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Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 66 No. 1 2002

Investor protection and equity markets

Andrei Shleifer1; Daniel Wolfenzon2

1 Harvard University · 2 New York University

Abstract

We present a simple model of an entrepreneur going public in an environment with poor legal protection of outside shareholders. The model incorporates elements of Becker's (J. Political Econ. 106 (1968) 172) “crime and punishment” framework into a corporate finance environment of Jensen and Meckling (J. Financial Econ. 3 (1976) 305). We examine the entrepreneur's decision and the market equilibrium. The model is consistent with a number of empirical regularities concerning the relation between investor protection and corporate finance. It also sheds light on the patterns of capital flows between rich and poor countries and on the politics of reform of investor protection.

DOI
10.1016/s0304-405x(02)00149-6
Volume
66
Issue
1
Pages
3-27
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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