Showing papers in "Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting in 2012"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the relevance of board size and firm's risky policy choices and find that companies with smaller boards take lower leverage but more risky investment, suggesting that small boards give CEOs larger incentives and force them to bear more risk than larger boards.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the relevance of board size and firm’s risky policy choices. I find that both the managerial pay to performance sensitivity (delta) and the managerial pay to firm risk sensitivity (vega) are negatively related to board size, suggesting that small boards give CEOs larger incentives and force them to bear more risk than larger boards. While controlling for the effects of managerial compensation schemes on corporate investment policy and financing policy, I find that companies with smaller boards take lower leverage but more risky investment. Finally, after controlling for the effects of financial decisions on overall firm risk, I find that companies with smaller boards are associated with higher future risk. This supports the hypothesis that board size has negative impact on firm’s risk taking. My results are robust to various estimation methods that control for endogeneity and panel dynamics.
117 citations
TL;DR: This paper found evidence to suggest that firms which exhibit greater earnings management are associated with lower market liquidity, which is not consistent with the Easley et al. probability of informed trade measure.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to argue the extent that earnings management lowers disclosure quality. It should increase information asymmetry and impair trading liquidity. Using a large sample of NYSE firms from 1996 to 2001, we find evidence to suggest that firms which exhibit greater earnings management are associated with lower market liquidity. Our results are robust to both real and accounting based measures of earnings management and two well established measures of market liquidity. However, they are not consistent with the Easley et al. probability of informed trade measure.
100 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate whether more frequent disclosure by firms is associated with lower levels of information asymmetry among investors and find that more detailed (greater quantity) disclosure was associated with reduced information asymmetric.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to investigate whether more frequent disclosure by firms is associated with lower levels of information asymmetry among investors. Using a panel of 386 firms in the US retail sector, I find that the practice of regularly providing monthly revenue disclosures is not associated with reduced information asymmetry. In contrast, I find that more detailed (greater quantity) disclosure is associated with reduced information asymmetry. I provide preliminary evidence that the distinction between disclosure frequency and disclosure quantity is due to more frequent disclosure providing an incentive for increased private information acquisition by sophisticated investors. The results indicate that the relation between disclosure and information asymmetry is multi-dimensional and varies depending on the disclosure attribute being studied.
65 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between CEO incentives and the cost of debt and found that higher stock return volatility is related to higher costs of debt, while higher share and option sensitivity is associated with higher risk-taking.
Abstract: Motivated by concerns that stock-based compensation might lead to excessive risk-taking, this paper’s main purpose is to examine the relations between CEO incentives and the cost of debt. Unlike prior research, this paper uses the sensitivities of CEO stock and option portfolios to stock price (delta) and stock return volatility (vega) to measure CEO incentives to invest in risky projects. Higher delta (vega) is predicted to be related to lower (higher) cost of debt. The results show that yield spreads on new debt issues are lower for firms with higher CEO delta and are unrelated to CEO vega. The results also show that yield spreads are higher for firms whose CEOs hold more shares and stock options. In sum, the results suggest that both percentage-ownership and option sensitivity variables are important in understanding relations between CEO incentives and the cost of debt.
59 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a combination of extreme value theory (EVT) and various copulas is used to build joint distributions of returns for portfolio risk assessment in six Asian markets, and a backtesting analysis using a Monte Carlo VaR simulation suggests that the Clayton copula-EVT evinces the best performance regardless of the shapes of the return distributions.
Abstract: A traditional Monte Carlo simulation using linear correlations induces estimation bias in measuring portfolio value-at-risk (VaR), due to the well-documented existence of fat-tail, skewness, truncations, and non-linear relations in return distributions. In this paper, we consider the above issues in modeling VaR and evaluate the effectiveness of using copula-extreme-value-based semiparametric approaches. To assess portfolio risk in six Asian markets, we incorporate a combination of extreme value theory (EVT) and various copulas to build joint distributions of returns. A backtesting analysis using a Monte Carlo VaR simulation suggests that the Clayton copula-EVT evinces the best performance regardless of the shapes of the return distributions, and that in general the copulas with the EVT provide better estimations of VaRs than the copulas with conventionally employed empirical distributions. These findings still hold in conditional-coverage-based backtesting. These findings indicate the economic significance of incorporating the down-side shock in risk management.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between foreign institutional ownership and voluntary disclosure in an emerging market, and found that the decision to hold conference calls is positively associated with foreign ownership and the trading turnover by foreign institutional investors immediately increases after the conference calls.
