We examine the optimal trading strategy for a CRRA investor who maximizes the expected utility of wealth on a finite date and faces transaction costs. Closed-form solutions are obtained when this date is uncertain. We then show a sequence of analytical solutions converge to the solution to the problem with a deterministic finite horizon. Consistent with the common life-cycle investment advice, the optimal trading strategy is found to be horizon dependent and largely buy and hold. Moreover, it might be optimal for the investor in our model not to buy any stock, even when the risk premium is positive. Further analysis of the optimal policy is also provided.

We find that analysts' forecast errors are predicted by past accounting accruals (adjustments to cash flows to obtain reported earnings) among both equity issuers and nonissuers. Analysts are more optimistic for the subsequent four years for issuers reporting higher issue-year accruals. The predictive power is greater for discretionary accruals than nondiscretionary accruals and is independent of the presence of an underwriting affiliation. Predicted forecast errors from accruals significantly explain the long-term under performance of new issuers. The predictability of forecast errors among nonissuers suggests that analysts' credulity about accruals management more generally contributes to market inefficiency.

This paper analyzes the joint impact of the interest rate volatility and debt on firm investment. We derive an investment model taking account of the risk attitude of the owners of the firm. Using a panel of Dutch listed firms in the period of 1984–1995, we find that the cross-effect of the interest rate volatility and debt on investment is positive. This effect is more important for highly indebted firms than for less-indebted firms. The results are robust to different measures for the interest rate volatility. We interpret this finding by the tradeoff between the effect of the interest burden and the effect of debt revaluation.

We examine the optimal trading strategy for a CRRA investor who maximizes the expected utility of wealth on a finite date and faces transaction costs. Closed-form solutions are obtained when this date is uncertain. We then show a sequence of analytical solutions converge to the solution to the problem with a deterministic finite horizon. Consistent with the common life-cycle investment advice, the optimal trading strategy is found to be horizon dependent and largely buy and hold. Moreover, it might be optimal for the investor in our model not to buy any stock, even when the risk premium is positive. Further analysis of the optimal policy is also provided.

We assess empirically the effects of the winner's curse which, in common-value auctions, counsels more conservative bidding as the number of competitors increases. First, we construct an econometric model of an auction in which bidders' preferences have both common- and private-value components, and propose a new monotone quantile approach which facilitates estimation of this model. Second, we estimate the model using bids from procurement auctions held by the State of New Jersey. For a large subset of these auctions, we find that median procurement costs rise as competition intensifies. In this setting, then, asymmetric information overturns the common economic wisdom that more competition is always desirable.

We find that analysts’ forecast errors are predicted by past accounting accruals (adjustments to cash flows to obtain reported earnings) among both equity issuers and nonissuers. Analysts are more optimistic for the subsequent four years for issuers reporting higher issue-year accruals. The predictive power is greater for discretionary accruals than nondiscretionary accruals and is independent of the presence of an underwriting affiliation. Predicted forecast errors from accruals significantly explain the long-term underperformance of new issuers. The predictability of forecast errors among nonissuers suggests that analysts’ credulity about accruals management more generally contributes to market inefficiency.

We develop a stock market model with differences of opinion and short-sales constraints. When breadth is low—i.e., when few investors have long positions—this signals that the short-sales constraint is binding tightly, and that prices are high relative to fundamentals. Thus reductions in breadth should forecast lower returns. Using data on mutual fund holdings, we find that stocks whose change in breadth in the prior quarter is in the lowest decile of the sample underperform those in the top decile by 6.38% in the twelve months after formation. Adjusting for size, book-to-market, and momentum, the figure is 4.95%.

Using a large sample of exogenous events that negatively affected Korean banks during the 1997–98 period, we examine the value of durable bank relationships in Korea. We show that adverse shocks to banks have a negative effect not only on the value of the banks themselves but also on the value of their client firms, and that this adverse effect on firm value is a decreasing function of the financial health of both the banks and their client firms. Our results are concentrated in the second half of the sample period when Korean banks experienced severe difficulties.