THE CROSS-AUTOCORRELATION OF SIZE-BASED PORTFOLIO RETURNS IS NOT AN ARTIFACT OF PORTFOLIO AUTOCORRELATION

Prior studies find evidence of asymmetric size-based portfolio return cross-autocorrelations where lagged large firm returns lead current small firm returns. However, some studies question whether this economic relation is independent of the effect of portfolio return autocorrelation. We formally test for this independence using size-based portfolios of New York Stock Exchange and American Stock Exchange securities and, separately, portfolios of Nasdaq securities. Results from causality regressions indicate that, across all markets, lagged large firm returns predict current small firm returns, even after controlling for autocorrelation in small firm returns. These cross-autocorrelation patterns are stronger for Nasdaq securities.     

Noisy information and the size effect in stock returns

Noisy information (i.e., informative signals) can affect the likelihood of observing a size effect in realized stock returns. In a one period model with two firms, the observed firm sizes at date 0 can deviate from the true firm sizes that are revealed at date 1. Noisy information gets embedded in stock prices and can make the true big firm appear to be small and vice versa. Using NYSE size deciles from 1926 to 2011, the ratio of the 90th percentile size breakpoint to the 10th percentile size breakpoint is about 66 on average. If the true big firm in our model is 66 times bigger than the true small firm, there is about a 7.8 % chance that the observed size of the true big firm will be smaller than that of the true small firm. Since the true sizes are revealed at date 1, there is about a 7.8 % chance that the observed small firm migrates to the big category. Conditional on no migration, the observed big firm has the higher equilibrium expected return. However, conditional on migration, the observed small firm has the higher expected return, which is consistent with the empirical results in Fama and French (Financ Anal J 63:48–58, 2007).     

Corporate governance,capital structure and firm performance: Evidence from Thailand

We examine the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance for a panel sample of 493 firms of non-financial firms in Thailand during the period 2001–2014. We find that for the full sample, corporate governance is not associated with financial leverage and firm performance. Leverage has a positive effect on firm performance. When we split firms into small and large firm subsamples, we observe some influence of corporate governance. The negative effect of audit committee size on firm performance is evident for large firms while the effect of audit reputation on firm performance is evident for small firms only. Furthermore, financial leverage mediates the effect of audit committee size on firm performance for the large firms.     

上海股票市场规模效应的实证研究

规模效应是指公司规模与收益率之间存在的反向关系,即小规模公司较大公司而言有着更高的收益率。本文从上海证券市场随机抽取60只股票作为数据样本,对其从2007年1月到2009年6月之间的公司数据进行实证研究,得出上海股市存在着规模效应这一结论。     

Investment policy with time-to-build

Most capital projects have an implementation lag. We examine the effect of implementation lag on a levered firm’s investment decision. The main finding is that implementation lag can potentially have a substantial effect on a levered company’s investment trigger, and this effect can be significantly different from that of an unlevered company. The exact relationship between lag and investment trigger depends on the level of debt used by the firm. For an optimally-levered firm, a crucial determinant of the lag-investment relationship is the fraction of investment cost that has to be incurred upfront. If this fraction is small, investment trigger is a decreasing function of implementation lag and the effect can be economically significant. If this fraction is large, investment trigger can be either increasing or decreasing in lag, depending on parameter values, but the magnitude of the effect is not large. Optimally levering a firm makes the implementation lag more investment-friendly relative to an unlevered firm, thus it is possible that the lag has a negative effect on investment if the firm is unlevered but a positive effect if the same firm is optimally-levered. For an optimally-levered firm, implementation lag generally has a non-negative effect on investment.     

THE RELATION AMONG DIVIDEND POLICY,FIRM SIZE,AND THE INFORMATION CONTENT OF EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS

In this paper we investigate the role of dividends in explaining the size effect. The previous literature concludes that before the firm's earnings announcement, small firm stock prices impound less information than large firm stock prices. This size effect is evidenced by the greater market reaction to small firm earnings announcements than to large firm earnings announcements. We find that if the dividend announcement precedes the earnings announcement, no size effect exists. The implication is that the information conveyed by dividend announcements includes the information conveyed to investors in large firms by other information sources. However, if the firm does not pay dividends or if the firm's earnings announcement precedes its dividend announcement, the size effect exists. The implication is that dividends do not completely explain the size effect. That is, there are information sources other than dividends that are exclusively available to investors in large firms, and the information provided by these sources is reflected in the stock price of large firms before the earnings announcement.     