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between foreign institutional ownership and voluntary disclosure in an emerging market. By exploiting a unique dataset of daily foreign investment flow and ownership data from Taiwan, this paper examines whether foreign ownership is associated with the likelihood of holding conference calls and investigates whether conference calls are informative to foreign market participants. After controlling for other characteristics of a firm’s information environment, we find that the decision to hold conference calls is positively associated with foreign institutional ownership. We also provide evidence that the trading turnover by foreign institutional investors immediately increases after the conference calls, indicating that conference calls are informative for foreign institutional investors. Our results are robust, after controlling for endogeneity.
41 citations
TL;DR: The results show that the MCLP approach in the Korean bankruptcy prediction study performs as well as traditional multiple discriminant analysis or logit analysis using only financial data and the model’s overall prediction accuracy is comparable to those of decision tree or support vector machine approaches.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the data mining applications, such as classification, which have been used in previous bankruptcy prediction studies and credit rating studies. Our study proposes a multiple criteria linear programming (MCLP) method to predict bankruptcy using Korean bankruptcy data after the 1997 financial crisis. The results, of the MCLP approach in our Korean bankruptcy prediction study, show that our method performs as well as traditional multiple discriminant analysis or logit analysis using only financial data. In addition, our model’s overall prediction accuracy is comparable to those of decision tree or support vector machine approaches. However, our results are not generalizable because our data are from a special situation in Korea.
40 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the factors that determine the business policies of private enterprises in the People's Republic of China and provide evidence on the importance of these factors in shaping the private firms' business policies in China.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that determine the business policies of private enterprises in the People’s Republic of China. Little is known about these private enterprises although these are surpassing the state-owned enterprises to become the most important corporate sector in China. The phenomenal growths of these enterprises provide an interesting setting to study the effect of the investment opportunity set (IOS) on business policies. We also examine how a firm’s political connection, generally believed to be instrumental to a firm’s success in transition economies, affects its business policies. We provide evidence on the importance of these factors in shaping the private firms’ business policies in China. More specifically, our results show that growth firms pay lower dividends, have lower overdue receivables relative to sales, have higher percentage of bonus shares, and are more likely to engage in joint ventures. In addition, firms with better political connection are able to borrow more, are more likely to establish a board of directors, and are more likely to acquire SOEs. These results have policy implications with regard to private enterprises in transitional economies in general and those in China in particular.
37 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a composite trapezoid rule, a numerical integral method, is used to estimate quantiles on the skewed generalized t distribution (SGT) which permits returns innovation to flexibly treat skewness, leptokurtosis and fat tails.
Abstract: A number of applications presume that asset returns are normally distributed, even though they are widely known to be skewed leptokurtic and fat-tailed and excess kurtosis. This leads to the underestimation or overestimation of the true value-at-risk (VaR). This study utilizes a composite trapezoid rule, a numerical integral method, for estimating quantiles on the skewed generalized t distribution (SGT) which permits returns innovation to flexibly treat skewness, leptokurtosis and fat tails. Daily spot prices of the thirteen stock indices in North America, Europe and Asia provide data for examining the one-day-ahead VaR forecasting performance of the GARCH model with normal, student’s t and SGT distributions. Empirical results indicate that the SGT provides a good fit to the empirical distribution of the log-returns followed by student’s t and normal distributions. Moreover, for all confidence levels, all models tend to underestimate real market risk. Furthermore, the GARCH-based model, with SGT distributional setting, generates the most conservative VaR forecasts followed by student’s t and normal distributions for a long position. Consequently, it appears reasonable to conclude that, from the viewpoint of accuracy, the influence of both skewness and fat-tails effects (SGT) is more important than only the effect of fat-tails (student’s t) on VaR estimates in stock markets for a long position.
33 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the explanatory power of corporate governance mechanisms on the wealth effect of firms' new product strategies and found that board size, board independence, audit committee independence, CEO equity-based pay, analyst following and shareholder rights are all of significance in explaining the variations in the wealth effects of new product introductions.
Abstract: This study examines the explanatory power of corporate governance mechanisms on the wealth effect of firms’ new product strategies. We show that board size, board independence, audit committee independence, CEO equity-based pay, analyst following and shareholder rights are all of significance in explaining the variations in the wealth effect of new product introductions. Our results reveal that the new product strategies announced by firms with better corporate governance mechanisms tend to receive higher stock market valuations than those of firms with poorer governance mechanisms. This study provides empirical support for the notion that enhanced governance mechanisms can reduce both agency and information asymmetry problems for firms announcing new products.
