Two new methodologies are introduced to improve inference in the evaluation of mutual fund performance against benchmarks. First, the benchmark models are estimated using panel methods with both fund and time effects. Second, the non-normality of individual mutual fund returns is accounted for...

This paper examines the relationship between bank efficiency change and stock price returns. We first estimate the cost and profit efficiency of a sample of Asian and Latin American listed banks over the period 2000-2006 while controlling for cross-country differences such as regulations and the...

The recent crisis highlighted, once again, the importance of early warning models to assess the soundness of individual banks. In the present study, we use six quantitative techniques originating from various disciplines to classify banks in three groups. The first group includes very strong and...

This paper examines the determinants of bid-ask spreads and their behaviour around corporate earning announcement dates, for a sample of UK firms over the period 1986-94. The paper finds that closing daily spreads are affected by order processing costs (proxied by trading volumes), inventory...

This paper investigates the determinants of price quote revisions on the London Stock Exchange for a sample of highly liquid stocks over a two week settlement period in September 1990. In our theoretical model the level of optimal price quotes set by market makers are a function of the expected...

We document that the observed persistence amongst the worst performing actively managed mutual funds is attributable to funds that have performed poorly both in the current and prior year. We demonstrate that this persistence results from an unwillingness of investors in these funds to respond...

This paper examines the basis of the annual levies paid to the UK's Pension Protection Fund by the Universities Superannuation Scheme, a multi-employer scheme covering approximately 380 universities and related institutions. The paper compares the payments between the two alternative...

Previous work has identified that IPOs underperform a market index, and the purpose of this paper is to examine the robustness of this finding. We re-examine the evidence on the long-term returns of IPOs in the UK using a new data set of firms over the period 1985-92, in which we compare...

This paper investigates the reasons for the lack of long-term persistence in the investment performance of actively managed equity mutual funds. We document that the responses of investors, fund managers, and investment management companies to past performance have an important impact on future...

The past few decades have seen a major shift from centralized to decentralized investment management by pension fund sponsors, despite the increased coordination problems that this brings. Using a unique, proprietary dataset of pension sponsors and managers, we identify two secular...