On axiomatic characterization of some non-additive measures of information

An axiomatic characterization of non-additive measures of information associated with a pair of probability distributions having the same number of elements has been given. This quantity under additional suitable postulates leads to the non-additive Entropy, Directed-Divergence and Inaccuracy of one or more parameters.     

Early Movers Advantage? Evidence from Short Selling during After‐Hours on Earnings Announcement Days

We examine short sellers’ after‐hours trading (AHT) following quarterly earnings announcements released outside of the normal trading hours. Our innovation is to use the actual short trades immediately after the announcements. We find that on these earnings announcement days, there is significant shorting activity in AHT relative to shorting activity both during AHT on nonannouncements days and during regular trading sessions around announcements. Short sellers who trade after‐hours on announcement days earn an excess return of 0.82% and 1.40% during before‐market‐open (BMO) and after‐market‐close (AMC)sessions, respectively. The magnitude of these returns increases to 1.48 (3.92%) for BMO (AMC) earnings announcements with negative surprise. We find that the reactive short selling during AHT has information in predicting future returns. Short sellers’ trades have no predictive power if they wait for the market to open to trade during regular hours. In addition, we find that the weighted price contribution during AHT increases with an increase in after‐hours short selling. Overall, our results suggest that short sellers in AHT are informed. Our findings remain robust using alternative holding periods and after controlling for macroeconomic news announcements during BMO sessions.     

The Tax Exemption to Subchapter S Banks: Who Gets the Benefit?

The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 allows U.S. banks to adopt the Subchapter S status. We investigate if the Subchapter S banks use tax benefits for the intended purposes of “protecting jobs,” “creating opportunities” and “increasing take home pay of workers.” We find that the tax benefits: (a) are not used in expenses related to protection of jobs, (b) do not lead to greater employment opportunities within the Subchapter S banks, and (c) do not benefit the employees in the form of increased salaries and benefits. Our results indicate that bank owners are sole beneficiaries of the tax exemption benefits.     

The Role of Target Termination Fees in REIT Mergers

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - Target termination fee provisions are widely used in merger agreements and require the target firm to pay the bidder a fixed cash fee in the event...     

Inflation and Default Dynamics

Changes in inflation, particularly if they are sharp, can have important consequences for nominal contracts, especially debt instruments such as fixed-rate bonds. This paper examines the intricate dynamics of inflation and defaults. The experience of the United States during the past four decades is subjected to empirical analysis to examine how the nature of the relationship changed as we shifted from a high inflation to a low inflation regime. The paper is organized as a three-part study. We initially examine the U.S. default experience, as summarized in Moody's speculative grade default rate, along with industry differences. The paper then scrutinizes U.S. inflation dynamics as seen in different summary measures of the general price level and delves into pricing power issues. The study proceeds to examine co-movements in the inflation and default series from a theoretical and empirical standpoint and the results confirm the intuitive postulate: higher the inflation rate, the more pricing power companies have; greater pricing power leads to, better earnings and repayment abilities for firms and a lower incidence of defaults.     

Factors influencing the choice between founder versus non-founder CEOs for IPO firms

Despite the innate advantage founder CEOs have by virtue of their founding vision, organizational influence, positive image, and ownership stakes to lead their firms at their initial public offering (IPO), extant empirical evidence indicates that between a third to half of IPO firms go public with non-founder CEOs at the helm. Relatively little however, is known regarding factors that influence the choice of founder versus non-founder CEO for firms issuing IPOs. This study examines the impact of factors such as founder characteristics, size of founding team, governance structure, ownership structure, top management team independence, venture capitalist influence, and the demand for equity financing on the probability of founder CEO at IPO.     

The Impact of Strategic Investment Choices on Post-Issue Operating Performance and Survival of US IPO Firms

Abstract:  We examine the impact of strategic investment choices at the time of the IPO on: (i) the post-issue operating performance and (ii) the likelihood of failure and time-to-failure of newly public US firms. Our post-issue operating performance analysis uses various performance metrics, benchmarks, and expectation models. Overall, our evidence indicates that the extent of diversification and industry-adjusted capital expenditures intensity are generally positively related to changes in operating performance. We do not, however, document a consistent relation between industry-adjusted R&D expenditures and changes in operating performance. The results from our survival analysis suggest that pre-issue managerial commitment to R&D spending and developing diversified product lines enhance the ability of IPO issuing firms to remain viable for longer periods of time. Our study highlights the impact of various managerial investment decisions on the subsequent performance of newly public firms.