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The Equilibrium Valuation of Risky Discrete Cash Flows in Continuous Time

Journal of Finance 1989 44(5), 1373-1383
ABSTRACT This paper values a contingent claim to discrete stochastic cash flows generated by a Poisson arrival process with a randomly varying intensity parameter. In the most general case, both the size and the arrival intensity of cash flows may correlate wih state variables in a continuous time economy. Assuming the conditions of an intertemporal capital aset pricing model, solutions for the value of the contingent claim can be found using various techniques. The paper suggests immediate applications to the valuation of insurance contracts, the decision to build a firm with unknown future investment opportunities, and the pricing of mortgage‐backed securities.

Firm Size and Turn‐of‐the‐Year Effects in the OTC/NASDAQ Market

Journal of Finance 1989 44(5), 1219-1245
ABSTRACT This paper examines the turn‐of‐the‐year effect, the firm size effect, and the relation between these two effects for a sample of OTC stocks traded via the NASDAQ reporting system over the period 1973–1985. We find results similar to those based solely on listed stocks. The importance of these findings stems from the existence of nontrivial differences between the characteristics of the OTC/NASDAQ sample and the samples of listed firms examined previously in the literature. We also find that NASDAQ quoted bid‐ask spreads are highly negatively correlated with firm size, are not highly seasonal, and are large enough to preclude trading profits based upon a knowledge of the seasonality of small firms' returns.

Firm Size and Turn-of-the-Year Effects in the OTC/NASDAQ Market

Journal of Finance 1989 44(5), 1219
This paper examines the turn-of-the-year effect, the firm size effect, and the relation between these two effects for a sample of OTC stocks traded via the NASDAQ reporting system over the period 1973–1985. We find results similar to those based solely on listed stocks. The importance of these findings stems from the existence of nontrivial differences between the characteristics of the OTC/NASDAQ sample and the samples of listed firms examined previously in the literature. We also find that NASDAQ quoted bid-ask spreads are highly negatively correlated with firm size, are not highly seasonal, and are large enough to preclude trading profits based upon a knowledge of the seasonality of small firms' returns.

A Re‐Examination of Shareholder Wealth Effects of Calls of Convertible Preferred Stock

Journal of Finance 1989 44(5), 1401-1410
ABSTRACT Common stock price reactions to announcements of 67 calls of in‐the‐money convertible preferred stocks are examined, and a significant average abnormal return of −1.6 percent is documented. The finding is robust to the choice of estimation period and the assumed return‐generating process. Annual dividend obligations for the called preferred issues in the sample typically are greater than the dividends for the common shares into which they are converted, and announcement‐period abnormal returns are negatively correlated with changes in dividends. Moreover, calls that result in dilution of voting rights appear to have greater adverse valuation effects than calls that do not alter voting rights concentration.

LDC Debt: Forgiveness, Indexation, and Investment Incentives

Journal of Finance 1989 44(5), 1335
We compare different indexation schemes in terms of their ability to facilitate forgiveness and reduce the investment disincentives associated with the large LDC debt overhang. Indexing to an endogenous variable (e.g., a country's output) has a negative moral hazard effect on investment. This problem does not arise when payments are linked to an exogenous variable such as commodity prices. Nonetheless, indexing payments to output may be useful when debtors know more about their willingness to invest than lenders. We also reach new conclusions about the desirability of default penalties under asymmetric information.

LDC Debt: Forgiveness, Indexation, and Investment Incentives

Journal of Finance 1989 44(5), 1335-1350 open access
ABSTRACT We compare different indexation schemes in terms of their ability to facilitate forgiveness and reduce the investment disincentives associated with the large LDC debt overhang. Indexing to an endogenous variable (e.g., a country's output) has a negative moral hazard effect on investment. This problem does not arise when payments are linked to an exogenous variable such as commodity prices. Nonetheless, indexing payments to output may be useful when debtors know more about their willingness to invest than lenders. We also reach new conclusions about the desirability of default penalties under asymmetric information.