Analyst coverage has been cited increasingly as an important attribute in the selection of an underwriter for a firm about to go public. However, it has also been alleged that affiliated analysts provide biased research. In this study, we examine these interrelated issues by examining the...

We examine acquisitions of private firms with valuation histories and find a positive relation between acquirer announcement returns and target valuation revisions. Similar to other studies, acquirer announcement returns are positive, on average. However, positive acquirer announcement returns...

In sharp contrast to results in the United States, the average stock price response to an announcement of a seasoned equity issue in Japan is positive. Offer prices in Japan, unlike the United States, are announced several days before the beginning of the subscription period and incorporate a...

This paper examines whether firms with greater research and development (R&D) expenditures earn higher stock returns when they have good corporate governance. After controlling for size, book-to-market ratio, momentum, asset growth, accruals, and abnormal capital expenditures, we determine that...

This study examines the motives for share repurchases. Whereas most prior research points to either the signaling or free cash flow hypothesis, we find that the motives for repurchases differ depending on the firm’s life cycle stage. Specifically, we find that a firm in the growth stage tends...

An exclusive focus on bottom-line income misses important information contained in accruals (the difference between accounting earnings and cash flow) about the quality of earnings. Earnings increases that are accompanied by high accruals, suggesting low-quality earnings, are associated with...

An exclusive focus on bottom-line income misses important information about the quality of earnings. Accruals (the difference between accounting earnings and cash flow) are reliably, negatively associated with future stock returns. Earnings increases that are accompanied by high accruals,...

A rich literature argues that stock repurchases often serve as positive economic signals beneficial to investors. Yet due to their inherent flexibility, open-market repurchase programs have long been criticized as weak signals lacking commitment. We evaluate whether some managers potentially use...