We examine whether investor reactions are sensitive to the recent direction or volatility of underlying market movements. We find that dividend-change announcements elicit a greater change in stock price when the nature of the news (good or bad) goes against the grain of the recent market...

Since 1990, many U.S. firms have registered under the provisions of the ISO 9000 standard. Meeting the demanding qualifications of this registration requires the expenditure of considerable time and money. To this point, the justification offered has been put in terms of management commitment to...