Knowledge that Transforms

We study a model where firms may possess free cash flow and takeovers may be disruptive. We show that the possibility of a takeover, combined with defensive mechanisms and the ability to pay greenmail, can solve the free cash flow problem in an efficient way. The payment of greenmail reveals information that generates a stock price decline that exceeds the value of the greenmail payment, even though the payment of greenmail is value maximizing. Optimal defensive measures limit takeover attempts if the target stock price is too low. We also provide cross‐sectional implications of the analysis.

This work compares a dealer market and a limit-order book. Dealers commonly observe order flow and collect information from multiple market orders. They may be better informed than other traders, although they do not earn rents from this information. Dealers earn rents as suppliers of liquidity, and their decisions to enter or exit the market are independent of the degree of adverse selection. Introduction of a limit-order book lowers the execution-price risk faced by speculators and leads them to trade more aggressively on their information. Introduction of the book also lowers dealer profits, but increases the informational efficiency of prices.

This paper studies the equilibrium valuation of foreign exchange-contingent claims. The basic framework is the continuous-time counterpart of the classic Lucas (1982) two-country model, in which exchange rates, term structures of interest rates and, in particular, factor risk prices are all endogenously determined and empirically plausible. This endogenous nature guarantees the internal consistency of these price processes with a general equilibrium. In addition to the domestic and foreign nominal interest rates, closed-form valuation formulas are presented for exchange rate options and exchange rate futures options. Common to these formulas is that stochastic volatility and stochastic interest rates are admitted. Hedge ratios and other comparative statistics are provided analytically. It is shown that most existing currency option models are included as special cases.

This article develops ways to endogenize the borrowing constraints used in a class of computable incomplete markets models. We allow the constraints to depend on an investor's characteristics such as time preference, risk aversion, and income streams. The proposed constraint can be interpreted as a borrowing limit within which an investor has no incentive to default. Using a numerical algorithm, we find that for an array of structural parameters, the endogenous borrowing constraints can be much less stringent than the ad hoc borrowing constraints adopted by the existing studies.

The goal of this article is to examine the impact of 1975 Congressional mandate to integrate the trading of NYSE-listed stocks. The conclusions are: most of the time, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) quote matches or determines the best displayed quote, and the NYSE is the most frequent initiator of quote changes. Non-NYSE markets attract a significant portion of their volume when they are posting inferior bids or offers, indicating they obtain order flow for other reasons, such as “payment for order flow.” Yet, when a non-NYSE market does post a better bid or offer, it does attract additional order flow.

We examine the relationship between stock prices and market segmentation induced by ownership restrictions in Mexico. The focus is on multiple classes of equity that differentiate between foreign and domestic traders, and between domestic individuals and institutions. Significant stock price premia are documented for shares not restricted to a particular investor group. We analyze the theoretical and empirical determinants of premia across firms and over time. In addition to economy-wide factors, segmentation reflects the relative scarcity of unrestricted shares. The results provide additional support for Stulz and Wasserfallen's (1995) hypothesis that firms discriminate between investor groups with different demand elasticities.

The Geske–Johnson approach provides an efficient and intuitively appealing technique for the valuation and hedging of American-style contingent claims. Here, we generalize their approach to a stochastic interest rate economy. The method is implemented using options exercisable on one of a finite number of dates. We illustrate how the value of an American-style option increases with interest rate volatility. The magnitude of this effect depends on the extent to which the option is in the money, the volatilities of the underlying asset and the interest rates, as well as the correlation between them.

We examine 47 stocks that voluntarily left the American Stock Exchange from 1992 through 1995 and listed on the Nasdaq. We find that both effective and quoted spreads increase by about 100 percent after listing on the Nasdaq. These spread changes are consistent across stocks. In contrast, excess returns are positive when firms announce a switch from The American Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq. We are unable to explain this apparent contradiction.