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Abstract:
We analyze how shareholders screen management proposals at annual general meetings. First, we use a simple model of strategic voting to develop a theoretical benchmark of effective information aggregation through voting. Then, we derive testable implications and provide structural estimates of the model parameters. The main conclusions are that shareholders vote strategically and that proposal screening increases value. Shareholders largely neutralize the lock-in effect of supermajority rules, thereby preventing the incorrect rejection of proposals.

shareholder meeting, proposal screening, strategic voting, supermajority rule

Abstract:
This paper presents a new metric for journal ranking that has the advantage of ranking more journals with a longer time-series at a low cost relative to impact factors and survey-based methods. We simultaneously rank journals and institutions by the degree of concentration of top journal publications among top rated institutions. The resulting rank of journals by concentration is similar to the rank by impact factors, but the concentration rank includes several journals which are not in the Social Science Citation Index. We also examine the index with thirty-five years of finance research, document a strong secular decline for most journals, a widening gap between higher and lower tier journals, and study the impact on journal competition from the Review of Financial Studies.

Journal ranking, institution ranking, concentration index, impact factor, financial economics

Abstract:
This paper presents a new metric for journal ranking that has the advantage of ranking more journals with a longer time-series at a low cost relative to impact factors and survey-based methods. We simultaneously rank journals and institutions by the degree of concentration of top journal publications among top rated institutions. The resulting rank of journals by concentration is similar to the rank by impact factors, but the concentration rank includes several journals which are not in the Social Science Citation Index. We also examine the index with thirty-five years of finance research, document a strong secular decline for most journals, a widening gap between higher and lower tier journals, and study the impact on journal competition from the Review of Financial Studies.

Journal ranking, institution ranking, concentration index, impact factor, financial economics

Abstract:
We argue that many firms become publicly traded on a stock exchange as the first stage of a longer term divestment plan. Making a direct sale of unlisted stock may be associated with great adverse selection costs. The publicly listed stock price reduces adverse selection by aggregating the information of several investors, and this market valuation, rather than the cash infusion, could be the main benefit of an initial public offering. This theory provides a unified treatment of a whole range of empirical observations, in particular why initial owners frequently exit completely subsequent to an initial public offering (IPO) and why the number of stock market introductions increases with the stock price level. The model also reformulates the "sweet taste" explanation of IPO underpricing in a way which is consistent with recent evidence. Finally, we argue that the number of firms which go public is inefficiently large.

Abstract:
We study a large data set of stock portfolios held by individuals and organizations in the Swedish stock market. The dividend yields on these portfolios are systematically related to investors' relative tax preferences for dividends versus capital gains. Tax-neutral investors earn 40 basis points higher dividend yield on their portfolios than investors which face higher effective taxation of dividends than capital gains. We conclude that there are dividend tax clienteles in the market. We also argue that the abundant portfolio holdings by closely-held corporations, despite triple taxation at a combined marginal tax rate as high as 77.5%, is a consequence of taxation.

Capital gains tax, dividend tax clienteles, stock ownership, tax incidence

Abstract:
We evaluate the dividend tax clientele hypothesis using a data set of all stock portfolios in the market. Consistent with the predictions of Tax-CAPM, we find that tax-neutral investors tilt their stock portfolios towards dividend-paying stocks and earn about 40 basis points higher dividend yield than investment funds that prefer capital gains over dividends. We also document that private corporations, foundations, and partnerships have deviating dividend preferences, and discuss how these portfolio behaviors relate to special tax or charter provisions.

Tax-CAPM, stock ownership, institutional investors, private corporations, foundations, partnerships

Abstract:
We estimate the costly-arbitrage model of Boyd and Jagannathan (1994) using Norwegian stock market data. Taxable distributions take place at two separate dates, one that entails the distribution of an imputation-tax credit and another the distribution of the cash dividend. We find that the costly-arbitrage model is consistent with observed stock returns around the ex-dividend day, but the model cannot explain the return patterns around the distribution of the tax credit. We relate the difference in price formation to uncertainty.

Costly-arbitrage model, estimation risk, Ex-dividend day, imputation-tax credit, legal risk, withholding tax

Abstract:
We estimate the costly-arbitrage model of Boyd and Jagannathan (1994) using Norwegian stock market data. Taxable distributions take place at two separate dates, one that entails the distribution of an imputation-tax credit and another the distribution of the cash dividend. We find that the costly-arbitrage model is consistent with observed stock returns around the ex-dividend day, but the model cannot explain the return patterns around the distribution of the tax credit. We relate the difference in price formation to uncertainty.

