If a firm's derivative positions generate positive cash flows or value in periods of economic adversity, then those derivatives are deemed to hedge the firm's risk. Previous research offers little large-sample evidence on the magnitude of non-financial firms' risk exposure hedged by the...

Piotroski [2000] investigates value stocks and examines whether a simple, accounting-based fundamental analysis strategy, when applied to historical data, can further enhance the returns to investing in high book-to-market firms. This discussion of Piotroski [2000] focuses on two main issues....

We examine determinants of non-executive employee stock options outstanding, grants, and exercises for 756 firms during 1994 to 1997. We find that firms use greater stock option compensation when facing capital requirements and financing constraints. Our results are also consistent with firms...

We examine whether publicly available performance measures other than stock price are economically significant in explaining changes in CEOs' firm-specific wealth. Similar to Antle and Smith [1986], we measure a CEO's firm-specific wealth changes as the sum of total annual pay and changes in the...

We examine the determinants of options outstanding, grants, and exercises by non-executive employees. Using hand-collected data on options outstanding, grants, and exercises for a broad cross-section of 795 large firms for the years 1994 to 1997, we create measures of option values and...

We derive a measure of diluted EPS that incorporates economic implications of the dilutive effects of employee stock options. We show that the existing FASB treasury-stock method of accounting for the dilutive effects of outstanding options systematically understates the dilutive effect of stock...

We hypothesize that the payout method chosen to distribute a cash flow shock is primarily determined by the permanence of the shock. Dividend increases will be observed following cash flow shocks with a relatively large permanent component while repurchases will be used to distribute shocks that...

The costs associated with compiling data on employee stock option portfolios is a substantial obstacle in investigating the impact of stock options on managerial incentives, accounting choice, financing decisions, and the valuation of equity. We present an accurate method of estimating option...

We investigate whether aggressive tax planning firms have a less transparent information environment. Although tax planning provides expected tax savings, it can simultaneously increase the financial complexity of the organization. And, to the extent that this greater financial complexity cannot...