We provide evidence of a link between firm dividend policy and stock market liquidity. In the cross-section, owners of less (more) liquid common stock are more (less) likely to receive cash dividends. Over time, the notable increase in US stock market liquidity explains most of the declining...

We provide evidence of a link between firm dividend policy and stock market liquidity. In the cross-section, owners of less (more) liquid common stock are more (less) likely to receive cash dividends. Predictions of the proportion of dividend payers based on 1963-1977 cross-sectional estimates...

This study finds a significant and pervasive decline but not an elimination of CEO optionbased compensation after the corporate governance scandals around 2000-2001 centered on executive option compensation. Some, but not all, of the drop is predicted by changes in the characteristics of firms,...

We study the mutual relationships between institutional ownership, analyst following and share prices. We show that the pressure on firms to set lower share prices to attract analysts is attenuated by institutional monitoring. Our theory refutes the assumed causal relation between share price...

We develop and test a theory explaining the equilibrium matching of issuers and underwriters. We assume that issuers and underwriters associate by mutual choice, and that underwriter ability and issuer quality are complementary. Our model implies that matching is positive assortative, and that...

We develop a model in which firms select share prices by trading off the benefits of institutional investor monitoring against the value of a broad shareholder base. Firms that anticipate small gains from institutional monitoring target a retail investor clientele by setting lower share prices...

Attitudes towards business vary significantly across political lines, religious denominations, and ethnic groups. We utilize this variation to construct a measure of local business attitudes and show that firms in areas with stronger probusiness attitudes are less likely to incorporate in...

We propose a new measure of the exploratory activities of companies based on the idea that experimentation with new courses of action and the need to describe them entails the adoption of new words in firm regulatory disclosures. Unlike traditional indicators, such as R&D spending, the proposed...

Empirical studies of firms' financing, investment, and payout policies routinely examine these policies in isolation. In this paper we develop a dynamic multi-equation model where firms make financing and investment decisions jointly subject to the constraint that sources of cash must equal uses...