This dissertation examines two underdeveloped topics in the field of corporate finance. In the first chapter, I detail the impact of expectations on the performance of firms under the leadership of new CEOs. I seek to answer the heretofore untested question of whether greater pressure motivates new CEOs to succeed, encourages them to engage in manipulative behaviors, or both. I show that new CEOs with greater expectations are significantly more likely to report superior achievement. However, after possible manipulation is accounted for, this superiority is reduced to insignificant levels. I conclude that while a small motivational effect of expectations may exist, spurring some new CEOs to perform, the strongest impact of heightened expectations for new CEOs is an increased likelihood to artificially inflate performance measures for the sake of appearance. In the second chapter, I question whether the market's response to the announcement of significantly increased dividends depends on the future free cash flows, realized by the firm, which may prove to be susceptible to agency costs. I consider the market's reaction to the announcement of substantial dividend hikes and find this reaction is not tied to the future free cash flows of the firm; however, I also find that the reaction is strongly linked to the excess cash balance of the firm in the year of the dividend increase. I contend the market attempts to consider agency costs when evaluating new dividends, but in doing so it fails to look beyond the firm's current cash situation. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Finance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2009. / February 25, 2009. / Dividend Sources, Executive Motivation / Includes bibliographical references. / Xufeng Niu, Outside Committee Member; Yingmei Cheng, Committee Member; Bruce Haslem, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_181098 |
| Contributors | Krieger, Kevin, 1979- (authoraut), Niu, Xufeng (outside committee member), Cheng, Yingmei (committee member), Haslem, Bruce (committee member), Department of Finance (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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