33 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors constructed a panel threshold regression model to explore the price impact of foreign institutional herding of firms listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange during January 2000 to June 2008.
Abstract: This study constructs a panel threshold regression model to explore the price impact of foreign institutional herding of firms listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange during January 2000 to June 2008. Our panel threshold model is constructed to explore the price impact of foreign institutional investors’ herding in the Taiwan stock market after controlling the firm size. By examining the presence of threshold effect, this study analyzes whether firm size would obviously and asymmetrically affect the explanation for the effect of changes in foreign investors’ share ownership on abnormal returns. The empirical results of this study find the significant evidence of threshold effect which divides the stocks into large-size and small-size firms. It is found that foreign institutional investors in the Taiwan stock market tend to hold large-size stocks listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange. There is an apparent increase in the subsequent abnormal returns on large-size stocks bought in bulk by foreign investors. The signals of changes in share ownership initiated by foreign institutional investors would reveal further information for improving the performance of asset reallocation decisions in Taiwan. The panel threshold model constructed in this paper well describes the price impact of institutional herding yet eschews the possibly subjective data snooping issue resulting from the two-pass sorting method as proposed by previous related researches.
TL;DR: The authors track trading activity in the days preceding acquisition announcements for target firms and find that abnormally high trading volume precedes significant price movement, which is unexpected because sellers often lose money when an acquisition is announced.
Abstract: We track trading activity in the days preceding acquisition announcements for target firms and find that abnormally high trading volume precedes significant price movement. Using additional intraday data, we find increased active-selling in target stocks before acquisition announcements that offsets increased active-buying. This is unexpected because sellers often lose money when an acquisition is announced. After ruling out alternative explanations, we find evidence that sellers are rational investors who trade on the market’s perceived overreaction to takeover rumors. While sellers lose money when a rumor precedes an actual announcement, in most cases rumors fail to materialize into public announcements. We provide evidence that the significant pre-announcement volume we document reflects the market’s processing of highly uncertain information in takeover rumors.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the relationship between CEO stock options and analysts' earnings forecast accuracy and bias and found that the incentive alignment effects of stock options are more than offset by the investment, effort allocation and gaming incentives induced by stock options grants to CEOs.
Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between CEO stock options and analysts’ earnings forecast accuracy and bias. A higher level of stock options may induce managers to undertake riskier projects, to change and/or reallocate their effort, and to possibly engage in gaming (such as opportunistic earnings and disclosure management). These managerial behaviors result in an increase in the complexity of forecasting and hence, less accurate analysts’ forecasts. Analysts’ optimistic forecast bias may also increase as the level of stock options pay increases. Because forecast complexity increases with stock options pay, analysts, needing greater access to management’s information to produce accurate forecasts, have incentives to increase the optimistic bias in their forecasts. Alternatively, a higher level of stock options pay may lead to improved disclosure because it better aligns managers’ and shareholders’ interests. The improved disclosure, in turn, may result in more accurate and less biased analysts’ forecasts. Our empirical evidence indicates that analysts’ earnings forecast accuracy decreases and forecast optimism increases as the level of CEO stock options increases. This evidence suggests that the incentive alignment effects of stock options are more than offset by the investment, effort allocation and gaming incentives induced by stock options grants to CEOs.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined whether tax avoidance substitutes for the use of debt, and investigated the impact of the tax-exhaustion effect and the cost of debt in this relationship.
Abstract: This paper examines whether tax avoidance substitutes for the use of debt, as well as investigating the impact of the tax-exhaustion effect and the cost of debt in this relationship. Applying a modified version of the tax-avoidance measure in Desai and Dharmapala (Rev Econ Stat 91:537–546, 2006), I determine the marginal substitution effect of tax avoidance for the use of debt for a large sample of Korean firms, generalizing the evidence of Graham and Tucker (J Financ Econ 81:563–594, 2006). Furthermore, I find that the debt-substitution effect increases with the probability of losing tax shields, suggesting that the tax-exhaustion effect interacts with the debt-substitution effect. In addition, the debt-substitution effect becomes stronger when the cost of debt is high, indicating that the cost of debt is a determinant of the substitution effect. The debt-substitution effects of tax avoidance suggest that tax-avoidance activities could offer a partial explanation for the underleverage puzzle.
TL;DR: In this article, a link between barrier options and tax shields of interest expense is proposed, and the authors combine this link with a traditional valuation approach to present practical valuation formulas for interest tax shields in three debt scenarios with risk of default: (1) constant debt, (2) delayed debt, and (3) debt refinancing.
