We construct a governance index based on several attributes known to be associated with good corporate governance. After checking that the index is positively associated with standard indicators of firm performance, we use it to evaluate the returns on governance-sorted portfolios. Our main...

We examine the dividend policy of Japanese firms and find that dividend payout is negatively related to ownership concentration. This result contradicts the argument that dividends are substitute for shareholder monitoring, but supports the assumption that controlling shareholders extract...

In this study, we construct a corporate governance index based on several attributes known for their association with firm profitability and market value. The index is used for evaluating the performance of governance-sorted portfolios. We find that the portfolio of well-governed firms...

We investigate the hypothesis that cash balances have a precautionary motive and serve to mitigate the volatility of operating earnings, which we use as a proxy for risk. Our results show that cash holdings are positively associated with firm level risk, but negatively related to industry risk....

In this paper, I analyze the relationship between financial statements information and stock returns for firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Firm-specific information is captured by way of score indicative of the firm's cash flow generating potential. The results show that score-based...

This article examines the role of keiretsu (i.e. business group) affiliation on the risk-taking of Japanese firms. We find that total risk, measured by firm-level stock price volatility, is not significantly affected by keiretsu membership. The reason is that affiliated firms are characterized...

We investigate the role of multiple large shareholders (MLS) in corporate risk-taking. Using a sample of publicly listed French family firms over the period 2003-2012, we show that the presence, number, and voting power of MLS are associated with higher risk-taking. Our results suggest that MLS...

We analyze the market reaction to the announcement of takeover bids initiated by Australian public firms on private and public targets. The results show that acquirers of private targets benefit from a significantly higher share price reevaluation. This so-called listing effect is broad-based...

We analyze the market reaction to the announcement of takeover bids initiated by Australian public firms on private and public targets. The results show that acquirers of private targets benefit from a significantly higher share price reevaluation. This so-called listing effect is broad-based...