Employee compensation may impact payout policy by (i) incentivizing managers with non-dividend-protected options to favor repurchases over dividends and (ii) diluting earnings, which firms can neutralize through share repurchases. Both the dividend-protection and dilution channels imply a...

Both risk management and payout decisions affect a firm's financial flexibility — the ability to avoid costly financial distress as well as underinvestment. We provide evidence of substitution between hedging and payout decisions using samples of both financial and nonfinancial firms. We find...

The paper reviews Slovakia''s comprehensive reforms to its taxation and welfare systems in 2004, including the introduction of a flat-rate income tax and single-rate value-added tax (VAT), and linkage of social benefits to participation in labor market programs. Though revenues following the...

This paper examines the factors and constraints that affect recent and potential growth in Croatia, as well as policies that can influence it. On current productivity trends, it estimates Croatia''s potential growth rate at 4-41⁄2 percent, a result reasonably robust to different methodologies....

Das vorliegende Arbeitspapier untersucht, auf welche Art die polnische Regierung das Problem der Inflation zu behandeln versucht. Durch eine Reduktion der fiskalpolitischen Dominanz und härtere Budget-Richtlinien ist Polen seinem Ziel schon deutlich näher gekommen. Dies schlägt sich auch auf...

We construct a large sample of announcements that firms have authorized, suspended, resumed, or completed open market repurchase (OMR) programs. Starting or continuing repurchases is associated with positive average announcement period abnormal returns. Stopping repurchases, either by suspending...

This paper examines changes in corporate behavior around the 2003 modification to SEC Rule 10b-18, which mandates enhanced disclosure of repurchase transactions. Firms announce significantly fewer and slightly smaller open market repurchase plans in the enhanced disclosure environment. However,...

Though short sellers on average succeed at identifying overvalued equity, firms often signal disagreement with short sellers by repurchasing stock when short interest increases. We investigate whether this disagreement reflects a myopic defense of inflated prices, or positive private...

Political and regulatory uncertainty is strongly negatively associated with merger and acquisition activity at the macro and firm levels. The strongest effects are for uncertainty regarding taxes, government spending, monetary and fiscal policies, and regulation. Consistent with a real options...