Personal Taxation in Firm Market Valuation: Theory and Test*

In this paper, I extend Ohlson's 1995 firm market valuation model to incorporate personal taxes: the taxes on dividends and the taxes on capital gains. Without personal taxes, firm market value can be expressed as the present value of future benefits received by the shareholders (dividends, in this case). With personal taxes, the benefits received by the shareholders should be classified into three categories (due to their different tax treatments): dividends, share repurchases, and new share issues (i.e., contributed capital). The extended model shows the effects of personal taxation on firm market valuation: retained earnings are valued less than contributed stocks, both dividends taxes and capital gains taxes affect retained earnings valuation and firm market value, and firms choose cash distribution methods (paying dividends and repurchasing shares) to increase their retained earnings valuation, therefore increasing their market value. An empirical test using a sample from the Disclosure Select Canada and Financial Post Card data bases for the years 1995‐98 supports these personal tax effects.     

Victorian share-pricing - a problem in thin trading

This paper discusses the problems of nineteenth century share valuation and corporate governance. It is based on the summary of a 1900 appeal case, The Earl of Portsmouth v. Pease (1900), which was recorded in the Durham press and concerned the sale of shares within a local private family company in 1898. This contract was overturned in the Court of Chancery as being inequitable. The methods and assumptions employed to value the shares for the private family sale and a coincident public issue were described in detail; the effect of the case was dramatic and the issues raised are still relevant.     

英国分割资本信托研究

英国分割资本信托通过对基金份额进行结构化分级,从而赋予其不同份额以不同的权益安排,最终满足了投资者的多样化需要。但是在上世纪末,激进的资本结构、广泛的交叉持有以及不完善的信息披露促成了分割资本信托危机的产生,并给投资者带来惨重损失。我国分级基金应当借鉴英国分割资本信托,使得分级结构更加多样化,以满足丰富市场现有的投资产品。但是,相关的监管机制必须进一步完善,以防止对杠杆型基金产品的监管出现真空。同时,我们应当审慎地把握金融创新,避免误导销售,从而保护中小投资者利益。     

股份回购:提升公司内在价值的新思路

股份回购是我国证券市场的一个新生事物，实施股份回购会对上市公司产生深远影响。本在对股份回购作了简要介绍了基础上，主要探讨了股份回购后对上市公司值提升的意义并提出了回购过程中应注意的问题。     

限售股权定价的实证检验

我国上市公司的非流通股权实质为限售股权,股权分置改革改变了限售期的不确定性.通过对2004～2006年5月间326笔我国上市公司限售股权转让信息的研究发现:限售股股东向流通股股东支付对价是有理论和实证依据的,股权分置改革有利于国有资产保值增值.公司净资产、控制权收益以及公司流通股比例与限售股定价正相关.流动性约束与限售股定价负相关.受让方为非国有性质时,限售股转让相对价较低.股权转让方式、公司盈利能力等财务指标对限售股定价有一定影响.     

ON THE SHAREHOLDER WEALTH EFFECTS OF DEPOSIT INSURANCE PREMIUM REVISIONS ON LARGE,PUBLICLY TRADED COMMERCIAL BANKS

Evidence is provided from changes in deposit insurance premiums in the early 1990s on the validity of the premium absorption hypothesis and the premium shifting hypothesis. Analysis of abnormal market returns associated with deposit insurance events using a market‐model event‐study methodology suggests that reductions in deposit insurance premiums are associated with increases in the market value of banking organizations; conversely, increases in deposit insurance premiums are associated with decreases in market wealth. The largest banks in the sample and banks with low equity capital (and low risk‐based capital ratios) appear to be most affected. These results are generally consistent with the premium absorption hypothesis but inconsistent with the premium shifting hypothesis.     

Private benefits, block transaction premiums and ownership structure

A simple model shows that both price premiums and standardized block premiums (SBPs) are biased measures of private benefits because they do not account for the transfer of control effectively taking place with the block. This depends not only on the fractional size of the block, but on the whole distribution of shareholdings. We propose an alternative methodology to measure private benefits which makes it possible to weight the size of traded blocks on the basis of their strategic power. We apply our method to a sample of Italian block transactions and show that the traditional method underestimates control rents. The sensitivity of private benefits to net worth, leverage, and nonvoting shares is also examined. Finally, we show how to forecast the price of out-of-sample blocks of shares on the basis of information on company capital and ownership structure.     

Rethinking bank shareholder equity: The case of Deutsche Bank

We introduce and apply an innovative accounting approach to analyse the equity position of a European systemically important financial institution, Deutsche Bank, between 2001 and 2015. According to our findings, the actual contribution by shareholders to bank equity capital was limited, while shareholder payout policies, including share buybacks and trading on its own shares, were both material. These findings raise concerns on the actual capacity by shareholder equity to assure protection against (residual) risk and loss absorption. Customer and investor protections appear to lay with bank entity equity dynamics. These findings have implications for bank financial sustainability and resilience, company capital maintenance, and regulatory capital requirements. Further developments based upon this innovative methodology may improve on existing prudential and accounting regulations.     

