Why Do Some Households Save So Little? A Rational Explanation

This paper offers an explanation for the puzzle of low wealth holdings among a significant fraction of the elderly. Instead of invoking irrational, nonrational, or nonoptimal behavior to resolve the puzzle, it is shown that widespread low wealth holdings are consistent with a rational life-cycle model of saving with uncertain lifetime and borrowing constraint. When there is uncertainty about the length of life, it is optimal for some individuals to save little and exhaust their wealth early. The characteristics of these individuals are derived. The simulation results support that the model can account for low wealth holdings as well as early terminal wealth depletion. The analysis also rejects the common perception that uncertain lifetime reduces dissaving. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D11, D91, E21, I12, J14.     

Repurchases of convertible preferred stock and shareholder wealth

In this paper we provide the first comprehensive examination of the stock price reaction to announcements of convertible preferred stock repurchases over the 1981 to 2005 period. We document a positive and significant average common stock abnormal return of 3.27% around announcements of these repurchases. We test signaling and free cash flow explanations for the observed wealth effects by studying abnormal returns and changes in operating performance around repurchase announcements. We find that abnormal returns are positively related to size of repurchases and managerial ownership. We find no evidence of higher stock price reactions for low-q and high free cash flow firms. In addition, we find significant improvements in accounting profitability subsequent to repurchases, but not for low-q firms. Collectively, our results are most consistent with the signaling hypothesis.     

债务违约、社会责任与政府支持

转型期中国,地方国有企业作为地区经济发展的一股中坚力量,当其发生债务违约时,作为实际控制人的地方政府究竟是否愿意提供支持,会优先选择哪些企业提供支持,政府的支持行为是否会影响到信贷资源的配置效率呢?为得到验证,文章选取2007-2016年沪深A股地方国有上市企业作为研究样本,实证分析了地方国企发生债务违约后,地方政府的支持行为及其对信贷资源配置效率的影响。研究结论表明：第一,地方国企发生债务违约后,地方政府会提供更多的\"支持\",且支持额度与债务违约额呈显著正相关关系;第二,债务违约前,承担了更多社会责任（环保投资、捐赠以及就业等）的地方国企,在债务违约后可相应地获得更多的地方政府支持;第三,违约企业,尤其是得到更多政府支持的违约企业可获得更多的信贷资源,而其经营业绩却往往更差。由此表明政府干预一定程度上降低了信贷资源配置效率。     

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.     

Problematizing socioemotional wealth in family firms: a systems-theoretical reframing

The concept of socioemotional wealth (SEW) seeks to present an independent paradigmatic basis for family-firm research, and in doing so aims to establish a sound basis for the scientific legitimacy of family-firm research. Establishing that legitimacy requires scholars to demonstrate that SEW is based on coherent assumptions on several theoretical levels. This paper uses the problematization methodology to challenge the coherence of the theoretical assumptions underpinning SEW and to advance theory development. The results of this problematization show that SEW is built on a theoretical level close to the object of research (in-house assumptions), but that more deeply-rooted theoretical levels (e.g. paradigmatic assumptions) are not sufficiently elaborated. Moreover, the original conceptualization is based on a positivist-mechanistic view, which hinders SEW reflecting the complex reality of family firms. Based on the results of this problematization, new systems theory is applied to reframe SEW’s theoretical grounding. Thereby the main contribution of the paper is a critical reflection on the theoretical underpinnings of SEW (in particular root-metaphor and paradigmatic assumptions), serving as the basis for advancing a coherent theoretical understanding of this important concept in family business research.     

独立董事能否为收购公司股东创造财富——来自中国上市公司并购的证据

国外的实证研究结果表明，独立董事在并购中能给收购公司的股东创造财富。我们依据Harford研究方法，对我国的独立董事进行进一步的划分，并利用沪深A股285家上市公司的并购数据进行实证研究。研究结果表明：在我国设立独立董事并不能有效地为收购公司股东创造财富；但有一些证据显示，在关联方并购交易中，独立董事为收购公司股东创造了财富，尽管统计结果并不显著；在并购交易过程中，收购公司管理层的股权激励效果并不理想。     

Financial Insecurity in a World of Plenty

Abstract

The U.S. economy is addicted to the simulative impacts of household borrowing. Household debt has grown dramatically since the 1990s and has served to mitigate the detrimental effects of stagnant household wages. The accumulation of this debt has also had the macroeconomic impact of stimulating the economy, pushing it closer towards full employment. However does full employment stimulated by household indebtedness actually represent economic progress? It is argued that even the poorest citizen in a modern industrialized society is better off than a king of feudal Europe, yet in the United States such material prosperity is often tied to social insecurity thanks to debt. The growth of this debt has been enabled by a financial system that has evolved dramatically over the past forty years. The U.S. financial system’s primary role is no longer to finance investment but is rather a tool that enables a separation of ownership from use. Debt has fueled corporate profits which have enriched the shareholding class while at the same time the system has reduced the financial security of the majority of workers. This article crystalizes these issues by analyzing the differentials in financial circumstances faced by workers and shareholders in several major U.S. firms.     

MBO融资方式与股东财富理论分析

融资方式是各界对我国上市公司MBO中最为关注的核心问题之一。文章区分非流通股东和流通股东两类主体,对MBO后上市公司迫于管理层还款压力而进行高额派现对不同类型股东财富的影响机理进行了解析,发现MBO后高额派现对管理层有利,而对广大外部中小流通股东不利。     

Ronald Finlay,Rolf G. Henriksson,Hkan Lindgren & Mats Lundahl (eds), Eli Heckscher,International Trade and Economic History

Abstract

The great world economic and globalisation boom of the pre-First World War era was accompanied by great inequality in the distribution of income and wealth particularly during industrialisation, with the new world European settler economies being no exception. Canadian wealth inequality over the period 1870–1930 was also substantial and is examined using probated estates from the Eastern Judicial District of the province of Manitoba and Wentworth County, Ontario. However, wealth inequality is found to be less pronounced in frontier Manitoba relative to Ontario with higher and more dispersed rates of land ownership in the West as well as lower wealth levels and greater farm employment, as the key factors in this difference. This suggests that the farm economy of pre-First World War Canada was associated with greater equality of wealth. One of the inevitable effects of Canadian industrialisation and economic development was a rise in wealth inequality but the process of western settlement and associated free grants helped mitigate it. By extension, global economic inequality might also have been mitigated during this period by the presence of agricultural frontiers with subsidised land grants.