The Role and Impact of Financial Advisors in the Market for Municipal Bonds

Significantly more and more issuers of municipal bonds use the services of financial advisors during the bond issuance process. We investigate the benefits to issuers and market participants arising from the role of financial advisors in the issuance of municipal bonds. Using a large sample of 9,493 tax-exempt municipal bonds, we show that financial advisors have significant impact on borrowing costs, reoffering yields and underwriter gross spreads. Our results are more pronounced for revenue bonds, particularly for negotiated revenue issues. In addition, our results show significant advantages to using a financial advisor for refunding issues supporting the view that financial advisors play important roles for more complex issues. Our results are consistent with the interpretation that financial advisors provide important and useful services resulting in monitoring and information asymmetry reduction benefits accruing to issuers and market participants.      

Characteristics and behavior of newly listed firms: Evidence from the Asia-Pacific region

We examine the size, profitability and delisting experience during 1980–1999 of new lists in the Pacific Basin countries. We also examine the impact of the legal environment on post-listing behavior. We find that new lists are more numerous in common law countries. They are smaller than seasoned firms, regardless of legal regime. New lists are more profitable in civil law countries, but this is due to the high profitability of Japanese new lists. Asian new lists have lower rates of delisting compared to U.S. firms. The delisting frequency of seasoned firms exceeds that of new lists for our sample countries.     

The effects of regulation on industry structure and trade generation in the US securities industry

This study investigates the effects of Regulation FD and the Global Research Analyst Settlement on market share within the US securities industry as well as the determinants of market share during 1996–2004. We find that these regulations did not cause top brokers to lose market share in spite of their reduction of information asymmetries existing within the brokerage industry. They did, however, significantly reduce the quarterly variability in market share changes. We find that Regulation FD and the Global Research Analyst Settlement reduce the importance of an all-star analyst, issuer affiliation, and analyst optimism for gaining brokerage market share. We further discover that the Global Research Analyst Settlement increases the importance of coverage as a market share determinant while reducing the value of analyst experience for non-top brokers. We find that our results remain robust even when we limit our analysis to a set of pure brokerage firms.     

How does monetary policy transmission mechanism work in Fiji?

The study aims to examine the impact of changes in policy variables namely, monetary aggregate (M1), exchange rate and interest rate on two monetary goal variables, namely output and price level in Fiji from 1970 to 2006 by applying the procedures of variance decomposition and impulse response functions. We conclude that the money channel is the most effective channel of transmission mechanism among the three channels.

Does underwriter reputation matter in the municipal bond market?

We examine the role of underwriter reputation in the tax-exempt municipal bond market. Using a large sample of 10,239 tax-exempt municipal bonds, we show that generally, reputation matters. Municipal bond issues lead managed by larger and more prestigious underwriters have significantly lower borrowing costs, lower yields, and lower underwriting gross spreads. Our results are consistent with the view that reputation facilitates underwriter activities that leads to reducing information asymmetries between borrowers and issuers in the municipal bond market. Our results are also consistent with larger and more reputable underwriters providing a certificatory role for issues underwritten by them.     

A Balanced Scorecard for State U's Facilities Management Division?*

This case introduces students to building and implementing a balanced scorecard (BSC) in a setting with which they are familiar — cleaning, maintenance, management, and construction of a university's buildings and grounds. Students are asked to construct or critique a BSC for the facilities management division of a university. This may lead to a discussion of the causal linkages implied in the BSC and how one would implement a BSC in a governmental setting.     

Using Lexical Semantic Analysis to Derive Online Brand Positions: An Application to Retail Marketing Research

This paper provides an innovative approach to brand tracking in the context of online retail shopping by deriving meaning from the vast amount of information stored in online search engine databases. The method draws upon research in lexical text analysis and computational linguistics to gain insights into the structural schema of online brand positions. The paper proposes a simple-to-use method that managers can utilize to assess their brand's positioning relative to that of their competitors’ in the online environment.     

Managerial Expectations of Synergy and the Performance of Acquiring Firms: The Contribution of Soft Data

This study examines whether the “soft” information present in merger and acquisition (M&A) announcement press releases contains incrementally valuable news relative to traditional “hard” data. Using the methodology of Loughran and McDonald [2011], we construct measures of synergy expectations and managerial optimism for more than 1,200 M&A announcements over the period 1995–2007. We find that synergy expectations are positively related to announcement period returns, longer-run performance, and the market's reaction to quarterly earnings announcements. Managerial optimism is insignificant for explaining a merger's subsequent performance. We conclude that the soft information contained in M&A announcements concerning synergy expectations can provide useful information to investors.     

Promoting Products Through Volume Discount: Evidence from Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This study examines the effectiveness of the determinants that influence consumers' intention to purchase products under volume discount scheme (VDS). In addition, the moderating role of age is tested. A pilot study of 259 consumers was performed to conceptualize the underlying constructs and identify questionnaire items through employing exploratory data analysis. This was followed by a comprehensive survey of 583 Malaysian consumers. Data were analysed using partial least squares technique. The results indicate that brand image, store image, message framing, product characteristics, scheme characteristics, and subjective norms are crucial factors for the successful implementation of VDS. There is a wide gap noted between young and mature consumers in terms of the factors that influence on their purchasing behavior under VDS. The results help retailers to promote products under VDS in an effective way.