Using a large sample of option granting firms, some of which were investigated for option grant backdating, we develop a predictive model for such investigations and examine how the capital market responded as the backdating scandal unfolded. Firms that were investigated experienced significant...

We examine the time trends and determinants of the method of payment in M&As spanning four decades. The fraction of mixed payments tripled from about 10% before the turn of the century to 30% in the new century, while the fraction of stock (cash) payments peaked (bottomed out) in the late 1990s...

Using a large sample of unsolicited takeover attempts, we examine the determinants and effects of targets' choice to adopt poison pills either before or after unsolicited offers and to initiate defensive payouts. The probability of poison pill adoptions decreases with insider ownership, whereas...

This study investigates capital structure around 286 self-tender offers from 1980 to 1997. Firms that undertake self-tender offers generally have debt ratios below their predicted levels before the offers. The debt ratios following nondefensive self-tender offers are close to predicted levels,...

We examine the choice of equity offering type and the accompanying information content using a sample of 4,708 equity offerings announced between 1980 and 1998. We find evidence that announcements of regular equity offerings involving primary shares convey unfavorable information about future...

This study examines the effect of financial flexibility and the level and certainty of operating performance on the choice to change dividends, pay special dividends, and repurchase shares. Firms that increase payouts have excess financial flexibility and exhibit positive concurrent income...