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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DISCUSSION
Published: 05/01/1983 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1983.tb02239.x
ROBERT S. HARRIS
Corporate Behavior in Adjusting to Capital Structure and Dividend Targets: An Econometric Study
Published: 03/01/1984 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1984.tb03864.x
ABOLHASSAN JALILVAND, ROBERT S. HARRIS
This study of financing decisions by U.S. corporations examines the issuance of long term debt, issuance of short term debt, maintenance of corporate liquidity, issuance of new equity, and payment of dividends. Given costs and imperfections inherent in markets, a firm's financial behavior is characterized as partial adjustment to long run financial targets. Individual firm data are used so that speeds of adjustment are allowed to vary by company and over time. The results suggest that financial decisions are interdependent and that firm size, interest rate conditions, and stock price levels affect speeds of adjustment.
The Role of Acquisitions in Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from the U.S. Stock Market
Published: 07/01/1991 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1991.tb03767.x
ROBERT S. HARRIS, DAVID RAVENSCRAFT
This paper examines foreign direct investment by studying shareholder wealth gains for 1273 U.S. firms acquired during the period 1970‐1987. Three findings stand out. First, cross‐border takeovers are more frequent in research and development intensive industries than are domestic acquisitions; furthermore, in three‐fourths of cross‐border transactions the buyer and seller are in related industries. These industry patterns suggest that costs and imperfections in product markets play an important role in foreign direct investment. Second, targets of foreign buyers have significantly higher wealth gains than do targets of U.S. firms. This cross‐border effect is comparable in size to the wealth effects of all‐cash and multiple bids, two effects receiving substantial attention in the finance literature, and is robust to inclusion of these two variables. Third, while the cross‐border effect on wealth gains is not well explained by industry and tax variables, it is positively related to the weakness of the U.S. dollar, indicating a significant role for exchange rate movements in foreign direct investment.
Private Equity Performance: What Do We Know?
Published: 03/27/2014 | DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12154
ROBERT S. HARRIS, TIM JENKINSON, STEVEN N. KAPLAN
We study the performance of nearly 1,400 U.S. buyout and venture capital funds using a new data set from Burgiss. We find better buyout fund performance than previously documented—performance has consistently exceeded that of public markets. Outperformance versus the S&P 500 averages 20% to 27% over a fund's life and more than 3% annually. Venture capital funds outperformed public equities in the 1990s, but underperformed in the 2000s. Our conclusions are robust to various indices and risk controls. Performance in Cambridge Associates and Preqin is qualitatively similar to that in Burgiss, but is lower in Venture Economics.
A Test of the Relative Pricing Effects of Dividends and Earnings: Evidence from Simultaneous Announcements in Japan
Published: 12/17/2002 | DOI: 10.1111/0022-1082.00245
Robert M. Conroy, Kenneth M. Eades, Robert S. Harris
We study the pricing effects of dividend and earnings announcements by taking advantage of the unique setting in Japan where managers simultaneously announce the current year's dividends and earnings as well as forecasts of next year's dividends and earnings. Defining surprises as deviations from analysts' forecasts, we find that share price reactions are significantly affected by earnings surprises, especially management forecasts of next year's earnings. The information content of dividends is marginal and is restricted to announcements of next year's dividends. Consistent with Modigliani and Miller's dividend irrelevance proposition, current dividend surprises have no material impact on stock prices in Japan.
The Effects of Stock Splits on Bid‐Ask Spreads
Published: 09/01/1990 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1990.tb02437.x
ROBERT M. CONROY, ROBERT S. HARRIS, BRUCE A. BENET
This paper examines the effects of stock splits on bid‐ask spreads for NYSE‐listed companies. Percentage spreads increase after splits, representing a liquidity cost to investors. These spread increases are directly related to decreases in share prices following splits and can explain part, but not all, of the observed increase in return variability after splits. The evidence thus suggests a liquidity cost of stock splits that must be weighed against any other perceived benefits of splits. Such a liquidity cost may validate that stock splits are a signal of favorable information about the firm.
An Empirical Analysis of the Role of the Medium of Exchange in Mergers
Published: 06/01/1983 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1983.tb02503.x
WILLARD T. CARLETON, DAVID K. GUILKEY, ROBERT S. HARRIS, JOHN F. STEWART
In empirical studies of differences between firms which are acquired and those which are not, researchers typically divide firms into two groups‐acquired and nonacquired. In this paper, we argue that cash takeovers may be sufficiently different from noncash acquisitionst hat failure to distinguish between them may lead to inappropriateg eneralizations. We provide evidence from the mid 1970s that three categories of firms can be distinguished:n onacquireda, cquiredi n a cash takeover, and acquired in an exchange of securities.