Abstract In this paper, we study the dynamics of initial public offerings (IPOs) by examining the tradeoff between an entrepreneur’s private benefits, which are lost whenever the firm is publicly traded, versus the advantages from diversification. We characterize the timing dimension of the...

We examine whether bond ratings contain pricing relevant information, that is unavailable to investors form other sources, by focusing on investor reaction to rating changes that were not accompanied by any economic fundamental event - Moody's refinement of its rating system. This refinement was...

In this note, a loss shared by the security holders of merging firms is pointed out: separate corporate entities provide double protection against future negative cash flows that are partof any production process (e.g., when customer or employee liabilities exceed future income), independent of...

We analyze a model in which firms signal their quality by using financial policies to commit to cash outflows. Two financial policies may be used: dividend and debt-service obligations. We find sufficient conditions for the informational equilibrium to entail concommitant use of both dividends...