BENCHMARK ERROR AND THE SMALL FIRM EFFECT: A REVISIT

In this study benchmark error is tested for as a source of the small firm effect by comparing the results from ordinary least squares and instrumental variable methods. Although the instrument is not perfect, results show that benchmark error could be a cause of the overall (all months) small firm effect. Results from the instrumental variable method indicate that large January abnormal returns are still present, but that they are offset by negative non-January abnormal returns. As a result, the instrumental variable results show that there is no longer a significant overall “effect,” merely a seasonal effect. It is also found that the results are not sensitive to the choice of the market index.     

金融类准公共产品供给的制度设计与有效性分析——青岛市小企业贷款风险补偿金案例

贷款风险补偿等性质的金融类准公共产品,由于实施过程中诸多因素的限制并未发挥应有的效用。青岛市小企业贷款风险补偿制度由前期的集中于对担保公司和大企业的风险补偿设计,逐步演变为差别性置换银行不良资产的独特风险补偿机制,实现了小企业贷款风险补偿供给效用目标的准确性,发挥了金融类准公共产品供给的有效性及其可持续性,具有较好的借鉴意义。     

A Direct Test of Roll's Conjecture on the Firm Size Effect

Empirical research indicates that small firms earn higher average rates of return than large firms, even after accounting for beta risk. Roll conjectured that the small firm effect might be attributed to improper estimation of security betas. The evidence shows that while the direction of the bias in beta estimation is consistent with Roll's conjecture, the magnitude of the bias appears to be too small to explain the firm size effect.     

Competition for small firm banking business: Bank actions versus market structure

This paper addresses two questions related to the ongoing consolidation of the US banking industry and its effect on small firm financing. First, are conventional measures of market structure (e.g. geographic market size and deposit concentration) related to bank competition for small firm financial business? Second, does an increase in bank competition produce an improvement in bank services irrespective of market structure? To answer these questions we use a survey of small firm owners that asks them to report on changes in bank competition for their business. Our findings show that reports of increased competition by small firm owners are negatively related to the level of and change in deposit concentration. In addition, we find a significant positive association between changes in bank competition reported by small firms and their reports of changes in banking outcomes (e.g. service quality) that is independent of deposit concentration, firm risk, and credit usage.     

Heterogeneous effects of macroprudential policies on firm leverage and value

We empirically investigate the effect of financial institution-targeted macroprudential policies on firms using a comprehensive macroprudential policy dataset and corporate panel data across 35 countries. We find that tightening of macroprudential measures persistently curbs the leverage of firms, while loosening is related to the increase in leverage. We also find that this effect on leverage is heterogeneous across firms, as net macroprudential policy actions reduce the procyclicality of leverage more significantly for small firms and firms with high leverage. Also, we estimate the effect of macroprudential policies on firm value to evaluate potential policy trade-offs as the policies restrict the firms' access to credit during economic booms while protecting them from future financial crises. The effect of macroprudential policies on firm value is generally positive despite the policies' restrictive nature. Further, the effect on firm value is heterogeneous depending on firm characteristics: the positive effect becomes stronger as firms are less leveraged, but this positive effect is weaker for firms that grow faster, suggesting potential costs of macroprudential policies for these firms.     

公司规模与股票收益率关系的实证研究

本文通过对1994-2004年中国所有上市公司的流通股规模、总市值规模与股票收益率的关系运用截面回归的方法进行实证研究，发现无论上市公司的流通股规模还是总市值规模都与股票的收益率呈负相关关系，而且在剔除风险因素以后，公司规模仍然与异常收益率呈负相关关系，且具有统计上的显著性。中国股市存在小公司效应。这说明中国股票市场不是半强有效的。     

The effect of corporate culture on firm performance: Evidence from China

This study examines whether corporate culture promotion affects firm performance in China in terms of firm market value, firm financial performance and innovation output. We find consistent evidence that corporate culture promotion is negatively related to firm market value, positively related to innovation output and not significantly related to firm financial performance. In addition, the negative effect of corporate culture promotion on firm market value is driven by small firms and firms located in less developed provinces. Furthermore, we find that some specific corporate culture promotions, such as innovation culture promotion and integrity culture promotion, are not related to firm value or financial performance. However, innovation culture promotion is positively associated with innovation output.     

