INFLATION,INVESTMENT, AND DEBT

In this paper the effect of inflation on firms' investment and debt-financing decisions is examined. Inflation affects optimal investment and financing directly through the probability of accounting loss and the real value of depreciation and interest tax shields. In addition, when corporate and differential personal taxes cause investment and financing decisions to interact, inflation has indirect effects on these decisions through their interactions. In general, the overall effects of inflation on optimal investment and debt are ambiguous in sign. For tax-exempt firms, however, optimal investment and debt are independent of inflation. For firms that are always in a tax-paying position, higher inflation reduces optimal investment without affecting optimal debt. Furthermore, inflation causes total firm value to decrease if the depreciation rate exceeds the firm's debt/asset ratio.     

A NOTE ON CORPORATE INVESTMENT DECISIONS AND OPTION PRICING

Using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, numerical examples are given which illustrate the known fact that shareholders in a levered firm might reject investments which are profitable for the company as a whole and accept investments which are unprofitable for the company as a whole. Even the assumption that side-payments are allowed can be inadequate to handle a possible succession of unprofitable projects which are acceptable to shareholders. However, existing company law attempts to provide a solution procedure. The analysis helps to explain why such law has been thought necessary.     

汇丰控股在中国的投资战略

近年来,汇丰控股在中国的投资业绩,令国际金融界刮目相看。作者从汇丰控股张驰有度地入股中国银行业、见缝插针地在中国发展私人金融业务到大张旗鼓地在中国开展非银行金融业务,全面展示了这个国际优秀金融控股集团在中国成功的投资战略和策略,这无疑对我国发展中的金融投资企业具有很大的借鉴和启示作用。     

A NOTE ON INVESTMENT DECISION RULES BASED ON UTILITY FUNCTIONS

Many investment decision models are formulated on the basis of certain assumptions regarding investor's tastes combined with the assumed objective of expected utility maximization. The rules are often expressed in the form of a finite number of moments of the returns distributions, depending on the specific utility function restrictions imposed. For example, mean/variance decisions have been derived using the assumption of a quadratic preference function. Borch (1969) and many others have demonstrated the ambiguity of mean/variance decision rules based on this specific utility functional form. In this note, Borch's findings are extended t o all investment decision rules based on the assumption of any finite order utility function for a general class of risk averters.     

PRIVATE INVESTMENT AND MACROECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT:A Survey

This article reviews theories of investment behavior and examinesempirical studies of investment in developing countries. Theemphasis is on understanding the interactions among macroeconomicpolicies, structural adjustment, and private investment. Thearticle deals with the effect of exchange rate policy on investment,the relationship between public and private investment, theimportance of market imperfections and financial constraintson capital formation, and the effect of economic instabilityon irreversible investment decisions.      

EXPENSE PREFERENCE AND MINORITY BANKING: A NOTE

Previous research has concluded that, in comparison to nonminority institutions, minority-owned banks have lower profitability and higher operating costs. This note examines such findings in the context of the expense preference theory of managerial behavior. Rather than focusing on the effect of regulated product markets, however, this research investigated whether imperfections in the capital markets, introduced through government deposit programs making low-cost funds available to participating minority banks, were associated with expense preference practices by minority bank managers. The results suggest that managers of minority banks did not practice the traditional forms of expense preference but instead appeared to act in a manner consistent with public policy objectives.     

STOCK PRICES AND INFLATION

Numerous empirical studies establish that inflation has a negative short‐run effect on stock returns but few studies report a positive, long‐run Fisher effect for stock returns. Using stock price and goods price data from six industrial countries, we show that long‐run Fisher elasticities of stock prices with respect to goods prices exceed unity and range from 1.04 to 1.65, which tends to support the Fisher effect. We also find that the time path of the response of stock prices to a shock in goods prices exhibits an initial negative response, which turns positive over longer horizons. These results help reconcile previous short‐run and long‐run empirical evidence on stock returns and inflation. Also, they reveal that stock prices have a long memory with respect to inflation shocks, such that investors should expect stocks to be a good inflation hedge over a long holding period. JEL Classification: G12     

CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND ARBITRAGING: A PEDAGOGICAL NOTE

The purpose of this note is to reconsider the alternative formulations of the process akin to arbitrage first suggested by Modigliani & Miller (1958) to support their capital structure hypothesis. It shows that many finance texts, particularly of British origin, do not explain fully or correctly the necessary action which has to be taken when switching between investments so as to maintain the same level of risk and return in relative terms, an essential requirement of arbitraging.