Stabilität versus Aktualität – Wann sind stabile Agency-Ratings marktbasierten Bewertungen vorzuziehen? Die Arbeit analysiert auf theoretischer Basis Vor- und Nachteile einer langfristig stabilen versus aktuellen, volatileren Informationsbasis anhand strategischer Portfolioentscheidungen....

Offene Immobilienfonds in Deutschland – Ursprung und Krise Offene Immobilienfonds sind für das deutsche, bank-dominierte Finanzsystem von besonderer Bedeutung. Die kürzlich beobachteten Schwierigkeiten einiger dieser Fonds lösten jedoch eine breite Debatte bezüglich der Notwendigkeit...

Empirical and experimental papers nd that high-powered incentives may re-duce performance rather than improve it; a phenomenon referred to as "chokingunder pressure". We show that competition for high ability workers neverthelessleads rms to oer high bonus payments, thereby deliberately...

Based on German data between 1999 and 2007, we analyze the growth factors of SMEs andcontrast them with those of large firms. Differences show up both in balance sheet and employmentgrowth. While we conrm earlier results on inherent growth structures and the inuence of firm age,we derive several...

This paper examines why unsolicited ratings tend to be lower than solicited ratings. Bothself-selection among issuers and strategic conservatism of rating agencies may be reasonableexplanations. Analyses of default incidences of non-U.S. borrowers between January 1996and December 2006 show that...

Financial markets are to a very large extent influenced by the advent of information. Such disclosures, however, do not only contain information about fundamentals underlying the markets, but they also serve as a focal point for the beliefs of market participants. This dual role of information...

Small and medium-sized firms typically obtain capital via bank financing. They often rely on a mixture of relationship and arm's-length banking. This paper explores the reasons for the dominance of heterogeneous multiple banking systems. We show that the incidence of inefficient credit...

After the onset of the subprime crisis and the European debt crisis, credit default swaps (CDS) have seen a strong increase in usage. Particularly sovereign CDS protection has been sought after, paralleling the rise in sovereign debt levels, slumps in GDP growth and political tensions in...

We examine the cash-flow sensitivities of firms" simultaneous choice of investment, liquidity, dividends and net debt respectively equity financing in a large sample of US corporates between 1971 and 2016. We differentiate firms according to their (external) financial constraints and their...

This paper studies optimal risk-taking and information disclosure by firms that obtain financing from both a 'relationship' bank and 'arm's-length' banks. We find that firm decisions are asymmetrically influenced by the degree of heterogeneity among banks: lowly-collateralized firms vary optimal...