We employ a Bayesian estimation technique to construct firm-varying investment-cash flow sensitivities (ICFS) for a sample of 90 Spanish listed firms over a 10-year period (1999-2008). Then we analyze which variables are associated with the firm-level ICFS-estimates both univariately and...

Q-theory predicts that investment frictions steepen the relation between expected returns and firm investment. Using financing constraints to proxy for investment frictions, we document only weak evidence that the investment-to-assets and asset growth effects in the cross-section of returns are...

We investigate the cost of capital in a model with an agency conflict between inside managers and outside shareholders. Inside ownership reflects the classic tradeoff between incentives and risk diversification, and the severity of agency costs depends on a parameter representing investor...

Investors are interested in receiving the highest return on a portfolio, subject on some constraint in the risk involved. The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is a linear model of the form: rs = α βrm ε, where rs, rm, are the returns of a particular security (s) and of the market as a whole...

The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the real options to shutdown, startup, and abandon existing production assets using detailed information for 1,121 individual power plants for the period 2001--2009, a total of 8,189 plant-year observations. We find strong evidence of real...

Measurement plays a vital role in the creation of markets, one that hinges on efficiencies gained via the universal availability of precise and accurate information on product quantity and quality. Fulfilling the potential of these ideals requires close attention to measurement and the role of...

We question a deep-ingrained doctrine in asset pricing: if an empirical characteristic-return relation is consistent with investor “rationality,” the relation must be “explained” by a risk factor model. The investment approach changes the big picture of asset pricing. Factors formed on...

This paper uses the financial crisis of 2008 as a natural experiment to demonstrate that when measuring investment-cash flow sensitivity, the value of a firm's assets that can be used as collateral should be taken into account. Using panel data on U.S. firms from 1990 to 2011, it was found that...

We offer an investment-based interpretation of price and earnings momentum. The neoclassical theory of investment implies that expected stock returns are tied with the expected marginal benefit of investment divided by the marginal cost of investment. Winners have higher expected growth and...

The internal rate of return (IRR) is often used by managers and practitioners for investment decisions. Unfortunately, it has serious flaws: among others, (i) multiple real-valued IRRs may arise, (ii) complex-valued IRRs may arise, (iii) the IRR is, in general, incompatible with the net present...