The Journal of Finance

The Journal of Finance publishes leading research across all the major fields of finance. It is one of the most widely cited journals in academic finance, and in all of economics. Each of the six issues per year reaches over 8,000 academics, finance professionals, libraries, and government and financial institutions around the world. The journal is the official publication of The American Finance Association, the premier academic organization devoted to the study and promotion of knowledge about financial economics.

AFA members can log in to view full-text articles below.

View past issues


Search the Journal of Finance:






Search results: 31.

The Net Benefits to Leverage

Published: 11/9/2010,  Volume: 65,  Issue: 6  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.2010.01612.x  |  Cited by: 317

ARTHUR KORTEWEG

I estimate the market's valuation of the net benefits to leverage using panel data from 1994 to 2004, identified from market values and betas of a company's debt and equity. The median firm captures net benefits of up to 5.5% of firm value. Small and profitable firms have high optimal leverage ratios, as predicted by theory, but in contrast to existing empirical evidence. Companies are on average slightly underlevered relative to the optimal leverage ratio at refinancing. This result is mainly due to zero leverage firms. I also look at implications for financial policy.


Risk‐Adjusting the Returns to Venture Capital

Published: 5/11/2016,  Volume: 71,  Issue: 3  |  DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12390  |  Cited by: 156

ARTHUR KORTEWEG, STEFAN NAGEL

We adapt stochastic discount factor (SDF) valuation methods for venture capital (VC) performance evaluation. Our approach generalizes the popular Public Market Equivalent (PME) method and allows statistical inference in the presence of cross‐sectionally dependent, skewed VC payoffs. We relax SDF restrictions implicit in the PME so that the SDF can accurately reflect risk‐free rates and returns of public equity markets during the sample period. This generalized PME yields substantially different abnormal performance estimates for VC funds and start‐up investments, especially in times of strongly rising public equity markets and for investments with betas far from one.


Attracting Early‐Stage Investors: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Published: 3/21/2017,  Volume: 72,  Issue: 2  |  DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12470  |  Cited by: 351

SHAI BERNSTEIN, ARTHUR KORTEWEG, KEVIN LAWS

This paper uses a randomized field experiment to identify which start‐up characteristics are most important to investors in early‐stage firms. The experiment randomizes investors’ information sets of fund‐raising start‐ups. The average investor responds strongly to information about the founding team, but not to firm traction or existing lead investors. We provide evidence that the team is not merely a signal of quality, and that investing based on team information is a rational strategy. Together, our results indicate that information about human assets is causally important for the funding of early‐stage firms and hence for entrepreneurial success.


Sequential Learning, Predictability, and Optimal Portfolio Returns

Published: 3/17/2014,  Volume: 69,  Issue: 2  |  DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12121  |  Cited by: 185

MICHAEL JOHANNES, ARTHUR KORTEWEG, NICHOLAS POLSON

This paper finds statistically and economically significant out‐of‐sample portfolio benefits for an investor who uses models of return predictability when forming optimal portfolios. Investors must account for estimation risk, and incorporate an ensemble of important features, including time‐varying volatility, and time‐varying expected returns driven by payout yield measures that include share repurchase and issuance. Prior research documents a lack of benefits to return predictability, and our results suggest that this is largely due to omitting time‐varying volatility and estimation risk. We also document the sequential process of investors learning about parameters, state variables, and models as new data arrive.


THE IMPACT ON THE STRENGTH OF MONETARY CONTROLS OF ASSET SHIFTS INVOLVING INTERMEDIARY CLAIMS*

Published: 9/1964,  Volume: 19,  Issue: 3  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1964.tb02875.x  |  Cited by: 0

Arthur Benavie


SCHACHT'S REGULATION OF MONEY AND THE CAPITAL MARKETS

Published: 6/1948,  Volume: 3,  Issue: 2  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1948.tb01509.x  |  Cited by: 0

Arthur Schweitzer


INTERMEDIARIES IN A MACROECONOMIC MODEL*

Published: 9/1967,  Volume: 22,  Issue: 3  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1967.tb02979.x  |  Cited by: 0

Arthur Benavie


A MODEL OF INTERDEPENDENT CAPITAL BUDGETING AND FINANCING DECISIONS UNDER UNCERTAINTY*

Published: 12/1974,  Volume: 29,  Issue: 5  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1974.tb03145.x  |  Cited by: 0

