283 research outputs found

    It Takes Two To Tango: an empirical tale of distressed firms and assisting banks

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    We study the restructuring process of small and medium-sized firms in financial distress. We have a unique dataset with firms in the Netherlands that are guided in their restructuring effort by banks. Part of our dataset consists of firms that successfully restructure their operations and obligations with the help of their bank. Another part consists of firms that, despite the assistance of their bank, did not succeed in reorganizing their operations and finances. Our empirical test predicts success and failure in restructuring. We find that banks guide firms in their restructuring effort and that their assistance is of crucial importance to the success of the restructuring. However, some firms do not benefit from this assistance, because firms need to be prepared to undertake radical operational changes before bank assistance is forthcoming

    Investment and Internal Finance: Asymmetric Information or Managerial Discretion?

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    This paper examines the relation between cash-flow availability and investment spending in the Netherlands. In particular, we are interested whether managerial discretion and/or asymmetric information drive the positive relation between cash-flow and investment spending. This relation is positive for both firms with lo

    A Firm-Specific Analysis of the Exchange-Rate Exposure of Dutch Firms

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    We examine the relationship between exchange-rate changes and stock returns for a sample of Dutch firms over 1994-1998. We find that over 50% of the firms are significantly exposed to exchange-rate risk. Furthermore, all firms with significant exchange-rate exposure benefit from a depreciation of the Dutch guilder relative to a trade-weighted currency index. This result confirms that firms in open economies, such as the Netherlands, exhibit significant exchange-rate exposure. We collect unique information on the most relevant individual currencies for each firm with respect to their influence on firm value. Our results indicate that the use of a trade-weighted currency index and the use of individual exchange rates are complements. We also measure the determinants of exchange-rate exposure. As expected, we find that firm size and the foreign sales ratio are significantly and positively related to exchange-rate exposure. In contras

    The Impact of Institutional Differences on Derivatives Usage

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    This paper examines the influence of institutional differences on risk management practices in the US and the Netherlands. This comparison is interesting because the Dutch firms' institutional setting differs from the US setting with respect to shareholder orientation, international trade, disclosure regulation, and reliance on financial markets. In contrast with previous comparisons, we apply a matching and weighting strategy that corrects for differences over industry and size classes across the Dutch and US samples. After these corrections, the remaining results can be attributed more directly to institutional differences. We find that due to the greater openness of the Netherlands, Dutch firms hedge more financial risk, especially more currency risk, than US firms. Dutch firms, however, show a lower level of concern over derivatives usage, which is consistent with having less active minority shareholders and less strict disclosure requirements than the US has. Dutch firms focus le ss on stabilizing accounting earnings with derivatives than US firms, which is likely attr

    De Ratio van Corporate Governance

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    Abe de Jong (1970) is Professor in Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance at RSM Erasmus University. He obtained a PhD in finance at Tilburg University (1999). His research and teaching interests are in the area of empirical corporate finance and include capital structure choice, dividend policy, risk management, corporate investment and divestment policies, and corporate governance. In this inaugural address he discusses recent developments in the area of corporate finance, and in particular behavioral aspects of strategic and financial decision-making. The insights from behavioral finance are confronted with the effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms.The top management of corporations has a major influence on the investments and financing of the firms under their control. According to the economics-based principal-agent theory, managers will maximize their own utility, even at the expense of the shareholders and other stakeholders. The corporate governance literature describes disciplinary mechanisms and their effectiveness in mitigating agency problems.Recent studies in the field of behavioral corporate finance show that managers do not always behave rationally and that this behavior potentially has a measurable negative impact on strategic decisions.The central question in this address is which influence corporate governance can assert in the reduction of irrational managerial behavior. Because the irrationality is unconscious behavior, a number of mechanisms that mitigate rational agency problems,does not seem effective.On the other hand, the role of boards and the market for corporate control (as practiced, for example, by private equity funds) seem effective mechanisms

    Dutch Corporate Finance, 1602-1850

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    Early Modern Dutch corporate finance had two notable features, a remarkable ease of raising large amounts of capital and a flexible legal framework. Having pioneered new corporate forms with two intercontinental tradi

    An Admiralty for Asia: Isaac le Maire and conflicting conceptions about the corporate governance of the VOC

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    The Dutch East India Company or VOC in 1602 showed many characteristics of modern corporations, including limited liability, freely transferable shares, and well-defined managerial functions. However, we challenge the notion of the VOC as the precursor of modern corporations to argue that the company was a hybrid, combining elements from traditional partnerships with a governance structure modeled on existing public-private partnerships. The company’s charter r

    Do Banks Influence the Capital Structure Choices of Firms?

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    This paper investigates three capital structure decisions – leverage, debt maturity and the source of debt – in a simultaneous setting. Moreover, we investigate whether these choices are influenced by the involvement of banks in a firm. Our results based on a panel of Dutch firms show that bank relationships, measured by interlocking board memberships and equity ownership, have a significant impact on the relations among the three capital structure choices. First, less bank involvement strengthens the positive impact of leverage on maturity. This is consistent with the liquidity risk theory, because involved banks help firms to mitigate liquidity risk. Second, bank debt negatively effects leverage in firms with bank interlocks, while this relation is absent in firms without such bank involvement. This result suggests that banks maximize the value of their loans by reducing overall leverage. Third, we find a strong trade-off between bank debt and maturity, which is independent of the degree of bank involvement

    The Formative Years of the Modern Corporation: The Dutch East India Company VOC, 1602-1623

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    With their legal personhood, permanent capital with transferable shares, separation of ownership and management, and limited liability for both shareholders and managers, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and subsequently the English East India Company (EIC) are generally considered a major institutional breakthrough. Our analysis of the business operations and notably the financial policy of the VOC during the company’s first two decades in existence shows that its c

    Capital Structure Policies in Europe: Survey Evidence

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    In this paper we present the results of an international survey among 313 CFOs on capital structure choice. We document several interesting insights on how theoretical concepts are being applied by professionals in the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, and France and we directly compare our results with previous findings from the U.S. Our results emphasize the presence of pecking-order behavior. At the same time this behavior is not driven by asymmetric information considerations. The static trade-off theory is confirmed by the importance of a target debt ratio in general, but also specifically by tax effects and bankruptcy costs. Overall, we find remarkably low disparities across countries, despite the presence of significant institutional differences. We find that private firms differ in many respects from publicly listed firms, e.g. listed firms use their stock price for the timing of new issues. Finally, we do not find substantial evidence that agency problems are important in capital structure choice
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