When companies raise equity finance they have to make two choices: the issuing method (cash versus rights) and, when they choose the rights issue method, whether rights should be traded or not. We study these choices using a sample of 15,751 rights issues and 22,016 cash offers announced during...

We study the relation between board gender diversity and initial public offering (IPO) price formation. We find that IPOs experience significantly greater underpricing when the firm’s board has at least one female director, relative to when no women sit on the board. The underpricing effect is...

This paper introduces, analyzes, and values a new form of contingent convertible (CoCo), a Call Option Enhanced Reverse Convertible (COERC). Issued as a bond, it converts to new shareholders' equity if a bank's market value of capital falls below a pre-specified trigger. The COERC avoids the...

Companies often announce their intention to reacquire share via open market transactions. However, these programs are not firm commitments. By design, they provide managers the flexibility to forego repurchasing stock. Managers concerned with maximizing the wealth of long-term stockholders will...

During the 1980s, U.S. firms that announced stock repurchase programs earned favorable long-run returns. Recently, concerns have been raised regarding the robustness of these findings. This comes at a time of explosive worldwide growth in the adoption of repurchase programs. This study provides...

We examine long-run firm performance following open market share repurchase announcements which occurred during the period 1980 to 1990. We find that the average abnormal four-year buy-and-hold return measured after the initial announcement is 12.1 percent. For `value' stocks, companies more...