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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An Examination of Ex‐Dividend Day Stock Price Movements: The Case of Nontaxable Master Limited Partnership Distributions
Published: 06/01/1991 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1991.tb02685.x
WAYNE H. SHAW
This study examines the unit (stock) price and volume behavior of master limited partnerships (MLP) around the ex‐dividend day. Since the dividends of MLPs are not taxable to the unitholder, tax based hypotheses predict no abnormal unit movements around the ex‐day. Significant positive excess returns and volume are found before the ex‐dividend day, and significant negative excess returns are found on the ex‐dividend day. The findings which are not significantly impacted by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 suggest ex‐day stock movements are not solely a function of investor marginal tax rates or corporate trading behavior.
Investing in Bankrupt Firms
Published: 12/01/1988 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1988.tb03964.x
DALE MORSE, WAYNE SHAW
We examine the investment characteristics of firms electing to enter bankruptcy, between 1973 and 1982. Comparisons are made before and after the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978. Our results indicate that the 1978 Act had no significant impact on bankruptcy decisions or resolutions for actively traded firms. Trading in bankrupt firms' securities is becoming more common, but no abnormal returns appear to be available. Systematic risk does not change significantly with the filing of bankruptcy, but there is a significant increase in return variance. The financial markets also react to various announcements of stages in the reorganization process.
Deposit Insurance and Wealth Effects: The Value of Being “Too Big to Fail”
Published: 12/01/1990 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1990.tb03729.x
MAUREEN O'HARA, WAYNE SHAW
This paper investigates the effect on bank equity values of the Comptroller of the Currency's announcement that some banks were “too big to fail” and that for those banks total deposit insurance would be provided. Using an event study methodology, we find positive wealth effects accruing to TBTF banks, with corresponding negative effects accruing to non‐included banks. We demonstrate that the magnitude of these effects differed with bank solvency and size. We also show that the policy to which the market reacted was that suggested by the Wall Street Journal and not that actually intended by the Comptroller.
The Persistence of IPO Mispricing and the Predictive Power of Flipping
Published: 12/17/2002 | DOI: 10.1111/0022-1082.00135
Laurie Krigman, Wayne H. Shaw, Kent L. Womack
This paper examines underwriters' pricing errors and the information content of first‐day trading activity in IPOs. We show that first‐day winners continue to be winners over the first year, and first‐day dogs continue to be relative dogs. Exceptions are “extra‐hot” IPOs, which provide the worst future performance. We also demonstrate that large, supposedly informed, traders “flip” IPOs that perform the worst in the future. IPOs with low flipping generate abnormal returns of 1.5 percentage points per month over the first six months beginning on the third day. We show that flipping is predictable and conclude that underwriters' pricing errors are intentional.