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.
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The Choice of Issuance Procedure and the Cost of Competitive and Negotiated Underwriting: an Examination of the Impact of Rule 50
Published: 07/01/1987 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1987.tb04580.x
RICHARD L. SMITH
Previous research suggests that firms choose negotiated issuance over competitive despite its apparently higher net interest cost. This result is shown to arise partly from failure to correct for a selectivity bias in the choice of issuance procedures. Two stage analysis is used in a model that includes qualitative and limited dependent variables to re‐estimate the net interest cost difference between competitive and negotiated issues. Results support the hypothesis that the choice of issuance procedure is consistent with shareholder wealth maximization. Examination of debt issues subject to Rule 50 of the Public Utility Holding Company Act indicates that the regulation, as applied, is not effective.
Market Discounts and Shareholder Gains for Placing Equity Privately
Published: 06/01/1993 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1993.tb04723.x
MICHAEL HERTZEL, RICHARD L. SMITH
Despite selling at substantial discounts, private placements of equity are associated with positive abnormal returns. We find evidence that discounts reflect information costs borne by private investors and abnormal returns reflect favorable information about firm value. Results are consistent with the role of private placements as a solution to the Myers and Majluf underinvestment problem and with the use of private placements to signal undervaluation. We also find some evidence of anticipated monitoring benefits from private sales of equity. For the smaller firms that comprise our sample, information effects appear to be relatively more important than ownership effects.
Determinants of Contract Choice: The Use of Warrants to Compensate Underwriters of Seasoned Equity Issues
Published: 03/01/1996 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1996.tb05213.x
CHEE K. NG, RICHARD L. SMITH
The issuer's decision to include warrants as compensation to underwriters is studied for a sample of 1,991 negotiated firm commitment issues of seasoned equity. Using a two‐stage logit model to correct for self‐selection bias, we find direct evidence that warrant compensation functions as a bond, substituting for reputational capital and enabling the underwriter to certify the issue price. To a lesser degree, the decision also is affected by regulations on underwriter compensation and on the use of underwriter warrants. Issuers' decisions are consistent with an objective of minimizing total underwriting cost, including cash compensation, warrants, and underpricing.
Public Information, IPO Price Formation, and Long‐Run Returns: Japanese Evidence
Published: 01/23/2009 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.2008.01440.x
KENJI KUTSUNA, JANET KIHOLM SMITH, RICHARD L. SMITH
The price formation process of JASDAQ IPOs is more transparent than in the United States. The transparency facilitates analysis of important issues in the IPO literature—why offer prices only partially adjust to public information and adjust more fully to negative information, and why adjustments are related to initial returns. The evidence indicates that early price information conveys the underwriter's commitment to compensate investors for acquiring and/or disclosing information. Offer prices reflect pre‐IPO market values of public companies and implicit agreements between underwriters and issuers that originate well before the offering. Underadjustment of offer prices is substantially reversed in the aftermarket.
Evidence on the Determinants of Credit Terms Used in Interfirm Trade
Published: 12/17/2002 | DOI: 10.1111/0022-1082.00138
Chee K. Ng, Janet Kiholm Smith, Richard L. Smith
Trade credit is created whenever a supplier offers terms that allow the buyer to delay payment. In this paper we document the rich variation in interfirm credit terms and credit policies across industries. We examine empirically the firm's basic credit policy choices: whether to extend credit or to require cash payment; and, if credit is extended, whether to adopt simple net terms or terms with discounts for prompt payment. We also examine determinants of variations in two‐part terms. Results are supportive primarily of theories that explain credit terms as contractual solutions to information problems concerning product quality and buyer creditworthiness.