by Terry A. Marsh, Robert C. Merton. / "First draft: September 1983"--p. [1]. "Last revised: March 1984"--p. [1]. / Bibliography: leaves 14-16.

This paper extends the scope of Earnings per share ("EPS") studies by incorporating Bushman et al. (2004)'s conceptual framework of corporate transparency to illustrate how the disclosure requirement of an accounting rule governing EPS could have far-reaching effects on the information environment in US. Informed participants are having a keener edger over average investors in using EPS as a guide to investment value. EPS signals a summary measure of firm performance to market participants. The market reactions to EPS and change in per share earnings provide a distinct opportunity to gauge the informativeness of earnings. The information role will nevertheless derail whenever there is an equity change. The accounting rule stipulates the use of a theoretical construct, the weighted average number of shares, in the denominator for EPS, which the average investor is unable to interpret as the number of shares at the reporting date is the actual, not average number of shares. Relative to the actual-share EPS, the average-share EPS will either inflate or deflate the per share earnings. The informed investors, who can substitute actual number of shares for the theoretical construct, are hence bestowed by the accounting rule an information advantage over the average investors. Earnings response coefficient is significant with denominator of EPS substituted while the explanatory power of theoretical-denominator EPS abates when it is contemporary with the denominator substituted EPS. Financial analysts' expertise in the provision of idiosyncratic information to the market has been compromised by the average-share EPS, which is reflected heretofore in proforma earnings forecasts errors. Proforma earnings use a numerator different from accounting rules and to further temper the denominator with the actual number of shares will make pro-forma EPS forecast unintelligible to users. The unintended consequence of inflating or deflating the per share earnings misleads average investors in their decision-making process. Analysts should not issue proforma earnings forecast while researchers should abstain from using theoretical-denominator EPS for sample firms with equity change as their policy prescriptions may further aggravate the problem. A simple remedy to change the accounting rule, SFAS No. 128 is eminently anticipated, if not warranted.

A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree in Masters in Management Finance and Investment , University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / This thesis examines the performance of value and growth stocks during the ten year period June 2006 to 2016 within five emerging markets countries namely South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, India and Argentina. Value stocks are those stocks that trade at low prices in comparison to its fundaments value of the company and growth stocks are those stocks that trade at high prices compared to the company’s fundaments. The portfolios of value and growth stocks are created in the five abovementioned countries. The performance of value and growth stocks are studied by constructing portfolios on the basis of price-to-earnings, price-to-book, price-to-cash flow and price-earnings-growth. The data to calculate these price-multiples are derived from the audited statement of comprehensive income, statement of financial position and statement of cash flow of the companies. Trade data on listed stock, listed indices, cash dividends and risk-free rates are derived from mainly from Bloomberg.com and Morningstar.com. To classify stocks to be included in value or growth portfolios, a 30 percent cut-off is used. The portfolio returns and risk, price-multiples are studied as well to research whether one price-multiple provide higher return than others. Total return and risk-adjusted measures are studied by means of average daily returns to scrutinize which class of stocks, value or growth, provided the highest return. A regression analysis is performed to study if the Capital Asset Pricing model and a two-factor model can elaborate on the excess returns yield by value and growth portfolios. The findings are that value stock portfolio provide a higher total return than growth stocks portfolio. The value stocks as compared to growth stocks, also provide a fraction of higher return per unit of risk, as measured by Jensen’s Alpha and Treynor. The study also shows that value portfolios classified on price-to-book yield higher returns than portfolios constructed on other price multipliers. The regression analyses show that the CAPM two-factor model is able to explain the excess returns on value and growth portfolios. The beta coefficients of value stocks are higher than growth stocks, which is consistent with the general theory that higher betas found in stocks should, by definition, produce higher returns, this also suggest that the reason behind the of outperformance by value stocks over growth stocks is a compensation of risk. While value and growth stocks are studied over a period of 10 years on five emerging markets there is some limitations and implications for future research exist. One major limitation concern is the sample size of 5 emerging markets out of 152 emerging and developing countries as listed by the International Monetary Fund. Therefore reaching statistical conclusion makes it difficult to generalize towards other countries. / MT 2018

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In this study the irrelevance school of issue price is challenged and a theoretical model of optimal allocation ratio which explicitly takes into account various costs associated with rights offerings is developed. The empirical results reveal the importance of owners' subscription cost, the issuing firm's dividend policy, as well as the cost of administering share transfers in the determination of allocation ratio. The entirety of these results points, therefore, to the rejection of the irrelevance school of issue price and lend support to the three relevance school theories: the dividend policy cost theory of Levy and Sarnat, the transfer cost hypothesis of Beranek, and the cost of owner subscription hypothesis developed in this study. / Ph. D.

