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<p>This thesis explores the following three important issues in the field of corporate finance: window dressing in corporate cash holdings, market effects of SEC regulation of short-term borrowing disclosure and market response to dividend change announcements by unregulated versus regulated firms.</p> <p>First, I find strong evidence of upward window dressing in cash holdings by U.S. industrial firms during the fourth fiscal quarter. This behavior is robust to several controls and a December year-end dummy. Further cross-sectional analysis reveals that the window dressing is sensitive to firm size and level of information asymmetry. I also find that firms manipulate discretionary accruals to dress up fourth quarter cash, perhaps to gain favourable credit terms on issuing short-term debt.</p> <p>Second, I use portfolios of financial and non-financial SEC registrants to examine the market reaction to proposed SEC short-term borrowing disclosure regulation. Using event study methodology, I find that the market reaction is positive and significant at the announcement date and negative and significant at the voting date. Overall, I observe a positive market reaction, indicating the usefulness of the disclosure from the vantage point of users. The results for various subsets confirm the expectations and suggest that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to regulation is undesirable.</p> <p>Finally, I use large samples of dividend increase and decrease announcements for the period 1960 to 2010 in order to compare stock price reactions of unregulated and regulated firms. I observe a stronger market reaction to the dividend increase announcements of unregulated firms compared to those of regulated firms after controlling for firm characteristics, market factors and contemporaneous earnings announcements, a result consistent with the dividend signaling hypothesis and uniqueness argument for regulated firms. However, I find that the market reaction to dividend decrease announcements is similar for unregulated and regulated firms. The cross-sectional analysis further confirms that the stronger stock price reaction to dividend increase announcements of unregulated firms is associated with the level of information asymmetry.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis advisor: Donald Cox / Does a CEO’s narcissism influence the company’s stock? Would it matter if it is a media company? The Efficient Market Hypothesis claims that it matters little given market efficiency, as narcissism has been priced in stock based on the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Existing literature is divided on whether CEO narcissism influences corporate efficiency. This paper refines assumptions on asset pricing by indicating when market inefficiency occurs through panel studies, which the Adaptative Market Hypothesis overlooks. A case study on Elon Musk suggests that the CEO’s narcissism with media involvement creates temporary market inefficiency. This paper innovatively combines an event study of Elon Musk's Twitter activities on Tesla and Twitter with a panel analysis of 17 S&P 500 CEOs. The finding shows that younger and female CEOs, who derive narcissism supply and lead media companies, are more inclined to take risks on stock returns. This result suggests re-evaluating stock market efficiency to include CEO demographics and personality, which extends beyond traditional CAPM models. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics. / Discipline: Departmental Honors.

In the first essay we study whether and how personal off-the-job managerial indiscretions impact corporate insiders’ trading behavior. We find that executives accused of personal indiscretions earn significantly higher abnormal returns from their insider purchases and sales in a 15-day window around each trade. The results are robust to matched sample analyses. Further, insiders’ historical trading pattern or corporate culture has less explanatory power than personal attributes. We also document that exposure of these indiscretions to the public provides a disciplinary effect, as insider trading profits significantly drop following the announcement of an indiscretion, despite this drop being temporary. Corporate governance mechanisms, such as blackout policies, significantly reduce abnormal returns earned by indiscretion executives. In the second essay we find that individualistic countries regulate insider trading activities more intensely. The result is robust to controlling for alternative culture variables, additional controls, and instrumental variable analysis. We also document that individualism’s effect is magnified in democratic countries. In addition, we study the economic and financial consequences of individualism, insider trading regulation, and its enforcement. The analysis suggests that individualism and the enforcement of insider trading regulation promote financial development. Interaction effects reveal that individualism and insider trading regulation serve as complements to promote financial development. These findings contribute to the insider trading debate since regulation alone may not be the primary determinant of market efficiency. Combined, our results challenge prior works concluding that individualism is anti-regulation. In the last essay we explore the relation between insider trading regulation and the cost of equity in a country. Bhattacharya and Daouk (2002) conduct a comprehensive survey of 103 countries on whether insider trading law exists and has been enforced. They find that the enforcement of insider trading law, not the existence, can significantly reduce the cost of equity in a country. In this paper, we use an updated sample to reevaluate this topic and answer whether this relation still holds after adding 20 years of new data. Preliminary results show that countries with lighter insider trading regulation and countries that have enforced insider trading laws tend to experience lower cost of equity.

