In spite of the popularity of international portfolio diversification theory, extant empirical literature shows that investors prefer domestic assets and as a result, many studies argue that investors’ portfolios are largely suboptimal. This paper examines whether British investors need to...

This paper investigates the impact of the introduction of Universal Stock Futures (USFs) on underlying market dynamics (volatility and the level of feedback trading). Analysis of USFs provides a number of advantages compared to investigation of index futures, leading to reliable and wider...

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the determinants of choice between private and public debt for British and German listed companies. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on three strands of theories: the ‘‘liquidation and renegotiation’’ hypothesis; the...

The paper investigates how firms operating in capital market-oriented economies (the U.K. and the U.S.) and bank-oriented economies (France, Germany, and Japan) determine their capital structure. Using panel data and a two-step system-GMM procedure, the paper finds that the leverage ratio is...

Undervalued firms with high information asymmetry may announce takeover bids to attract the attention of investors with a view to increasing the share price through revaluation. Announcement period returns to such bidders should include both revaluation and synergy gains although the revaluation...

During the last fifteen years, the European banking industry has experienced considerable consolidation through mergers and acquisitions against the background of the introduction of the single currency and reductions in cross-border barriers. This paper investigates whether these changes...