This paper studies the impact of the network centrality of directors on the choice of payment method in mergers and acquisitions of firms in which they sit at the board. We assume that the centrality of directors reduces information asymmetry problems, facilitating information transmission...

This paper examines the price impact of trading due to expected changes in the FTSE 100 index composition. We focus on the latter index because it employs publicly-known objective criteria to determine membership and hence it provides a natural context to investigate anticipatory trading...

In the context of a Black-Scholes economy and with a no-arbitrage argument, we derive arbitrarily accurate lower and upper bounds for the value of European options on a stock paying a discrete dividend. Setting the option price error below the smallest monetary unity, both bounds coincide, and...

This work analyzes the optimal allocation of assets over the life cycle of an investor who has the option to invest in his education. We characterize the optimal spending rule for education, and compare the optimal asset allocation of such investors with the optimal portfolios of investors with...

We investigate the effect of conflict of interest in universal banking on the price stabilization in IPOs and their short-term returns. We find that loan-based conflict increases the probability of the issue being stabilized but not on the intensity of the stabilization. We do not find evidence...

Banks that supply capital and simultaneously underwrite securities for the same clients may benefit themselves or their clients at the expenses of investors by overpricing securities. We investigate this issue by analyzing price stabilization and short-term returns of IPOs. Our analysis suggests...

The alignment of collective goals and individual behavior has been extensively studied by economists under a principal-agent framework. Two main solutions have been presented: explicit incentive contracts and monitoring. These solutions correspond to changes in the objective situation faced by...

This paper proposes a model to explain the differences between outcomes of referenda and the voting trends suggested by polls. Two main effects are at stake. First, the evolution of the voters' attitudes is conditional on the public information made available to them. Second, the predisposition...

The level of abstention in elections has been increasing over the years in the majority of democratic countries, whether compulsory voting exists or not. We provide empirical evidence for the role of social networks as a main factor of influence in the turnout of an election. More intense social...

The behavior of the members of an organization is determined, not only by the objective situation facing them, but also by their attitudes. Thus, the objective of aligning collective goals and individual behavior translates into a problem of alignment of attitudes. An important dimension of the...