Diese Dissertation besteht aus drei Essays, welche empirisch den Einfluss von Manager-Optimismus auf verschiedene unternehmenspolitische Entscheidungen untersuchen. Der Ausdruck Manager-Optimismus wird hierbei verwendet um Agenten (Manager) zu beschreiben, die im Interesse der Prinzipale (Aktionäre) zu handeln glauben, aber tatsächlich ins Positive verzerrte Vorstellungen über ihre eigenen Fähigkeiten und somit über die zukünftige Performance ihrer Firmen haben. Das erste Papier untersucht den Einfluss von Manager-Optimismus auf Ausstattungsmerkmale von Fremdkapitalverträgen. Konsistent mit nach oben verzerrten Erwartungen über die zukünftigen Cash Flows ihrer Firmen zeigt sich, dass Firmen mit übermäßig optimistischen Managern häufiger Performance abhängige Verträge nutzen und zugleich eine schlechtere Performance nach Aufnahme des Fremdkapitals aufweisen als solche mit rationalen Managern. Der zweite Artikel untersucht unternehmerisches Risikomanagement. Es stellt sich heraus, dass Firmen mit optimistischen Managern signifikant weniger wahrscheinlich Finanzderivate zur Absicherung ihrer Fremdwährungsrisiken nutzen als solche mit rationalen Managern. Dieses Verhalten ist mit einer Unterschätzung von Insolvenzkosten bzw. Kosten einer finanziellen Notlage konsistent. Der dritte Teil der Arbeit untersucht empirisch das Verhältnis zwischen Manager-Optimismus und der Nutzung von großen Abschreibungen im Rahmen von CEO-Wechseln. Nach dem Abgang von CEOs kann man häufig beobachten, dass deren Nachfolger ein so genanntes big bath accounting durchführen. Hierbei werden durch Abschreibungen Verluste dem Vorgänger zugeschrieben und Verdienste für zukünftige Performanceverbesserungen für sich beansprucht. In Übereinstimmung mit den verzerrten Erwartungen über zukünftige Cash Flows ihrer Firmen zeigt sich, dass Unternehmen, welche einen optimistischen Manager einstellen, weniger wahrscheinlich ein solches earnings bath durchführen, als Firmen, die rationale Manager einstellen. / This thesis consists of three essays that empirically investigate to what extent managerial optimism affects corporate financial policy decisions. The term managerial optimism is used to describe agents (managers), who believe to act in the principals’ (shareholders’) best interest but in fact have upwardly biased views about their own abilities and consequently about the performance of their firms. The first paper investigates the impact of managerial optimism on debt contract design. Consistent with their upwardly biased view on their firm’s future cash flow, we find that firms with overly optimistic managers are more likely to choose performance sensitive debt (PSD) contracts and show worse post issue performance than firms with rational managers. The second paper analyzes corporate risk management. We find that firms with overly optimistic managers are significantly less likely to use financial derivatives to hedge their currency exposures than those with rational managers. This behavior is consistent with an underestimation of bankruptcy or financial distress costs by overly optimistic managers. The third paper empirically tests the relationship between managerial optimism and the use of large write-offs following CEO turnover. Subsequent to CEO turnover, it is often observed that incoming CEOs engage in this so called big bath accounting. Losses incurred during the big bath are attributed to the predecessors and the incoming CEOs take credit for future performance improvements. Consistent with their upwardly biased expectations concerning future firm cash flow, we find that firms hiring optimistic managers are less likely to experience an earnings bath in the year of the turnover than those hiring their rational counterparts.

With increasing scrutiny over standards of financial statement transparency, this paper attempts to resolve misconceptions about effects of negative special items on future earnings. Value investor Benjamin Graham advises students to avoid firms that consistently post special items, because it is indicative of the volatility of the business. Using panel data from 2003 to 2014 and a regression structure used by Burghstaler et al. (2002), I find in contrast to Graham’s warning, that negative special items significantly increase earnings in the four quarters following its occurrence. Furthermore, I analyze results by sector and find that negative special items in the Information Technology sector have the most dramatic positive effects on future earnings. This study gives investors more insight as to what negative special items mean for future earnings of a company.