Abstract: There is a link between barrier options and tax shields of interest expense. We combine this link with a traditional valuation approach, to present practical valuation formulas for interest tax shields in three debt scenarios with risk of default: (1) constant debt, (2) delayed debt, and (3) debt refinancing. In all cases, default and refinancing are contingent on the random evolution of the income of the firm. For each scenario, we work out sensitivity analysis of the value of tax shields with respect to income, growth, systematic and business risk, risk-free interest rate, interest coverage ratio covenant, and the firm’s refinancing strategy.
TL;DR: In this paper, a new momentum trading strategy based on the ratio of the current stock price to its 52-week high price is proposed, and the strategy is robust when tested over a wide range of financial and economic factors.
Abstract: This paper provides significant extensions and tests of momentum trading strategies based on relative prices that were first explored by George and Hwang (2004). We develop new momentum strategies based on the ratio of the current stock price to each of five different reference points in past prices: 52-week high, 52-week median, 52-week low, half-year high, and 2-year high. We measure their investment performance on the basis of the Fama and French 3-Factor and Momentum Model (Carhart four-factor model), and further employ the technique of nested trading strategies to measure incremental performance. The strategy based on the ratio of current stock price to its 52-week high price is the most profitable, and its performance is robust when tested over a wide range of financial and economic factors. Our results provide strong new evidence of the investment merits of a momentum trading strategy based on the 52-week high price ratio, and add new weight to challenges to the hypothesis that the stock market is efficient in the semi-strong sense.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on stock ownership and various measures of pay-performance sensitivity of CEOs' wealth was investigated.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to provide evidence on the effect of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act on stock ownership and the various measures of pay-performance sensitivity of CEOs’ wealth. The Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) provides a natural experiment for examining how stock ownership and executive pay structure adapt to a change in regulatory environment. Using annual compensation data of S&P 1,500 firms in 1994–2005, we examine the impact of SOX on stock ownership and pay-performance sensitivity of CEOs. Consistent with our expectations, we find that in light of SOX: (1) stock ownership and (2) the total pay-performance sensitivity of CEOs have decreased substantially, indicating that SOX induces a weaker incentive alignment between shareholders and CEOs. In contrast, we find that after SOX stock ownership and the total pay-performance sensitivity of CEOs have remained unchanged in the regulated industries.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the behavior of banks after monetary policy tightening by using an unrestricted VAR model and impulse response analysis, and found that a shock on the policy rate affects the main components of the banks' loan portfolios differently.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the aggregate data about bank loans which may hide significant information about the monetary transmission mechanism. This study, by disaggregating bank loans data and using the relevant interest rates in Sweden, investigates the behaviour of banks after a monetary policy tightening. By using an unrestricted VAR model and impulse response analysis, our results show that a shock on the policy rate affects the main components of the banks’ loan portfolios differently. Initially, banks do not reduce lending to firms and households and they present a sluggish reaction concerning the relevant interest rates. On the contrary, they reduce lending to mortgage credit institutions significantly since real estate lending can be considered as a risky long-term investment. Moreover mortgage credit institutions reduce lending for housing purposes to non-bank public. This reduction is mainly driven by flexible rate loans and loans secured on tenant owned apartments. Consequently, theses actions have a significant effect on real economic activity, by amplifying the initial shock from the tightening monetary policy. The latter result provides evidence of the bank lending channel in Sweden working via mortgage lending and could be very important for policy makers.
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of transaction costs on the optimal portfolio under mean-variance and mean-conditional value-at-risk strategies is discussed and analyzed, and some analytical solutions and empirical evidence for some special situations are presented.
Abstract: The portfolio revision process usually begins with a portfolio of assets rather than cash. As a result, some assets must be liquidated to permit investment in other assets, incurring transaction costs that should be directly integrated into the portfolio optimization problem. This paper discusses and analyzes the impact of transaction costs on the optimal portfolio under mean-variance and mean-conditional value-at-risk strategies. In addition, we present some analytical solutions and empirical evidence for some special situations to understand the impact of transaction costs on the portfolio revision process.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the cross-sectional relationship between security returns and beta, size and book-to-market equity in Shanghai A-share market during the period January 1997-December 2006.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to explore the cross-sectional relationship between security returns and beta, size and book-to-market equity in the Shanghai A-share market. This study takes place during the period January 1997–December 2006. The methodology of Fama and French (J Finance 51:55–84, 1992) and Pettengill et al. (J Financial Quant Anal 30:101–116, 1995) is adopted. The Results show no evidence of an unconditional relationship between beta and returns. However, a conditional relationship is found when the data is split into up and down markets. The relationship holds even in the presence of size and book-to-market equity. Both size and book-to-market equity is found to be priced by the market and thereby regarded as significant determinants of security returns.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the statistical precision of simple random sampling with balanced ranked set sampling in an inventory valuation scenario and found that the required sample sizes for a given precision are much smaller under balanced ranked-set sampling than under simple sampling.
