This paper investigates whether the NYSE and Sarbanes Oxley Act requirements for the independence and the financial knowledge of directors sitting on the board and the audit committee improve corporate hedging decisions. Our original hand collected dataset allows multiple definitions for...

Using a sample of US acquisitions in Africa over the last 2 decades, we assess the long term performance of international acquisitions in Africa, and the impact of firm and country level governance characteristics on reported performance. We show that acquirers do not benefit from these...

This paper provides an independent assessment of the effects of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Sarbanes Oxley act (SOX) requirements of independence and financial literacy on the use of derivatives for hedging purposes. Our original hand collected database on directors' university...

This paper tests the effects of the independence and financial knowledge of directors on risk management and firm value in the gold mining industry. Our original hand-collected database on directors' financial education, accounting background, and financial experience allows us to test the...

We tweak the conventional Merton model to account for the asymmetric properties of assets returns and investors asymmetric behavior toward the upside potential of gain versus the downside risk of loss. Using an asymmetric split normal distribution, we capture empirical asymmetries in the...

Empirical studies on credit spread determinants are predicated on the presence of a single-regime over the entire sample period and thus find limited explanatory power. We show that a single regime model hides the fact that the explanatory variables take on different loadings across changing...

Using an innovative random regime shift detection methodology, we identify and confirm two distinct regime types in the dynamics of credit spreads: a level regime and a volatility regime. The level regime is long lived and shown to be linked to Federal Reserve policy and credit market...

Using a real-time random regime shift technique, we identify and discuss two different regimes in the dynamics of credit spreads during 2002-2012: a liquidity regime and a default regime. Both regimes contribute to the patterns observed in credit spreads. The liquidity regime seems to explain...