When-issued trading, the contractual agreement for the sale and purchase of shares to be issued in the future (when-issued securities), typically occurs after stock split announcements. Curiously, when-issued trading does not always exist for a stock-splitting firm's shares even though the shares are eligible for when-issued trading. Although stock splits have been the subject of a large number of studies, intriguing questions concerning these events remain unanswered. In particular, academia has yet to explain adequately the positive average abnormal returns associated with stock split announcements. These two peculiar phenomena are examined. A major objective of this dissertation is to determine whether there are systematic differences between those stock-splitting firms whose shares are traded on a when-issued basis and those whose shares arc not. A logistic regression model was constructed, using information with respect to nine accounting variables, to determine if there are systematic differences in accounting information that are useful in classifying stock-splitting firms as being associated with when-issued trading. The classification accuracy of the logistic regression model was significantly better than a random walk model, but was not better than the maximum chance model. The results of the final model indicate that size of the stock-splitting firm is the most significant factor affecting the probability that a stock-splitting firm's shares are traded on a when-issued basis. The probability that a stock-splitting firm's shares will be traded on a when-issued basis increases with firm size. The presence/absence of when-issued trading indicates that investors do not react to stock splits in a consistent manner. Therefore, the stock price behavior around the stock split announcements was examined and the difference in the reaction to announcements of when-issued traded and non-when-issued traded firms was tested for statistical significance. The results indicate that the market responds more favorably to the stock split announcements made by non-when-issued traded firms. The variation in the stock price behavior over a two-day stock split announcement period was analyzed cross-sectionally to determine whether the market reaction displayed through stock prices is related to selected accounting variables. Again, size was the most significant factor. In this case, size was negatively related to the stock price behavior suggesting that stockholders of larger firms earn lower abnormal returns. Another interpretation would be that stock splits are viewed more favorably if authorized by smaller firms. Overall, the results of this study suggest that all stock-splitting firms are not similar and that the market does not react consistently to the announcement of stock splits of all firms. It seems that the larger the firm, the more likely its shares will be traded on a when-issued basis after the stock split is announced. Furthermore, the market does not react as positively to stock split announcements of larger firms as it does to announcements of smaller firms. My conclusion is that larger firms are more efficiently valued and, accordingly, the announcements of stock splits by larger firms are less informative than for smaller ones. / Ph. D.

Stocks and similar securities are normally traded in prices which are integral multiples of one-eiqhth of a dollar (a few are traded in one-sixteenths of a dollar). This price constraint may introduce a bias in the estimates of beta for low-priced securities, and the purpose of this dissertation is to examine the bias introduced from this source. The research methodology briefly consists of constructing a price series for a hypothetical stock by computing"true" prices from an assumed"true" beta and alpha, the series of returns generated from a market index, and a random disturbance term. The constructed price series is rounded to the nearest one-eighth of a dollar and an"observed" beta for this rounded price series is calculated. The"observed” beta is compared to the"true" beta to observe the degree of bias. Replications are made which differ in their randomly chosen starting point in the market index series; and the experiment is repeated for various"true" betas and alphas within the range of interest, for different intervals between price observations, and for different initial prices. Chapter I provides an introduction to the study. In Chapter II the relevant literature for this study is reviewed. The first part includes previous studies of the one-eighth effect and the intervalling effect, while the second part of the chapter focuses on the composition and characteristics of common market indexes. The analytical considerations are discussed in Chapter III. The price generating mechanism and the constraint placed upon it by one eighth price rounding are explicitly stated. Alternative rounding procedures are presented and their implications discussed. In the next section the characteristics of the rounding functions are discussed. Finally, expressions for the amount of bias in beta estimates introduced by the one eighth price rounding are derived for both logarithmic returns and holding period (arithmetic) returns. In Chapter IV the methodology used to secure the results presented in Chapter V is reviewed. The simulation itself is discussed as well as the statistical and ad hoc procedures used to evaluate the results. The results presented in the next chapter also include the results pertinent to two ancillary issues discussed in Chapter IV, namely, how many replications are needed and how reproducible are the results. Chapter VI summarizes the findings, draws a conclusion, and suggests extensions of the study. / Ph. D.

