We find that firms with a corporate general counsel in top management (TMC) are less likely to pay dividends, and for such firms that do pay dividends, the dividend payouts are lower. Our results hold addressing both endogeneity concerns and selection biases. We also find that the presence of a...

We find a positive relation between the amount of pension deficits and the cost of bank loans. The effect of pension deficits on the costs of bank loans is driven by financial constraints, information asymmetry problems, and higher pension investment risk. Banks tighten lending terms for firms...

We examine the issuance choice across rights issues of equity, unit offerings and standalone warrants and investigate the market reactions to these issue types. We find that agency costs, growth opportunities and current funding needs relative to assets in place are prime drivers of the type of...

Firms are more likely to pay dividends with higher payout ratios in an imputation environment. The effects of profitability and earned/contributed capital mix on the decision to pay dividends and dividend payout are weaker for firms following imputation tax system than traditional tax system....

We examine the issuance choice across rights issues of equity, unit offerings, and standalone warrants and investigate the market reactions to these issue types. We find that agency costs, growth opportunities, and current funding needs relative to assets in place are prime drivers of the type...

We examine the role of shareholder takeup in rights offerings on the subscription period price reaction and liquidity. Our results indicate that takeup information is reflected in price adjustments over the subscription period and that quality-related information disclosed on the rights...

We investigate the link between foreign competition and corporate tax planning. We find that a one standard deviation increase in import competition leads to a reduction of 9% in firms’ effective tax rates relative to standard levels. Further, we document that our evidence is robust to a...