Index insurance has been promoted as a cost-effective risk management alternative for agricultural producers in developing countries. In this paper, we ask whether spatially separated weather variables commonly used in index insurance design, such as rainfall at different weather stations within...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief review of pre-2003 work on the weekend effect and then discuss how recent selected work has extended our knowledge of the subject. Design/methodology/approach – Results of recently published studies are organized and summarized by...

Municipal bonds are often insured by insurance companies that promise to pay investors in the event of default on the part of the issuer. However, just as the financial strength of the insurer can provide assurance to investors, questions about insurer stability may heighten investor concerns....

Investors in tax-exempt bonds may invest in bonds that are insured against default risk. Research in this paper explores whether it makes a difference to investors which insurer provides the default risk protection. Using a sample of bonds insured by each of the major insurers, evidence is...

The authors examine the impact of a scandal on the information content in the "Heard on the Street" column of the "Wall Street Journal." Following the scandal in 1984, the column is found to have a reduced impact on stock prices for both buy and sell recommendations. However, the stock price...

The chain of events that led to the disagreement between the White House and Congrees over the increase of the federal debt limit from mid-October 1995 to March 1996 caused a default potential for Treasury securities. We examine the effect of this event chain on the yield spread between...