We analyze market liquidity (i.e., spreads and depths) and quote clustering using data from the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE), where the tick size increases with share price in a stepwise fashion. We find that stocks that are subject to larger mandatory tick sizes have wider spreads and...

We test the predictability of eighteen stock return predictors, including classic factors such as firm size, book-to-market, and momentum, along with other proposed predictors from firm-specific, corporate investment, financing, and stock characteristic anomalies. These predictors have power to...

Using brokerage account data from China, we study investment decision making in an emerging market. We find that Chinese investors make poor trading decisions: the stocks they purchase underperform those they sell. We also find that Chinese investors suffer from three behavioral biases: (i) they...

This chapter assesses the behavior of corporate managers and boards of directors within the framework of agency theory, stewardship theory, and psychological biases. In agency theory, a chief executive officer (CEO) is motivated to act in his or her own best interests rather than those of...

Global Corporate Finance: A Focused Approach introduces students to basic principles of international corporate finance. The book stresses practical applications in a user-friendly format and is hence suitable for both undergraduate and graduate level courses in international finance. A...

This paper surveys corporate governance in China, as described in a growing literature published in top journals. Unlike the classical vertical agency problems in Western countries, the dominant agency problem in China is the horizontal agency conflict between controlling and minority...

This paper tests the relation between intellectual collaboration and the quality of the intellectual output using academic papers published in prestigious finance journals during 1988-2005. We use the number of authors of a paper to measure the extent of intellectual collaboration and the number...

Using a sample of over 3,000 seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) from 1983 to 1998, we test the hypothesis that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 10b-21, which disallows the covering of short positions with newly issued SEOs, makes pre-offer stock prices less informative, which, in...

Initial margin requirements represent: (1) a cost impediment to the wealth constrained investor and (2) a potential way of mitigating excessive volatility. However, prior empirical research finds that margins are not an effective tool in reducing volatility. We consider the possibility that...