This Article investigates the determinants of dividend policy in firms with concentrated ownership structure. A review of the empirical literature shows that dividend payout ratios are lower in firms with controlling shareholders. We explain this finding as a consequence of the legal rules...

We test the empirical validity of a claim that has been playing a central role in debates on corporate governance — the claim that interventions by activist hedge funds have a detrimental effect on the long-term interests of companies and their shareholders. We subject this claim to a...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently considering a rulemaking petition requesting that the Commission shorten the ten-day window, established by Section 13(d) of the Williams Act, within which investors must publicly disclose purchases of a five percent or greater stake in...

This paper challenges a persistent and pervasive view in corporate law and corporate governance: that a firm's managers should favor long-term shareholders over short-term shareholders, and maximize long-term shareholders' returns rather than the short-term stock price. Underlying this view is a...

The stakeholder vision has emerged as an influential stream in corporate governance. In the English-speaking world, Canada was the pioneer in introducing a regulatory stakeholder regime. This article examines the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) for its concern for non-shareholder groups,...

Despite its massive size, the corporate debt market is often considered a sleepy refuge for the risk-averse. Yet, corporate debt contracts are often mind-numbingly detailed. That complexity—when coupled with the financial stakes in play—can be a recipe for calamity. And in late 2020,...

Open market share repurchases are strictly regulated to prevent managers from taking advantage of selling shareholders. We examine compliance with these rules in France, where the mandatory disclosure of share repurchases provides detailed information on repurchases actually undertaken. Using a...

Forty-four companies are identified as having conducted 67 buy-backs since legislation permitting this procedure was introduced in November 1989. This paper compares and contrasts potential relative to provided motivations of Australian listed companies effecting share buy-backs over the period...

This paper measures corporate control benefits - the value that dominant vote-holders expropriate from a controlled company to the detriment of other shareholders. Control benefits are extracted from the total value of the votes in the control block, based on a baseline control contest model in...

Influential contributors to debates concerning corporate governance assert that it is impossible to understand key trends without taking politics into account. This proposition has, however, remained largely untested. This paper therefore offers an empirical study of the relation between...