Based on a sample of 7,378 firms going public in the 1975-2005 period, we document a significant underperformance of IPO firms over the first year after going public, while there is virtually no underperformance thereafter. Moreover, by decomposing the Carhart-alpha we find that IPO...

We present a regression-based generalization of the calendar time portfolio approach which allows for decomposing the risk-adjusted performance of private investors (or firms or mutual funds) into multivariate and continuous subject characteristics. Our technique remedies several well-known...

Based on a new methodological framework we investigate IPO (under-)performance in asample of 7,378 firms going public in the 1975-2005 period. We explicitly vary the time horizonin our analysis and document a significant underperformance of IPO firms over the firstyear after going public, while...

We analyze the zero-leverage phenomenon around the world. Countries with a common law system, high creditor protection, and a dividend imputation or dividend relief tax system exhibit the highest percentage of zero-leverage firms. The increasing prevalence of zero-leverage firms in all sample...

A measurement error in beta that arises from changes in leverage during the beta estimation window contributes in explaining the size effect. Simulations of asset returns show that the magnitude of the bias in equity returns is proportional to the stock market-induced changes in leverage. We...