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: 2.

Ownership Structure, Deregulation, and Bank Risk Taking

Published: 06/01/1990   |   DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1990.tb03709.x

ANTHONY SAUNDERS, ELIZABETH STROCK, NICKOLAOS G. TRAVLOS

This paper investigates the relationship between bank ownership structure and risk taking. It is hypothesized that stockholder controlled banks have incentives to take higher risk than managerially controlled banks and that these differences in risk become more pronounced in periods of deregulation. In support of this hypothesis, we show that stockholder controlled banks exhibit significantly higher risk taking behavior than managerially controlled banks during the 1979–1982 period of relative deregulation.


Managers, Owners, and The Pricing of Risky Debt: An Empirical Analysis

Published: 06/01/1994   |   DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1994.tb05148.x

ELIZABETH STROCK BAGNANI, NIKOLAOS T. MILONAS, ANTHONY SAUNDERS, NICKOLAOS G. TRAVLOS

This article examines managerial ownership structure and return premia on corporate bonds. It is argued that when managerial ownership is low, an increase in managerial ownership increases management's incentives to increase stockholder wealth at the expense of bondholder wealth. When ownership increases more, however, it is argued that management becomes more risk averse, with incentives more closely aligned with bondholders. This study finds a positive relation between managerial ownership and bond return premia in the low to medium (5 to 25 percent) ownership range. There is also weak evidence for a nonpositive relation in the large (over 25 percent) ownership range.