Systematic mispricing by the state-of-the-art option pricing models is a paradox in financial economics as both the magnitude and direction of the mispricing is debated. The models have been found to overprice out-of-the-money and deep-in-the-money call options while underpricing in-the-money and deep-out-of-the-money calls. In addition, research has shown these biases have different signs in different time periods. We propose that when investors maximize expected utility for Friedman-Savage-Markowitz utility functions, the option mispricing observed in the market will result. The theories and empirical tests in the literature of higher-order utility functions and risk-neutral valuation (RNV) in the options market are presented. Though investor attitudes towards risk are irrelevant in the non-arbitrage world of modern option pricing, to the extent the options market does not meet the non-arbitrage conditions, investor risk preferences will affect the pricing of options. Risk-loving traders will bid up market prices relative to risk-neutral model prices; risk-averse traders will bid down prices. And investor risk preferences can, and do, change over time as market conditions change. New tests are run to analyze the relationship between mispricing biases and investor preferences before and after the historic stock market crash of October 19, 1987. We find mispricing biases which imply a decreased risk aversion on the part of investors in the IBM call option markets for the period prior to the market crash and mispricing biases which imply an increased risk-averse (and decreased risk-loving) behavior in those markets following the crash. Similar analyses are also performed in the Microsoft call options markets with less conclusive results. / Ph. D.

by Au Yuk Mui, Kitty, Lo King Yuen, Simon. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references. / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.v / Chapter CHAPTER I --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Hong Kong Stock-Market --- p.2 / History of Hong Kong Stock Market --- p.2 / Stock Indexes in Hong Kong --- p.4 / Process in Granting Dividend to Investors --- p.6 / Transaction Cost in Stock Trading --- p.7 / Chapter CHAPTER II --- HYPOTHESES --- p.10 / Chapter CHAPTER III --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.14 / Review of Hong Kong Taxation System --- p.14 / Literature Review --- p.16 / Survey on the Shareownership --- p.22 / Chapter CHAPTER IV --- METHODOLOGY --- p.26 / Data Collection --- p.26 / Stock price & Dividend --- p.26 / Market Index --- p.28 / Regression equation --- p.30 / Chapter CHAPTER V --- STATISTICAL FINDING --- p.36 / Practice of dividend payment --- p.36 / Stock price drop vs Dividend --- p.40 / Adjusted Ex-date Return vs Dividend Yield --- p.46 / Multiple regression analysis on the CAPM equation for ex-date return --- p.60 / Chapter CHAPTER VI --- LIMITATION --- p.73 / Abnormal crisis --- p.73 / Market Index --- p.74 / Portfolio approach --- p.75 / Transaction Cost --- p.76 / Chapter CHAPTER VII --- CONCLUSION --- p.77 / Chapter APPENDIX A --- "REGRESSION RESULT FOR RATE OF STOCK PRICE DROP AND DIVIDEND YIELD, IN ACCORDING TO THE DIVIDEND TYPE, WEEKDAY AND TIME LAPSE BETWEEN CUM-DATE AND EX-DATE" --- p.79 / Chapter APPENDIX B --- "REGRESSION RESULT FOR ADJUSTED EX-DATE STOCK RETURN AND DIVIDEND YIELD, IN ACCORDING TO THE DIVIDEND TYPE, WEEKDAY AND TIME LAPSE BETWEEN CUM-DATE AND EX-DATE" --- p.80 / Chapter APPENDIX C --- "RESULT OF MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS FOR ADJUSTED EX-DATE STOCK RETURN AND DIVIDEND YIELD, ACCORDING TO THE DIVIDEND TYPE, WEEKDAY AND TIME LAPSE BETWEEN CUM-DATE AND EX-DATE" --- p.82 / Chapter APPENDIX D --- THE IMPLIED RISK FREE RATE --- p.84 / REFERENCES --- p.85

by Ho Wai Wa. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-92). / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.ii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGMENT --- p.iv / ABSTRACT --- p.v / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- NOISE TRADING --- p.8 / Chapter III. --- FEEDBACK TRADING FOR ASSET RETURNS --- p.19 / Chapter A. --- The Feedback Trading Model --- p.19 / Chapter B. --- Review of the Models for the Stock Return Distribution --- p.27 / Chapter C. --- A Testable Model --- p.34 / Chapter D. --- other Sources of Serial Correlation --- p.36 / Chapter E. --- Other Sources of ARCH Effect --- p.38 / Chapter IV. --- ESTIMATION OF THE FEEDBACK TRADING MODEL --- p.42 / Chapter A. --- Data Description --- p.42 / Chapter B. --- Estimation --- p.47 / Chapter 1. --- Base Model --- p.47 / Chapter 2. --- The Feeding Trading Model --- p.52 / Chapter C. --- Implications for Feedback Trading --- p.70 / Chapter V. --- MEASURING THE IMPACT OF NOISE TRADING --- p.73 / Chapter VI. --- CONCLUSION --- p.81 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.87