Target and bidder reference points have separate and joint effects on merger deals. A firm whose stock price is more distant from its 52-week high reference point is less likely to attract bids but has a greater likelihood of being acquired by its own managers (versus unaffiliated bidders). Firm...

We find that increases in implied market volatility (a proxy for market fear) have a significant impact on returns of bank stocks, above and beyond systematic risk proxied by the expected excess market return during a bad economic regime. Large bank returns are favorably affected by increases in...

On October 16, 2009, the U.S. government charged Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and five others with insider trading, in what was described by a key prosecutor overseeing the case as a "wake-up call to Wall Street and to every hedge fund manager." We find that the mean abnormal stock...

We show that the firm's decision to pay special dividends is related to its investment opportunities based on growth options that are available within the prevailing economic environment. Specifically, firms are more likely to pay special dividends when their investment opportunities are...

We show that the firm's decision to pay special dividends is related to its investment opportunities based on growth options that are available within the prevailing economic environment. Specifically, firms are more likely to pay special dividends when their investment opportunities are...

We assess the bond market response to the Bear Stearns rescue in March 2008 and the Lehman Brothers failure (combined with news about the acquisition of Merrill Lynch and AIG's investment banking problems and subsequent rescue) in September 2008. The Bear Stearns rescue elicited a moderately...

We find that information leakages prior to public guidance issued by company management exist even after Regulation FD, and are more pronounced when characteristics of the firm, the guidance, or the industry reflect higher levels of information asymmetry. Since public guidance is only partially...

We examine an effect of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) on voluntary public managerial guidance information quality. Results suggest that the information quality of public guidance has not deteriorated after RegFD. We also examine separately the effect of Reg FD on information efficiency...

We test a theory about ambiguity surrounding the distribution of fundamental values to determine how market uncertainty affects earnings guidance perception and behavior. We find a more pronounced negative share price response to negative earnings guidance and a lower likelihood that management...

Using a unique dataset of actual investment choices, we investigate how the investment choices differ between (1) the optional retirement plan (ORP) funded by the employer and (2) the investments in 403(b) accounts funded by employees themselves using voluntary salary reduction. We find that the...