitments to reduce uncertainty regarding their own future funding needs. Given a cost advantage to banks that can acquire such information, there exists an equilibrium...