Canada's Dual Class Shares: Further Evidence on the Market Value of Cash Dividends

The Canada Income Tax Act of 1971 permitted Canadian corporations to create two classes of equity, one paying ordinary cash income and the other paying capital gains income. Cash-paying shares have often sold at a premium. Empirical results indicate that the premium is largely explained by the relative value of the dividends paid and by costs imposed on investors by stock dividend payment and share conversion procedures. Premiums for a few firms also reflect the relative liquidity of the two classes of shares. No evidence exists that investors prefer cash income to equal amounts of capital gains.     

Migration and its contribution to the size and value premiums: Australian evidence

This paper investigates how different types of migration contribute to the size and value premiums for Australian equities. We find that: (a) the majority of stocks that stay in the same portfolio during the next period contribute to both the size and value premiums, (b) small-cap neutral and small-cap growth stocks that move to a lower market-to-book type contribute moderately to the size premium, (c) value stocks that move to a higher market-to-book type contribute moderately to the value premium (d) small-cap stocks that grow to be big-cap stocks make minor contributions to the size premium and (e) value stocks that change size classification, make minor contributions to the value premium. Overall, small-cap value stocks that stay in the same group account for large portions of both the size and value premiums.     

The influence of earnings per share on capital issues: some evidence from UK companies

This paper investigates the simple hypothesis that when companies issue more capital, they have a tendency to select the type of capital, all other things being equal, which results in the higher short-term earnings per share (eps). The methodology employs probit analysis to test the hypothesis that the form of issue selected was that which gave the higher eps after controlling for other factors such as leverage and industry classification. The results lead us to conclude that there is evidence in capital issues of functional fixation on eps.     

A Game‐Theoretical Interpretation of Guaranteed Renewability in Health Insurance

A game‐theoretical model is developed here that can explain why the premiums of the health insurance contracts in the individual health insurance market do not vary that much over time, even in absence of any legal restriction on premiums. In this model the insurer and the individuals interact for an infinite number of periods, and the threats of punishments in case of deviations force both the insurer and the individuals to stay on a constant premium path. This model, unlike the other models of guaranteed renewability, does not presume commitment of the insurer.     

The pricing of capital assets in a multiperiod world

This paper proposes a general framework for the pricing of capital assets in a multiperiod world. Under quite general conditions, the analysis shows that the equilibrium expected nominal return on any asset can always be expressed as the sum of the risk-free rate and various risk premiums. The first risk premium is identical to the usual risk premium in the Sharpe-Lintner-Mossin capital asset pricing model. The mathematical forms of all the remaining risk premiums are identical even though each individual risk premium may be present for a different reason.     

Share transfer behaviour of newly introduced Tunisian companies and its determinants: An empirical analysis

This study seeks to determine the reasons behind original shareholder sales of particular numbers of shares at the IPO date. It also examines whether share transfer behaviour reveals specific characteristics of blockholders and if a non-linear relationship emerges between the variable representing the shares held by controlling shareholders immediately prior to the transaction and the share transfer variable. The sample consists of 46 Tunisian companies listed on the Tunis Stock Exchange during the period 1992–2012. Results show that the original shareholders sale decision depends significantly on company growth opportunities. Assignee shareholders benefit from favourable stock market conditions when they sell their shares at the IPO time. Share transfer behaviour depends on whether company ownership consists of a family or not, and on whether the shareholders are blockholders or not. Besides, controlling shareholders benefit from IPO to enhance their ownership.     

From dividend yield to discounted cash flow: a history of UK and US equity valuation techniques

This article explores how, as capital markets developed, equity valuation methods changed. The history of equity valuation is described, from its early origins during the South Sea Bubble, through the new issue boom of the nineteenth century and the stock market booms of the 1920s and 1950s. The moves from dividend yield and asset backing, to earnings yield and then P/E ratios are chronicled. The article compares developments in the UK and the US, in particular the relative slowness of the UK market to adopt US-pioneered techniques such as the P/E ratio, the concept of value versus growth stocks, and using intrinsic value to determine whether shares are cheap or dear. The article concludes with a discussion of the relatively slow introduction of the dividend discount model and of discounted cash flow as equity valuation tools on both sides of the Atlantic.     

