DO DIVIDEND FLOWS AFFECT STOCK RETURNS?

We examine price impacts from dividend flows. Event‐study estimates show that stocks experience abnormal returns on the dividend distribution day. Results also show a spillover effect to non‐dividend‐paying stocks that are likely to be part of the same benchmark portfolio as the dividend‐paying stocks. Regression results indicate that the effect is dependent on the ownership share by professional investors. The temporary nature of the effect on returns is in line with the literature's demand‐driven price pressure hypothesis.     

NIKE--想做就做'JUST DO IT'

总部位于美国俄勒冈州的耐克公司是全球著名的体育用品制造商，创始人比尔·鲍尔曼曾说过这样的一句话：“只要你拥有身躯，你就是一名运动员。而只要世界上有运动员，耐克公司就会不断发展壮士大。”     

DO STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT MATTER IN MUNICIPAL ORGANISATIONS?

In Sweden, a large share of public services are organised, produced and delivered by municipalities, large and small, rich and poor. Contextual conditions (size and location) and economic conditions (efficiency and wealth) differ considerably among these service‐providing organisations. The question raised in this paper is whether a municipality's economic situation is a direct consequence of the contextual situation or the organisation's strategy and management – that is: Do strategy and management matter? Our analysis rests on a resource‐based view of organisation strategy. Both quantitative and qualitative observations have been made. First, cost savings data from 50 municipalities were examined for patterns and relationships between contextual and economic conditions. Second, about 100 representatives – municipal executive board members and leading officials – from 20 municipalities with different characteristics were interviewed. In this paper we outline an analytical framework and propose that sound and sustainable provision of municipal service depends on whether organisational decision‐making is in harmony with work methods and objectives. The results indicate that strategy and management do matter. Among the municipalities included in our study, we identify four prevalent basic strategies. Strategy tends to coincide with the economic situation rather than the contextual situation. A low‐performing municipality tends to have a predominantly outward orientation in its decision‐making, whereas a higher‐performing municipality makes decisions with both inward and outward orientation.     

NIKE——想做就做'JUST DO IT'

总部位于美国俄勒冈州的耐克公司是全球著名的体育用品制造商,创始人比尔·鲍尔曼曾说过这样的一句话:"只要你拥有身躯,你就是一名运动员。而只要世界上有运动员,耐克公司就会不断发展壮大。"     

WHY DO UK ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE ACADEMICS NOT PUBLISH IN TOP US JOURNALS?

In peer reviews of the quality of academic accounting and finance journals, US journals are consistently perceived to be the most prestigious. UK accounting and finance academics share these perceptions, and yet very few of them ever publish in top US journals. A survey of UK accounting and finance academics was undertaken in an attempt to ascertain why this is so. The respondents perceive that the preference of top US journals for a US focus to published articles, reinforced by a strong element of gatekeeping and the need to be able to network with the US academic community, provide major barriers to entry. As a result, there is a strong belief that efforts to publish in top US journals will be unsuccessful and, therefore, publishing in the UK is seen to be easier.     

DO INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS IN THE UK ADOPT A DUAL STRATEGY FOR MANAGING FOREIGN EXCHANGE RISK?

In recent years, the gradual increase in international portfolio diversification within the UK institutional investment community has led to a growing need to manage foreign exchange (FX) risk. This paper reports on the findings of a postal questionnaire survey relating to FX risk management practices in UK institutional investment organisations. The findings demonstrate an increasing awareness of the FX risk management problem and indicate that UK investment institutions actively manage FX risk within their investment portfolios. The paper also focuses on the interesting question of whether UK institutional investors manage their own portfolio's FX risk, simultaneously concerning themselves with their investee companies’ FX risk management practices. Overall, the findings indicate that institutional investors adopt adual strategyfor managing FX risk; not only managing their own FX risk, but also requiring that their investee companies manage FX risk. There is also evidence to suggest that the institutional investors require their investee companies to disclose information relating to their FX risk management policies.     

NARRATIVE CORPORATE SOCIAL DISCLOSURES: HOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE DO THEY MAKE TO INVESTMENT DECISION-MAKING?

This paper reports the results of a study on the usefulness of typical social disclosures from corporate annual reports for investment decision-making. Rather than seek to solely survey respondents about their stated behaviour, the present study also seeks to examine if narrative social disclosures in the annual report actually impact on the behaviour of how investors allocate their investment funds. The experiment provides a basis for assessing the magnitude of any decision impacts. The results indicate that from a sample of sophisticated users (accountants and investment analysts) social disclosures from annual reports do not elicit any more than a 15% switch in investment funds. Furthermore, the switch in funds is not always in favour of the company providing the information. Consistent with these behavioural reactions the survey evidence also reveals moderate attitudes to the decision usefulness of narrative social disclosures for investment decision making.