REGULARITIES IN TOKYO STOCK EXCHANGE SECURITY RETURNS: P/E,SIZE, AND SEASONAL INFLUENCES

Regularities in risk-adjusted returns for securities listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) are examined in this study. A significant price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio effect is documented for the first time for a non-U.S. market, the TSE. Significant interactions between the P/E effect and the previously documented size and seasonal effects for the TSE are also documented. These results imply that studies of TSE companies must account for these return regularities and that explanations for such effects observed for U.S. and other markets that are based on some unique aspect of these markets are likely to be inadequate.     

Loans to LDCs and massive defaults

The quadrupling of oil prices since the end of 1973 was accompanied by a rapid increase in the borrowings of developing countries. A global view of their external debt situation reveals some alarming realities.     

Can CRR,CAR and SLR policy tools perform perversely?

A simple theoretical model is developed from the bank balance sheet identity to understand the effects of cash reserve ratio (CRR) on deposit multiplier. It is found that the deposit multiplier can behave perversely, depending on the loan demand and deposit supply parameters. Thus, CRR can work counter-factually and counter-intuitively, as a monetary policy tool. Further, it is found that the capital adequacy ratio – the Basel policy tool – can also work counter-intuitively. The statutory liquidity ratio tool almost mimics the CRR in performance.     

Robust Imitation Strategies

Performance is the lifeblood of a firm's management. Performance itself depends on the adaptation of strategy based on learning and the environment. An important way that firms adapt their strategy is through imitation or mimetic isomorphism. Imitation implies a referent for such adaptations. This article seeks to determine who or what should serve as that referent. Accordingly, this research (1) develops a broad and rich model of industry dynamics, bringing together literature from industrial economics, strategic groups, learning, and resource‐based theories; (2) examines the robustness of imitations strategies; and (3) develops a framework of the managerial implications of imitative behavior in varying industry conditions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Impact of Antitakeover Amendments on Corporate Financial Performance

Previous event studies that examine the impact of antitakeover amendments on firm value provide mixed results. Some studies support the management entrenchment hypothesis, while others support the shareholder interest hypothesis. In this study, a longitudinal approach is used to examine the impact of antitakeover amendments on several financial attributes of the firm including: operating and net income to total assets, operating and overhead expenses to sales, research and development to total sales, capital expenditures to sales, and debt relative to total assets. It is concluded that antitakeover amendments are not deleterious in terms of their impact on various fundamental firm performance measures.     

THE SEASONALITY IN CONVERTIBLE BOND MARKETS: A STOCK EFFECT OR BOND EFFECT?

There is a strong January effect in convertible bond returns that has been partially attributed to seasonality in the underlying stock. January returns for convertible bonds are positively influenced by the degree to which the bond reflects the underlying equity, which suggests that the anomaly in one asset market may carry over to its derivative asset market. Significant evidence presented here indicates that the January effect also is attributable to unique tax-loss selling in the convertible bond market. A peripheral contribution of this study is that, similar to findings in the stock market, the risk-return trade-off appears to hold only in January for convertible bonds.     

Institutional Ownership and Distribution of Equity Returns

Although there is considerable evidence of the importance of skewness and kurtosis in equity returns, much less attention has been paid to their determinants. Recent theoretical and empirical advances in the literature suggest that the information structure and other market characteristics affect the nature of return distributions. One such characteristic is the degree of institutional ownership in the stock. This study hypothesizes and documents a significant inverse relationship between the degree of institutional ownership and the standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of equity returns.     

Board Composition in New Zealand: An Agency Perspective

This paper looks at board composition determinants in New Zealand. We document that the proportion of outside board members is inversely related to insider equity ownership supporting the notion that these variables are substitute mechanisms in controlling agency problems. We also find that board composition is directly related to debt, ownership concentration, and profitability and inversely related to growth and firm size. There is evidence that firms with influential CEOs have lower outside board representation. Finally, we document that the passage of the legislation reforming company and securities laws in 1993 was associated with increased outside members on the board.