Ex-dividend day, withholding tax, imputation-tax credit, costly-arbitrage model, legal risk, estimation risk

Abstract:
This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the primary and secondary market for Finnish treasury bonds. The paper focuses on three issues. First, we report basic descriptive statistics such as auction volumes and secondary market yields and volumes. Second, we estimate the revenues earned by primary dealers from the treasury bond market. Third, we analyse the development of the price of the auctioned bonds, relative to other benchmark bonds, around the time of the auction. We find evidence of a price decrease in the auctioned bond series before the auction and a price increase after the auction. This pattern is strongest for 1992-1994 when Treasury funding needs were heavy and secondary market trading volume of treasury bonds was modest.

treasury bond auctions, secondary market

Abstract:
Since World War II, direct stock ownership by households has largely been replaced by indirect stock ownership by financial institutions. We argue that tax policy is the driving force. Using long time-series from eight countries, we show that the fraction of household ownership decreases with measures of the tax benefits of holding stocks inside a pension plan. This finding is important for policy considerations on effective taxation and for financial economics research on the long-term effects of taxation on corporate finance and asset prices.

Capital gains tax, income tax, stock ownership, inflation, bracket creep, pension funds

Abstract:
We investigate if the proxy voting process transmits valuable information from shareholders to management. A simple strategic voting model is developed and tested in a large sample of management proposals. The evidence suggests that voting is strategic in the sense that shareholders take into account the information of the other shareholders when making their voting decisions. The structural estimation suggests that strategic voting saves up to 30% of the value at stake in a proposal compared to naive voting strategies, especially for voting on governance proposals. The data also suggest that super majority requirements are never optimal. We conclude that shareholder meetings have an advisory function in addition to the disciplining role typically emphasized in the literature.

Abstract:
We study uniform price auctions using a dataset that includes individual bidders' demand schedules in Finnish Treasury auctions during the period 1992-99. Average underpricing amounts to 0.041% of face value. Theory suggests that underpricing may result from monopsonistic market power. We develop and test robust implications from this theory and find that it has little support in the data. For example, bidders' individual demand functions do not respond to increased competition in the manner predicted by the theory. We also present evidence that the Finnish Treasury acts strategically, taking into account the fact that the auctions are part of a repeated game between the Treasury and the primary dealers. Empirically, the main driver behind bidder behaviour and underpricing is the volatility of bond returns. Since there is no evidence that bidders are risk averse, this suggests that private information and the winner's curse may play an important role in these auctions.

Multiunit auctions, uniform price, treasury auctions, market power, demand functions, underpricing, supply uncertainty, seller behaviour

Abstract:
Since World War II, direct stock ownership by households has largely been replaced by indirect stock ownership by financial institutions. We argue that tax policy is the driving force. Using long time-series from eight countries, we show that the fraction of household ownership decreases with measures of the tax benefits of holding stocks inside a pension plan. This finding is important for policy considerations on effective taxation and for financial economics research on the long-term effects of taxation on corporate finance and asset prices.

Bracket creep, capital gains tax, Income tax, Inflation, Pension funds, stock ownership

Abstract:
We analyze how shareholders screen management proposals at annual general meetings. First, we use a simple model of strategic voting to develop a theoretical benchmark of effective information aggregation through voting. Then, we derive testable implications and provide structural estimates of the model parameters. The main conclusions are that shareholders vote strategically and that proposal screening increases value. Shareholders largely neutralize the lock-in effect of supermajority rules, thereby preventing the incorrect rejection of proposals.

D72, G34

Abstract:
Lottery bonds are Danish Treasury obligations which make coupon payments by lottery. Professional traders have a tax preference for the coupon lottery, while investors are tax-neutral and take the other side of the trade. Consistent with tax-based explanations of abnormal ex-day returns, we find that prices fall by more than the lottery mean. Surprisingly, we also find that the price drop over the lottery decreases with the lottery variance. This suggests that investors do not like the lottery. In fact, the Danish Treasury has been able to sell more lottery bonds only by offering above market interest rates.

Lottery bonds, ex-dividend day, tax differential, diversifiable risk, downward-sloping demand curve

Abstract:
We analyze a unique data set on multiunit auctions, which contains the actual demand schedules of the bidders as well as the auction awards in over 400 Swedish Treasury auctions. First, we document that bidders vary their prices, bid dispersion, and the quantity demanded in response to increased uncertainty at the time of bidding. Second, we find that bid shading can be explained by a winner's curse-driven model in which each bidder submits only one bid, despite the fact that the bidders in our data set use much richer bidding strategies. Third, we explore the extent to which the received theories of multiunit auctions are able to offer insights into the bidder behavior we observe. Our empirical evidence is consistent with some of the predictions of the models of auctions that emphasize private information, the winner's curse, and the champion's plague. While the models of multiunit auctions serve as useful guideposts, our empirical findings also point to several new areas of research in multiunit auctions that are of policy and theoretical interest.

Abstract:
Swedish government lottery bonds have coupon payments determined by lottery. They offer a unique opportunity to study a security with uncertain payoffs having a known, observable distribution. The risk associated with the lotteries is by construction idiosyncratic, and should not command a risk premium in equilibrium.The bonds are traded in two forms, allowing us to evaluate the rewards to bearing extra lottery risk. Despite its idiosyncratic nature, we find prices appear to reflect aversion to this risk. We evaluate the empirical determinants of this differential pricing and possible explanations for it.