We examine the effect of hierarchy on analyst teams' performance using a large sample of financial analysts from China. Hierarchy, defined as the disparity in power or status within a group, which we operationalise as the difference in experience between the senior and junior analyst in a team,...

Habib (2008) shows that financial transparency, but not governance transparency, is related to efficiency in capital allocation. I argue that governance transparency is more likely to facilitate capital allocation in declining industries where agency problems intensify. Empirical evidence from a...

We examine, in a controlled experimental setting, whether changes in investor mood cause changes in the determinants of stock prices. Our results show that a deterioration in mood, reflected in the negative dimensions of mood state, increases the level of risk aversion in male, but not female,...

We examine the effects of the world's first comply-or-explain dividend regulation in China's Shanghai Stock Exchange, which requires firms to either pay at least 30% of profits as dividends or explain the use of funds. We find that many firms increased their payout ratio to comply, by increasing...

This study investigates the impact of foreign investors on the informational efficiency of stock prices in local markets. Using a large sample of Japanese firms over the period 1975 to 2008, we find that prices deviate less from a random walk for stocks with a large change in foreign ownership....

This study investigates whether product market competition reduces agency problems between controlling shareholders and minority shareholders in Japan. In particular, we examine firms' dividend policies in competitive versus concentrated industries. In a large sample of Japanese firms we find...

Using a large sample of firms from 43 markets, we find significant time-series variations in firms’ leverage ratios around the world. Industry median leverage ratios and aggregate leverage ratios also change substantially over time. Relative to actual leverage ratios, target leverage ratios...

This paper examines whether dividend policy is associated with earnings management and whether the relationship varies across countries with wide-ranging degrees of institutional strength and transparency. Based on a sample of 23,429 corporations from 29 countries, we show that dividend payers...

In 2016 the Chinese government initiated a nationwide campaign aiming to eliminate poverty in China by 2020. Over 20% of listed firms in China have made significant contributions to the campaign. Using hand-collected data on listed firms' contributions to the campaign and multivariate analyses,...