We use a regulatory experiment (Regulation SHO) that relaxes short-selling constraints on a random sample of US stocks to test whether capital market frictions have an effect on stock prices and corporate decisions. We find that an increase in short-selling activity causes prices to fall, and...

Over the past 20 years share repurchase programs have become an important payout method for US firms. Are these repurchases substitute for dividends? And if so, why has it taken so long to start to pay shareholders in a way that reduces their tax liability? Analyzing this trend we show that,...