This study provides empirical evidence on the relationship between dividend payout ratios, executive compensation and agency costs in Italy. Corporate governance in Italy is distinguished by the fact that a large number of Italian firms are family-controlled, which may theoretically reduce...

Dividend reductions have long been considered a "last resort" action for firm managers. Managerial reluctance to reduce dividends emanates from the view that dividend drops signal managerial pessimism regarding future earnings. Contrary to expectations, studies show that earnings rebound...

This Article identifies a cost to public investors of tying executive pay to the future value of a firm's stock - even its long-term value. In particular, such an arrangement can incentivize executives to engage in share repurchases (when the current stock price is low) and equity issuances...

This work investigates the role of equity ownership for the purpose of committing the management to the pursuit of shareholder value in the presence of separation between ownership and control. By rooting the conflicts of interests between managers and shareholders upon the control of internal...

Theory suggests that management may be able to increase firm value through the strategic use of debt when facing contingent liabilities. This paper examines whether managers strategically use financial policy when facing the risk of one such liability – litigation claims. I find that greater...

A deep-ingrained doctrine in asset pricing says that if an empirical characteristic-return relation is consistent with investor “rationality,” the relation must be “explained” by a risk (factor) model. The investment approach questions the doctrine. Factors formed on characteristics are...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between dividend policy and share price volatility with a focus on consumer product companies listed in Malaysian stock market. For this purpose, a sample of 84 companies from 142 consumer product companies listed in main market of Bursa...

Corporate finance theory provides both precise and approximate formulas for the maximum growth rate of a firm, typically called the internal growth rate (when no external funds are permitted) and the sustainable growth rate (when the capital structure is held fixed). The assumption in these...

Corporate finance theory provides both precise and approximate formulas for the maximum growth rate of a firm, typically called the internal growth rate (when no external funds are permitted) and the sustainable growth rate (when the capital structure is held fixed). The assumption in these...