Arthur A. Eubank


EXPERIENCE AND RETROSPECTIVE RATING PLANS*

Published: 9/1954,  Volume: 9,  Issue: 3  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1954.tb01235.x  |  Cited by: 0

C. Arthur Williams


AN ANALYSIS OF CURRENT EXPERIENCE AND RETROSPECTIVE RATING PLANS

Published: 12/1954,  Volume: 9,  Issue: 4  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1954.tb01246.x  |  Cited by: 0

C. Arthur Williams


PERCEIVED RISK AND CAPITAL ASSET PRICING

Published: 12/1978,  Volume: 33,  Issue: 5  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1978.tb03428.x  |  Cited by: 8

Arthur E. Gooding


LOCAL INCOME TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE STATE OF OHIO*

Published: 3/1956,  Volume: 11,  Issue: 1  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1956.tb00691.x  |  Cited by: 0

Arthur D. Lynn


Inflation, Taxation, and Interest Rates

Published: 6/1982,  Volume: 37,  Issue: 3  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1982.tb02224.x  |  Cited by: 10

ARTHUR E. GANDOLFI

This paper demonstrates that the response of nominal interest rates to changes in inflationary expectations should lie between that predicted by the “Fisher” and “Darby” effects. The exact nature of the response will depend on the relative size of the income and capital gains tax rates, and the relative size of the derivatives of investment and savings to their respective after‐tax real rates. The other major conclusion of this paper is that capital gains taxation offsets the negative effect on investment produced by treating depreciation on a historic rather than a replacement cost basis.


TAXATION AND THE “FISHER EFFECT”

Published: 12/1976,  Volume: 31,  Issue: 5  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1976.tb03219.x  |  Cited by: 4

Arthur E. Gandolfi


SOME PROBLEMS OF CENTRAL BANKING IN UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Published: 5/1957,  Volume: 12,  Issue: 2  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1957.tb04130.x  |  Cited by: 10

Arthur I. Bloomfield


MULTIPLE EXCHANGE RATES: AN INSTRUMENT FOR IMPROVING FOREIGN‐TRADE BALANCE*

Published: 9/1954,  Volume: 9,  Issue: 3  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1954.tb01236.x  |  Cited by: 0

C. Arthur Williams


QUANTIFICATION OF INVESTORS' PERCEPTIONS OF COMMON STOCKS: RISK AND RETURN DIMENSIONS

Published: 12/1975,  Volume: 30,  Issue: 5  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1975.tb01057.x  |  Cited by: 25

Arthur E. Gooding


Some Empirical Estimates of the Risk Structure of Interest Rates

Published: 12/1989,  Volume: 44,  Issue: 5  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1989.tb02657.x  |  Cited by: 141

ODED SARIG, ARTHUR WARGA

This paper investigates the risk structure of interest rates using pure discount bonds. The most striking feature of our estimates of default‐risk premia is the resemblance of their time profile to the theoretical time profile obtained by Merton (1974).


Optimal Distribution‐Free Tests and Further Evidence of Heteroscedasticity in the Market Model: A Comment

Published: 6/1985,  Volume: 40,  Issue: 2  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1985.tb04979.x  |  Cited by: 2

BRUCE LEHMANN, ARTHUR WARGA


An Analysis of the Forecast Error Impact of Alternative Beta Adjustment Techniques and Risk Classes

Published: 6/1979,  Volume: 34,  Issue: 3  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1979.tb02141.x  |  Cited by: 9

ARTHUR A. EUBANK, J. KENTON ZUMWALT


The Pricing of Interest‐Rate Risk: Evidence from the Stock Market

Published: 6/1986,  Volume: 41,  Issue: 2  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1986.tb05044.x  |  Cited by: 139

RICHARD J. SWEENEY, ARTHUR D. WARGA

This paper addresses the issue of whether firms are required to pay an ex ante premium to investors for bearing the risk of interest‐rate changes. A two‐factor APT model with the market and changes in the yield on long‐term government bonds as factors is employed. The paper shows that, empirically, most of the interest‐sensitive stocks are in the utility industries, and that there is reasonable evidence that the interest factor is priced in the sense of the APT. Several sources for the interest sensitivity are considered, and regulatory lags are focused on as a likely candidate.


