Disagreement about stock valuation, combined with short-sales constraints, can increase asset prices. We build a model showing that, so long as investor beliefs are not perfectly correlated, investors will disagree less about the value of a conglomerate than about each of its individual...

This study is motivated by the continuing popularity of the Altman Z-score as a measure of distress risk. Altman first introduced the ‘Z' score in 1968 and 50 years later it is still going strong as a means to predicting bankruptcy. During these 50 years, academicians have studied the...

Our study is motivated by the continuing criticism of large banks and their role in the 2008 financial crisis. The need for the government to provide bailouts under the “Too Big to Fail” umbrella led to a negative perception associated with the term ‘big.' This study provides an alternate...

Uncertainty in banking regulation may impose widespread economic costs by increasing fi nancialconstraints on credit availability. Four years of Dodd Frank uncertainty over undecided riskweightings increased regulatory uncertainty for smaller banks, restricting "vanilla" interest ratehedging...

We analyze the question whether and when access to refinancing via repurchase agreements as opposed to asset liquidation increases efficiency to financial intermediators ('banks'). By pledging assets in form of a repo contract the bank can raise cash, by this preventing to forgo returns on sold...

This paper investigates the information spillover effect of government bailouts. Analyzing money market funds' dynamic enrollment status in the U.S. Treasury Temporary Guarantee Program in 2008, this paper finds that enrolled funds had overall positive fund flows, implying that the stability...

Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reduced resale restrictions on Rule 144 private placements from 12 months to 6 months with the intention of lowering the cost of equity capital for issuing firms. In Canada, similar regulatory changes were adopted several years ago, providing...

The existing replication policies at top finance journals are far weaker than the policies at top economics journals. This paper explores both the costs and benefits of having a stronger replication policy in the context of my failed 2010 initiative to develop a unified policy across all top...

This paper is motivated by high levels of non-performing loans in the Zimbabwean banking sector since dollarization in 2009. Banks are well known for their function of providing liquidity in the economy. Normal loan awarding require credit analysis. Credit analysis is undertaken to assess the...