THE RELATION BETWEEN RETURNS,OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE,AND MARKET VALUE

Numerous empirical studies have documented the small firm effect of higher risk-adjusted returns for small firms in contrast to large firms. The explanation for such a phenomenon remains incomplete. This research examines the relationship among ownership structure, size, and returns under the hypothesis that firms with diffuse ownership (manager controlled) have higher returns to compensate for the risk inherent in the agency relationship. This research adds a dimension to the explanation of the small firm effect, which is well-founded in economic theory but has not been tested. The results indicate no significant relationship between ownership and return.     

HOW DO SMALL FIRMS MAKE INVENTORY ACCOUNTING CHOICES?

In the past, the attention of studies on inventory method choices has invariably been focused on large firms' motivations to use LIFO. Small firms' inventory accounting decisions are different from those of large firms due to the fact that there are differences in financial reporting considerations. This study examines small firms' inventory accounting choices from the perspective of three major factors (firm size, risk, and managerial ownership). It was found that firm size, financial risk, and the interaction effect between financial risk and business risk are significantly correlated with the LIFO choice for small firms.     

The Return of the Size Anomaly: Evidence from the German Stock Market

This paper examines the size effect in the German stock market and intends to address several unanswered issues on this widely known anomaly. Unlike recent evidence of a reversal of the size anomaly this study documents a conditional relation between size and returns. I also detect strong momentum across size portfolios. The results indicate that the marginal effect of firm size on stock returns is conditional on the firm's past performance. I use an instrumental variable estimation to address Berk's critique of a simultaneity bias in prior studies on the small firm effect and to investigate the economic rationale behind firm size as an explanatory variable for the variation in stock returns. The analysis in this paper indicates that firm size captures firm characteristic components in stock returns and that this regularity cannot be explained by differences in systematic risk.     

An Investigation of Framing and Firm Size on the Auditor's Going Concern Decision

This study investigated the effects of framed information and firm size on the auditor's going concern report modification decision. Framing has been shown to affect individual decision-making in a variety of contexts. Investigations of framing effects in an audit context have reported mixed results. The findings of this study indicate that auditors are susceptible to the effect of framed information. Previous research has reported that auditors from small firms may be less conservative in audit disclosure recommendations than auditors associated with larger firms. This study evaluated the going concern decisions of auditors from three firm sizes: local/regional, a large non-Big Six firm, and a Big Six audit firm. Results indicate that differences in the report issued do exist across firm size. Possible explanations for the reported results are discussed.     

The Contingent Value of Inward Technology Licensing on the Performance of Small High-Technology Firms

As competition intensifies and the pace of technological change accelerates, many firms often adopt inward technology licensing (ITL) to improve performance. However, previous studies investigating the effect of ITL on firm performance have not focused their samples on small high-technology firms. Furthermore, whereas past research has emphasized the moderating effect of internal research and development (R&D) on the use of external technology, relatively little research has examined such an effect. This study examines the effect of ITL on the performance of small high-technology firms, exploring the moderating role of internal R&D on the relationship between ITL and firm performance. In total, 138 small electronics manufacturing firms in Taiwan were sampled during the period of 1998 to 2005. Using a two-way fixed effects model, the analyses suggest that whether ITL has a positive effect on firm performance depends on the level of sustained internal R&D investment. This finding reveals why firms may vary in their ability to improve performance through adopting ITL.     

Access to financing and firm growth

Why do some firms grow faster than others? Although various observed and unobserved aspects of firms have been suggested as potential drivers of firm heterogeneity, economists disagree sharply on the role of financial structure in influencing firm growth. In this paper, I use a sample of quoted and unquoted firms to show that the effect of financial structure on firm growth is statistically significant and quantitatively important. In the presence of external financing constraints, firms rely more on internal funds to finance growth, but the effect of internal financing on firm growth decreases with an increase in the firm’s access to an external bank credit facility. As the external financing constraint is alleviated, the firm relies less on internal funds and switches to external financing as the primary source of financing for its growth. This pattern of transition between internal and external financing is particularly pronounced in small unquoted firms (conditional on their survival). These results suggest a real effect of financial structure on growth via the channel of an external financing constraint.     

Size of Financing Need and the Choice between Asset Sales and Security Issuances

We study the effect of the size of financing need on a firm's choice between selling assets and issuing securities to finance its investments. The balance sheet effect predicts that a firm prefers to sell assets when the financing need is relatively small as there is less information asymmetry regarding the value of a (small) subset of its assets. When the financing need is large, a firm prefers issuing securities to selling assets. We find evidence supporting the prediction. Our findings remain unchanged when we employ measures of financing need that are relatively independent of the actual amount of financing raised.