This paper utilizes a short-term event study to analyze the stock price reaction of domestic and foreign M&A target firms to the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Treasury regulatory announcements aimed at restricting corporate tax inversions. The results suggest that domestic M&A target firms experience insignificant abnormal returns as a result of the Treasury overlooking tax-favored acquisitions by foreign acquirers of domestic target firms with significant locked out earnings. Meanwhile, foreign M&A target firms experience insignificant abnormal returns associated with the ineffective 2014 and 2015 Treasury regulations and experience significant abnormal returns associated with the highly effective 2016 Treasury regulations. This paper contributes to the existing debate on corporate inversions by highlighting the common techniques used to escape the United States’ tax jurisdiction, as well as shedding light on a hidden inversion alternative that has been largely overlooked by the Treasury’s regulatory actions.

The 2016 House Republican Blueprint proposes business tax reform that establishes a destination-based cash flow taxation system (DBCFT). Supporters of DBCFT believe a border adjustment tax appropriately addresses the common concern that modern globalization has outpaced U.S. tax legislation. Stated goals of the border adjustment tax (BAT) are to reduce compliance costs, remove special interest subsidies and crony capitalism, encourage domestic economic growth. This paper contains expositional analysis on the theoretical ramifications associated with a shift to a destination-based system. I evaluate the current and proposed corporate tax systems against four generally accepted standards for a good tax: sufficiency, convenience, efficiency, and fairness. My research suggests that a border adjustment tax offers improvement in sufficiency and convenience. However, the BAT does not pass the criteria for efficiency and fairness. Lastly, I add scenario driven research on how the border adjustment tax (BAT) will affect business taxation in California. I conclude that statewide universal adoption of the border adjustment tax produces the highest California state tax revenue under a federal system of DBCFT.

The main purpose of this dissertation is to lessen the gap in the Islamic finance and investment literature by providing new answers to the most vital question raised in that literature: Is the adherence to the Shariah law associated with at any cost? The first chapter provides a primer on Islamic finance. It discusses several restrictions and necessary adaptations that must be made to have a Shariah-compliant product. The takeaway is that Shariah law mandates is related to fundamentals and, thus has a direct effect on the risk-return profile of all sorts of different products. This is referred to as the “Islamic-effect.” The second chapter investigates that Islamic-effect in a cross-sectional stock return context. This is done in two steps. First, looking at differences in stock returns between Islamic and conventional firms in Saudi Arabia during the period from January 2003 to April 2011. Results indicate that there is a negative relationship between Saudi Islamic firms and average returns. This is referred to as the “negative Islamic-effect.” Second, examine whether that negative Islamic-effect is considered a common, systematic, and undiversified risk factor that affects cross-sectional expected stock returns. Time-series regressions results indicate that the Islamic risk factor (CMI) does indeed capture strong common variation in Saudi stock returns regardless what is included in the model. Also, findings suggest that using a four-factor model that controls for the Islamic-effect is more appropriate than using a single- or a three-factor model in Islamic finance applications that require estimates of expected stock returns. The third chapter investigates the Islamic-effect in a mutual fund context. A unique sample of 143 Saudi mutual funds (96-Islamic and 47-conventional) is used to assess the performance and riskiness of Saudi Islamic funds relative to Saudi conventional funds and relative to different Islamic and conventional indices for the period from July 2004 to January 2010. Findings suggest that there is a benefit (cost) from adhering to the Shariah law when locally-focused (internationally-focused) fund portfolios are investigated. When Arab-focused fund portfolios are investigated, findings suggest that there is neither a cost nor a benefit from adhering to the Shariah law.

The first part of this dissertation examines the impact of financial development on different countries holdings of U.S securities. The difference between the US weight in the global market capitalization and the US weight in developed and developing countries is tested through a panel data analysis. We find that most countries tend to overweight their US debt portfolio which is strongly related to their financial market development. When holdings of US debts and equity are low, financial market development is high; in developing countries, holding less US equity in their portfolio causes country to get better financial development. In developed countries there is no causation effect; a simple negative relation between financial development and countries holding of US securities is observed and countries tend to hold relatively less US securities through years. The second part of this dissertation examines whether economic conditions, affect carve-outs frequency and returns. This paper investigates the effect of expansion and recession, and industry sectors on carve out issued in the US over 1982 to 2009. We find that the number of carve-outs is higher in expansion than recession. However, the cumulative abnormal returns are higher during recession which is explained by the higher adverse selection during this period. Further, we find that the difference of abnormal returns between expansion and recession is significant and we also observe that high-tech or non-high-tech industries that undertake carve-out have positive higher abnormal return during recession. Therefore, within a same industry sector, carve-out abnormal returns are impacted by the economy cycle. However difference of abnormal returns between industry sector, high-tech and non-high-tech industries, is not significant.