We test a prediction from the corporate focus literature that cross-industry spinoff distributions, where the continuing and spunoff units belong to different two-digit Standard Industry Classification codes, create more value than own-industry spinoffs. Our results indicate significant value...

We examine the impact of adopting decimal price quotes on the welfare of members of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) based on a multivariate analysis of seat prices. Consistent with existing studies, we find that decimalization leads to lower bid-ask spreads as well as lower quoted depths. To...

In this paper, we study the relation among market structure, trading costs, and competition in National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ). In particular, we address the following questions: Do NASDAQ dealers exercise market power and extract economic rents in...

We examine the role of trades in restoring price parity for equities trading in multiple markets. Using a sample of stocks trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange and on the NYSE, AMEX or NASDAQ, we contrast price convergence when market makers (a) observe only lagged quotes from both markets and...

We find that shocks to aggregate geopolitical uncertainty are associated with an average decline in firm-level capital investment. The decline in investments increases in the degree of external financial constraints faced by firms, with the effect being stronger for more irreversible...

After a decade of sluggish economic growth in the 1990s, it remains an open question whether and how Japanese firms have restructured their operations, and whether these efforts have borne any fruit. Using a randomly selected sample of 300 firms from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, we collect all...

In this paper, we study the relation among market structure, trading costs, and competition in NASDAQ. In particular, we address the following questions: Do NASDAQ dealers exercise market power and extract economic rents in setting bid-ask spread? How persistent is the market power of dominant...

The market for corporate control in the second largest economy in the world behaves very different from that in the U.S. Using a sample of 91 mergers in the period 1982-2003 we document several distinctive features of this market in Japan. First, we show that in stark contrast to the...