基于分位回归的资本结构与高新技术企业绩效相关性研究

资本结构通过作用于企业的治理效率对企业绩效产生影响,向投资者传递有关企业经营状况的有效信息。高新技术上市公司在任何一个生命周期,都需要各种渠道的资金投入,其资本结构的合理与否直接关系到公司资本成本的高低和市场价值的大小。我们通过对沪深两市341家高新技术上市公司2006年～2009年的相关数据进行分位回归分析发现,国有股比例、流通股比例、长、短期资产负债率对企业绩效有着显著的负向效应,在50％-75％的分位点上企业绩效与股权集中度呈显著正相关,高管持股比例对企业绩效的敏感性缺失。基于该回归结果,我们提出了企业人力资本股权化、建立知识产权保护体系、加速发展风险投资业等优化高新技术企业资本结构,提高企业绩效的相关建议。     

大股东股权质押与上市公司资本运作

资本运作一方面可以提高股价,另一方面可以让公司股票停牌,那么是否会成为大股东度过质押风险的方式呢？基于此,本文以2007—2018年我国A股上市公司为研究对象,考察了大股东股权质押对上市公司资本运作的影响及其作用机制。研究发现:(1)大股东股权质押比例越高,上市公司进行资本运作的可能性越大; 这一关系在质押股权面临的平仓风险越高和非国有控股的上市公司中更为显著。(2)机制检验发现,随着质押比例的提高,上市公司进行资本运作后的停牌时间越长;从股价提升的效果来看,资本运作在短期内能提高股价,缓解质押风险,但从长期来看效果并不显著。(3)上市公司进行资本运作的方式主要为股权转让、资产收购和资产剥离;其中,大股东主要利用资产收购和资产剥离增加停牌时间,利用股权转让助推股价。在控制了潜在的内生性问题影响以及各种稳健性检验下,上述结论仍然成立。     

会计信息可比性与劳动收入份额北大核心

利用2006-2019年沪深A股数据,本文考察了会计信息可比性对企业劳动收入份额的影响。研究发现,会计信息可比性的增强显著提高了企业的劳动收入份额,表明会计信息质量的提高有助于员工更好地分享企业的发展成果。进一步研究结果表明,(1)降低资本成本及增大自主研发强度是会计信息可比性提高企业劳动收入份额的两大作用路径;(2)会计信息可比性的增强主要提高了普通雇员的劳动收入份额,对高管劳动收入份额的影响并不显著;(3)会计信息可比性对劳动收入份额的影响存在一定异质性,当企业自身融资约束程度较高、信息透明度较低,或可比公司的会计盈余质量较强时,会计信息可比性与劳动收入份额的正相关关系更强;(4)会计信息可比性通过提高劳动收入份额,提升了企业的价值创造能力。     

How much cash does your company need?

In late 2001, the directors of Pfizer asked that very question. And with good reason. After its 2000 merger with rival Warner-Lambert, the New York-based pharmaceutical giant found itself sitting on a net cash position of $8 billion, which seemed extraordinarily conservative for a company whose products generated $30 billion in revenues. Most large companies with revenues that healthy would increase leverage, thereby unlocking tremendous value for shareholders. But knowledge-intensive companies like Pfizer, this author argues, are in a class apart. Because their largely intangible assets (like R&D) are highly volatile and cannot easily be valued, they are more vulnerable to financial distress than are firms with a preponderance of tangible assets. To insure against that risk, they need to maintain large positive cash balances. These companies' decisions to run large cash balances is one of the key reasons their shares sustain consistent premiums. Only by investing in their intangible assets can knowledge-based companies hope to preserve the value of those assets. A company that finds itself unable to do so because unfavorable market conditions reduce its operating cash flows will see its share price suffer almost as much as if it were to default on its debts. By the same token, with the right balance sheet, knowledge companies can profitably insure against the risk of failing to sustain value-added investments in difficult times. An optimal capital structure that calls for significant cash balances is certainly at odds with the results of a traditional capital structure analysis, the author demonstrates, but it explains the financial policies of many well-run companies, from Pfizer to Intel to ChevronTexaco.     

Stock Returns and Volatility under Market Segmentation: The Case of Chinese A and B Shares

In most countries where firms list separate shares for trading by foreign and domestic investors, the prices of the foreign shares tend to be higher. In China, the reverse tends to be true. In this paper, we would like to focus on the information content in lagged premiums of Chinese A over B traded shares. The lagged premiums are found to have certain predictive power over the future returns and volatility of both A and B shares, with some interesting patterns. Specifically, an increase in the premium ratio of A shares will be followed by a rise in the return of A shares and a fall in the return of B shares. It is found that both of the investors in Chinese A- and B-share markets reveal positive feedback trading behavior. Moreover, the liquidity and information availability will affect the magnitude of such behavior especially in B-share markets. By using multivariate GARCH model, it is also demonstrated that the unexpected changes in the premium ratio of A-share price over B-share price contribute to the return volatility of both A shares and B shares. These patterns may provide foundations for the development of pricing models for equity shares under market segmentation.