Agency theory is an important, yet controversial, theory. This paper reviews agency theory, its contributions to organization theory, and the extant empirical work and develops testable propositions. The conclusions are that agency theory (a) offers unique insight into information systems, outcome uncertainty, incentives, and risk and (b) is an empirically valid perspective, particularly when coupled with complementary perspectives. The principal recommendation is to incorporate an agency perspective in studies of the many problems having a cooperative structure.

http://strategy.sjsu.edu/www.stable/pdf/Eisenhardt,%20K.%20M.,%201989,%20The%20Academy%20of%20Management%20Review%2014(1)%2057-74.pdf

Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review

计量经济分析 = Econometric analysis

The author argues that the preponderance of theoretical reasoning and empirical evidence suggests a positive first order relationship between financial development and economic growth. There is evidence that the financial development level is a good predictor of future rates of economic growth, capital accumulation, and technological change. Moreover, cross-country, case-style, industry level and firm-level analysis document extensive periods when financial development crucially affects the speed and pattern of economic development. The author explains what the financial system does and how it affects, and is affected by, economic growth. Theory suggests that financial instruments, markets and institutions arise to mitigate the effects of information and transaction costs. A growing literature shows that differences in how well financial systems reduce information and transaction costs influence savings rates, investment decisions, technological innovation, and long-run growth rates. A less developed theoretical literature shows how changes in economic activity can influence financial systems. The author advocates a functional approach to understanding the role of financial systems in economic growth. This approach focuses on the ties between growth and the quality of the functions provided by the financial systems. The author discourages a narrow focus on one financial instrument, or a particular institution. Instead, the author addresses the more comprehensive question: What is the relationship between financial structure and the functioning of the financial system?

/pdf/financial-development-and-economic-growth-views-and-agenda-1isr9l81uu.pdf

Financial development and economic growth : views and agenda

https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~lpederse/courses/LAP/papers/Information,Fundamental/GlostenMilgrom85.pdf

Bid, ask and transaction prices in a specialist market with heterogeneously informed traders

THE SPHERE of model financial economics encompasses finance, micro investment theory and much of the economics of uncertainty. As is evident from its influence on other branches of economics including public finance, industrial organization and monetary theory, the boundaries of this sphere are both permeable and flexible. The complex interactions of time and uncertainty guarantee intellectual challenge and intrinsic excitement to the study of financial economics. Indeed, the mathematics of the subject contain some of the most interesting applications of probability and optimization theory. But for all its mathematical refinement, the research has nevertheless had a direct and significant influence on practice. ’ It was not always thus. Thirty years ago, finance theory was little more than a collection of anecdotes, rules of thumb, and manipulations of accounting data with an almost exclusive focus on corporate financial management. There is no need in this meeting of the guild to recount the subsequent evolution from this conceptual potpourri to a rigorous economic theory subjected to systematic empirical examination? Nor is there a need on this occasion to document the wide-ranging impact of the research on finance practice.2 I simply note that the conjoining of intrinsic intellectual interest with extrinsic application is a prevailing theme of research in financial economics. The later stages of this successful evolution have however been marked by a substantial accumulation of empirical anomalies; discoveries of theoretical inconsistencies; and a well-founded concern about the statistical power of many of the test methodologies.3 Finance thus finds itself today in the seemingly-paradoxical position of having more questions and empirical puzzles than at the start of its

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1987.tb04565.x

A Simple Model of Capital Market Equilibrium with Incomplete Information

We analyze the link between creditor rights and firms’ investment policies, proposing that stronger creditor rights in bankruptcy reduce corporate risk-taking. In cross-country analysis, we find that stronger creditor rights induce greater propensity of firms to engage in diversifying acquisitions, which result in poorer operating and stock-market abnormal performance. In countries with strong creditor rights, firms also have lower cash flow risk and lower leverage, and there is greater propensity of firms with low-recovery assets to acquire targets with high-recovery assets. These relationships are strongest in countries where management is dismissed in reorganization, and are observed in time-series analysis around changes in creditor rights. Our results question the value of strong creditor rights as they have an adverse effect on firms by inhibiting management from undertaking risky investments.

/pdf/creditor-rights-and-corporate-risk-taking-3y6gsr8ae7.pdf

Creditor Rights and Corporate Risk-Taking

Stable URL:http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0046-3892%28198821%2917%3A1%3C5%3ALAAPFM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-XFinancial Management is currently published by Financial Management Association International.Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtainedprior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content inthe JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/journals/fma.html.Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academicjournals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers,and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community takeadvantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.http://www.jstor.orgThu Nov 1 15:56:05 2007

Liquidity and Asset Prices: Financial Management Implications

(1986). Liquidity and Stock Returns. Financial Analysts Journal: Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 43-48.

Liquidity and Stock Returns

We propose that fund performance can be predicted by its R2, obtained from a regression of its returns on a multi-factor benchmark model. Lower R2 indicates greater selectivity and it significantly predicts better performance. Stock funds sorted into lowest-quintile lagged R2 and highest-quintile lagged alpha produce significant annual alpha of 3.8%. Across funds, R2 is positively associated with fund size and negatively associated with its expenses and manager’s tenure.

/pdf/mutual-fund-s-r-2-as-predictor-of-performance-1ich0wrfvp.pdf

Mutual Fund's R^2 as Predictor of Performance

We study the joint effect of the trading mechanism and the time at which transactions take place on the behavior of stock returns using data from Japan. The Tokyo Stock Exchange employs a periodic clearing procedure twice a day, at the opening of both the morning and the afternoon sessions. This enables us to discern the effect of the clearing mechanism from the effect of the overnight trading halt. While the periodic clearing at the beginning of the trading day is noisy and inefficient, the midday clearing transaction appears to be no worse than the two closing transactions. IN A RECENT ARTICLE in this Journal (Amihud and Mendelson (1987a)) we examined the effects of two major trading mechanisms on the behavior of stock returns. One mechanism is the continuous dealership market, where investors trade with market makers at their quoted bid-ask prices, and the other is the periodic clearing procedure, where buy and sell orders accumulate during some time interval and are then executed simultaneously at a single price which equates the quantity demanded to the quantity supplied. Our study of the two trading mechanisms compared the time-series behavior of stock returns over the open-to-open and close-to-close time intervals for the same stocks over the same period on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). By this methodology, any information about the value of the stock equally affects both return series. Yet, there is a difference between the trading mechanisms by which opening and closing prices are set: The opening transaction in major NYSE stock issues is executed by a periodic clearing procedure, whereas trading continues afterward in a dealership market controlled by the Exchange specialist. If the different trading mechanisms had no effect on stock prices, the variances and autocorrelations would be the same for the two return series.

Yakov Amihud

Papers

Creditor Rights and Corporate Risk-Taking

Liquidity and Asset Prices: Financial Management Implications

Liquidity and Stock Returns

Mutual Fund's R^2 as Predictor of Performance

Volatility, Efficiency, and Trading: Evidence from the Japanese Stock Market