Using a unique database of over 3400 listed industrial companies, we examine the evolution of dividend policy from 1989 to 2003 in the fifteen nations that were members of the European Union in May 2004. As in the United States, the fraction of European firms paying dividends declines...

Using a database of over 4100 listed industrial companies, we examine the evolution of cash dividends and share repurchases from 1989 to 2005 in the fifteen nations that were members of the European Union before May 2004. As in the United States, the fraction of European firms paying dividends...

We measure flexibility of dividend policy and study its impact on abnormal shareholders' returns in the European Union. When we use relative repurchase frequency and relative repurchase amounts as a measure of flexibility, civil law companies are more flexible. A more frequent use of repurchases...

We study dividend policies and dividend flexibility and use the annual abnormal return methodology to investigate the impact of more or less flexible policies for stock returns. We focus on the European Union which accommodates two corporate governance systems. We show that common law companies...

Spending on R&D has grown faster than other investments. This may result in higher return and higher risk. We focus on the latter and examine how research and development (R&D) affects the risks of US firms. We analyze the impact on the firm's beta, its systematic and idiosyncratic risk, and the...

The literature on the certification role of venture capitalists in initial public offerings (IPOs) is mixed and quite often no significant effect is found. Similarly, we find no significant effect of venture capitalists on IPO-underpricing in The Netherlands, if we study the impact of venture...

Using the information from the Shanghai-listed manufacturing firms, we find an increase in diversification over the period 2001-2003. The question may then be raised whether this benefits shareholders. Though researchers of developed countries find a negative effect of diversification, it may...

This paper investigates micro-macro links in stock markets. Empirical investigations on individual investors' decision-making and interactions are used to formalize agent rules for an artificial stock market. Simulation of the social interactions of multiple agents in this market generates macro...

We show, for a sample of up to 757 industrial firms, in seven Latin American countries from 1994-2014, that these firms exhibit comparatively flexible payout behavior. Flexibility is defined in respect to (i) variability in firm payout status and amounts and (ii) parameters of the...

Spending on R&D has grown faster than other investments. This may result in higher return and higher risk. We focus on the latter and examine how research and development (R&D) affects the risks of US firms. We analyze the impact on the firm's beta, its systematic and idiosyncratic risk, and the...