Abstract: This study compares the statistical precision of simple random sampling with balanced ranked set sampling in an inventory valuation scenario. Computer simulation is used to calculate standard errors for the ranked set sampling mean, and those standard errors are then compared to the corresponding standard error achieved under simple random sampling. Results indicate that required sample sizes for a given precision are much smaller under ranked set sampling than under simple random sampling. This implies that simple random sampling is inferior to ranked set sampling in auditing scenarios involving the measurement of time consuming or difficult to gather data such as inventory observations, receivable confirmations, etc. Accordingly, auditors using ranked set sampling in lieu of simple random sampling can achieve the significant cost reductions associated with smaller sample sizes without sacrificing audit quality. This is a significant finding because current auditing practice is still using the simple random sampling methodology.
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of macroeconomic and financial variables on the performance of risk capital in the US was investigated using a static long-run equilibrium model, and it was shown that the value of venture capital investments is positively related to industrial production, the exit channel Nasdaq, and the long-term interest rate.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to empirically model the influence of macroeconomic and financial variables on the performance of risk capital in the US. We start our investigation using a static long-run equilibrium model. In contrast to previous studies, we analyze the effect of several factors simultaneously within the framework of a vector error correction model (VECM). This allows us to study short- and long-term interactions to overcome the problem of endogeneity, and to discover causal mechanisms. The results show that the value of venture capital investments is positively related to industrial production, the exit channel Nasdaq, and the long-term interest rate. However, the value of venture capital investments is negatively related to the short-term interest rate. According to the short-term dynamics, VEC Granger causality confirms that only industrial production influences venture capital performance, while venture capital returns Granger causes Nasdaq performance.
TL;DR: The authors examined the impact of internal control material weaknesses (ICMW hereafter) on sell side analysts and found that ICMW reporting firms have less accurate analyst forecasts relative to non-reporting firms when the reported ICMWs belong to the Pervasive type.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of internal control material weaknesses (ICMW hereafter) on sell side analysts. We find that ICMW reporting firms have less accurate analyst forecasts relative to non-reporting firms when the reported ICMWs belong to the Pervasive type. ICMW reporting firms have more optimistically biased analyst forecasts compared than non-reporting firms. The optimistic bias exists only in the forecasts issued by the analysts affiliated with less-highly-reputable brokerage houses. The differences in accuracy and bias between ICMW and non-ICMW firms disappear when ICMW disclosing firms stop disclosing ICMWs. Collectively, our results suggest that the weaknesses in internal control increases forecasting errors and upward bias for financial analysts. However, a good brokerage reputation can curb the optimistic bias.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors find that high-tech IPOs are less underpriced due to the use of venture capital and the interaction between R&D expenditure and technology, and that technology requirement reduces the underpricing of high-R&D IPOs.
