Progressive Taxation and Corporate Liquidation: Analysis and Policy Implications

This paper contributes to the debate on alternative corporate tax schemes, employing a rigorous real option methodology which has never been used to study both liquidation policy and taxation. Different tax systems are considered, according to whether the tax regime is progressive or flat and losses are deductible or not. The critical liquidation threshold is derived as a function of interest expenses, the firmÕs driving parameters and the tax rates and taxation brackets. It is shown that only the adoption of a flat tax plan does not interfere with the firmÕs liquidation policy, while any progressive tax schedule can slow down or speed up the closure policy.Corporate debt, default risk, progressive tax, real options.

OPTION PRICING UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES: A UNIFYING FORMULA

A new option pricing formula is presented that unifies several results of the existing literature on pricing exotic options under Lèvy processes. To demonstrate the flexibility of the formula a few examples are given which provide new valuation formulas within the Lévy frameworkLévy processes, pseudo differential operators, option pricing

(S,S)-ADJUSTMENT STRATEGIES AND DYNAMIC HEDGING

We study the destabilising effect of dynamic hedging strategies on the price of the underlying asset in the presence of transaction costs. Once transaction costs are taken into account, continuous portfolio re-hedging is no longer an optimal strategy. Using a non-optimising (local in time) strategy for portfolio rebalancing, explicit dynamics for the price of the underlying asset are derived, focusing in particular on excess volatility and feedback effects of these portfolio insurance strategies. Moreover, it is shown how these latter depend on the heterogeneity of the insured payoffs. Finally, conditions are derived under which it may be still reasonable, from a practical viewpoint, to implement Black-Scholes strategies.

The effects of environmental taxes and quotas on the optimal timing of emission reductions under Choquet-Brownian uncertainty

The effects of two environmental policy options for the reduction of pollution emissions, i.e. taxes and non-tradable quotas, are analyzed. In contrast to the prior literature this work endogenously takes into account the level of emissions before and after the adoption of the new environmental policy. The level of emissions is determined by solving the firm's profit maximization problem under taxes and fixed quotas. We find that the optimal adoption threshold under taxes is always larger than the adoption threshold under fixed quota, even in a setting characterized by ecological uncertainty and ambiguity - in the form of Choquet-Brownian motions - on future costs and benefits over adopting environmental policies.

Convertible debt : financing decisions and voluntary conversion under ambiguity

This paper integrates ambiguity into a contingent claim model for convertible debt. We study how convertible debt valuation is affected by the ambiguity biases of equity holders and debt holders and provide sensitivity analysis of the bond value to changes in attitude toward ambiguity, firm and bond parameters. Our result, which are summarized into five main predictions, are consistent with recent empirical evidence and offer a possible interpretation of some corporate finance puzzles