Merger Announcements and Insider Trading Activity: An Empirical Investigation

Published: 9/1981,  Volume: 36,  Issue: 4  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1981.tb04888.x  |  Cited by: 294

ARTHUR J. KEOWN, JOHN M. PINKERTON

This paper provides evidence of excess returns earned by investors in acquired firms prior to the first public announcement of planned mergers. The study is distinguished from earlier merger studies in its use of daily holding period returns for the 194 firms sampled. The results confirm statistically what most traders already know. Impending merger announcements are poorly held secrets, and trading on this nonpublic information abounds. Specifically, leakage of inside information is a pervasive problem occurring at a significant level up to 12 trading days prior to the first public announcement of a proposed merger.


DISCUSSION

Published: 5/1966,  Volume: 21,  Issue: 2  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1966.tb00236.x  |  Cited by: 0

J. Marcus Fleming, Arthur I. Bloomfield


Debt‐for‐Equity Swaps under a Rational Expectations Equilibrium

Published: 7/1989,  Volume: 44,  Issue: 3  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1989.tb04384.x  |  Cited by: 3

VIHANG R. ERRUNZA, ARTHUR F. MOREAU

This paper analyzes LDC debt‐for‐equity swaps under a rational expectations equilibrium. Under full information, the swap can never be strictly preferred by the LDC, the MNC, and the bank. Under the postulated informational asymmetry assumptions the same results obtain, leading to the “lemons” market in reverse. Under rational expectations, the swap can only occur if the loan is correctly valued relative to all private information in the economy. Given that some swaps do occur, future models must reflect the unique features of swaps.


Risk Decomposition and Portfolio Diversification When Beta is Nonstationary: A Note

Published: 9/1981,  Volume: 36,  Issue: 4  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1981.tb04895.x  |  Cited by: 27

SON‐NAN CHEN, ARTHUR J. KEOWN


An Experimental Study of Bond Market Pricing

Published: 7/20/2018,  Volume: 73,  Issue: 4  |  DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12695  |  Cited by: 34

MATTHIAS WEBER, JOHN DUFFY, ARTHUR SCHRAM

An important feature of bond markets is the relationship between the initial public offering (IPO) price and the probability that the issuer defaults. On the one hand, the default probability affects the IPO price; on the other hand, the IPO price affects the default probability. It is a priori unclear whether agents can competitively price such assets. Our paper is the first to explore this question. To do so, we use laboratory experiments. We develop two flexible bond market models that are easily implemented in the laboratory. We find that subjects learn to price the bonds well after only a few repetitions.


TEMPORARY TRADING SUSPENSIONS IN INDIVIDUAL NYSE SECURITIES

Published: 12/1978,  Volume: 33,  Issue: 5  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1978.tb03425.x  |  Cited by: 26

Michael H. Hopewell, Arthur L. Schwartz


AN OPTIMAL TEMPORARY LOAN MODEL FOR STATE BORROWERS

Published: 9/1977,  Volume: 32,  Issue: 4  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1977.tb03327.x  |  Cited by: 0

Arthur D. Butler, Stanton A. Warren


An Examination of the Relationship between Pure Residual and Market Risk: A Note

Published: 12/1981,  Volume: 36,  Issue: 5  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1981.tb01088.x  |  Cited by: 6

SON‐NAN CHEN, ARTHUR J. KEOWN


Determinants of Common Stock Prices: A Time Series Analysis

Published: 5/1977,  Volume: 32,  Issue: 2  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1977.tb03281.x  |  Cited by: 6

Marshall R. Blume, John Kraft, Arthur Kraft


Bankruptcy and Insider Trading: Differences Between Exchange‐Listed and OTC Firms

Published: 3/1992,  Volume: 47,  Issue: 1  |  DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1992.tb03989.x  |  Cited by: 39

THOMAS GOSNELL, ARTHUR J. KEOWN, JOHN M. PINKERTON

Over the two‐year period prior to the bankruptcy announcement, insider trading is significantly greater for OTC bankrupt firms, but not for exchange‐listed firms, than for an industry‐size matched sample of nonbankrupt firms. In addition, the level of insider selling increases over the final five months leading to the first public announcement of OTC firms. Finally, firms displaying the most negative price reaction over the announcement period are found to have a significantly larger proportion of insider selling than other firms.