Abstract: Information asymmetry and value uncertainty causes high -research and development (R&D) or high-tech Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) to become underpriced. Venture capital can serve as a moderator to mitigate the information asymmetry and value uncertainty to reduce IPO underpricing. High-tech industries significantly contribute to Taiwan’s economic growth. With the unique Taiwan data, we find that venture-backed IPOs are less underpriced. More importantly, IPO underpricing due to technology decreases with the use of venture capital and decreases with the interaction between R&D expenditure and technology. Technology requirement reduces the underpricing of high-R&D IPOs. Accordingly, R&D spending reduces the underpricing of high-tech IPOs.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate how the enactment of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg. FD) influences analysts' forecast characteristics for restructuring firms and find that such an impact cannot be persistent with an increase in the relative magnitude of restructuring charges, the proxy for restructuring complexity.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to investigate how the enactment of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg. FD) influences analysts’ forecast characteristics for restructuring firms. The Reg. FD requires all firms disseminate material information not only to some institutional investors and certain financial analysts, but to all market participants simultaneously. We expect that the regulatory effect of Reg. FD on financial analysts’ forecast performance would be pronounced because of uncertain earnings signals and information complexity produced by restructuring activities. Particularly, we examine how the enactment of Reg. FD affects the relationship between analysts’ earnings forecast attributes and the occurrence and magnitude of restructuring charges. Our general finding is that analysts’ forecast errors and forecast dispersion have declined in the post-FD period for restructuring firms. However, such an impact cannot be persistent with an increase in the relative magnitude of restructuring charges, the proxy for restructuring complexity. This study provides additional evidence that Reg. FD has limited private information, and attempts to provide all users with the same access to information within the context of firms reporting restructuring charges.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate whether capital investment can affect stock price momentum and provide empirical evidence that momentum strategies tend to be more profitable for stocks with large capital investment or investment changes, which is consistent with the behavioral finance theory that characterizes investors increased psychological bias and the more limited arbitrage opportunity when the estimation of firm value becomes more difficult or less accurate.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to investigate whether capital investment can affect stock price momentum. We provide empirical evidence that momentum strategies tend to be more profitable for stocks with large capital investment or investment changes. We present a simple explanation for our empirical results and show that our finding is consistent with the behavioral finance theory that characterizes investors’ increased psychological bias and the more limited arbitrage opportunity when the estimation of firm value becomes more difficult or less accurate.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors test Merton's hypothesis that better investor recognition is correlated with lower expected returns and find consistent evidence that higher advertising intensity is associated with lower implied cost of capital, as derived from Value Line target prices and dividend forecasts.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to test Merton’s (J Finance 42(3):483–510, 1987) hypothesis that better investor recognition is correlated with lower expected returns We measure investor recognition with the firms’ advertising intensity and offer consistent evidence that higher advertising intensity is associated with lower implied cost of capital, as derived from Value Line target prices and dividend forecasts Investor recognition plays an important role in attracting investors, improving liquidity, and ultimately reducing the cost of capital The findings shed light on the capital market implications of advertising expenditures and complement the extant research on investor recognition
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate whether the capital structure of New Zealand firms influences their product-market performance in the period from 1984 to 2008, and find no evidence that sales growth has an impact on the use of debt, but significant evidence that ROA is negatively correlated with its use.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the capital structure of New Zealand firms influences their product-market performance in the period from 1984 to 2008. Our main findings are that the use of leverage by publicly listed New Zealand companies leads to an increase in relative-to-industry sales growth, but a decrease in relative-to-industry return on assets (ROA). We also conduct a reverse causality test by examining whether sales growth and ROA influence leverage. We find no evidence that sales growth has an impact on the use of debt, but significant evidence that ROA is negatively correlated with its use. Our results suggest that New Zealand firms use debt to compete more aggressively in their product markets, even though this strategy comes at a cost of lower relative-to-industry profitability. A possible explanation for this behavior is the more competitive trading environment that has developed in New Zealand over the last 25 years.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address the issue of robustness of stock option plans, which is essential for reliable accounting valuations, and show how robustness can be achieved by applying the accounting standards SFAS 123R and IFRS 2 for executive stock options.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to address the issue of robustness of stock option plans, which is essential for reliable accounting valuations. The introduction of the accounting standards SFAS 123R and IFRS 2 for executive stock options has led to an important change. As companies are now forced to value their stock options at grant date for accounting purposes, the robustness of prices against the choice of certain valuation models and input parameters has become a very important issue. We address this issue by first analyzing certain building blocks of existing stock option plans with regard to their robustness properties. Based on our analysis, we then show how robustness of stock option plans can be achieved. The resulting stock option plans are both transparent in structure and reasonable in respect to the incentives they provide in order to increase shareholder value. We therefore conclude that stock options can be reliably expensed, if the corresponding plans are properly designed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether it is ever rational for analysts to post biased estimates and how information asymmetry and analyst experience factor into the decision, and they showed that the analyst's rational bias increases with information asymmetric, but is concavely related with experience.
Abstract: This study examines whether it is ever rational for analysts to post biased estimates and how information asymmetry and analyst experience factor into the decision. Using a construct where analysts wish to minimize their forecasting error, we model forecasted earnings when analysts combine private information with consensus estimates to determine the optimal forecast bias, i.e., the deviation from the consensus. We show that the analyst’s rational bias increases with information asymmetry, but is concavely related with experience. Novice analysts post estimates similar to the consensus but as they become more experienced and develop private information channels, their estimates become biased and deviated from the consensus. Highly seasoned analysts, who have superior analytical skills and valuable relationships, need not post biased forecasts.