Associations between management forecast accuracy and pricing of IPOs in Athens Stock Exchange

This study examines the earnings forecast accuracy of newly listed companies on the Athens Stock Exchange and further investigates the relationship between earnings forecast and pricing of IPOs. It uses a unique dataset of 208 IPOs, which were floated during the period of January 1994 to December 2001 in the Athens Stock Exchange. The results suggest that investors are able to anticipate forecast errors at the time of listing. Pricing of IPOs indicate that firms with negative earnings forecast (pessimistic) are associated with low level of underpricing while optimistic management earning forecast can be a signal for high initial returns. Three variables - age of the IPOs, ownership by insiders and industry classification significantly contribute towards accuracy of earnings forecast

The choice among non-callable bonds and make whole, claw back and otherwise ordinary callable bonds

This paper seeks to explain determinates of the choice and the pricing of various types of callable and non-callable bonds. We find that the popularity of different types of callable and non-callable bonds is significantly related to the economic environment. In addition, the popularity of claw back bonds appear to be driven by agency considerations, make whole bonds by the debt overhang problem, ordinary callable bonds by the need by banks to deal with interest rate changes and non-callable bonds by the need to raise funds as cheaply as possible. All else equal, firms pay a higher offer spread for the flexibility to call a claw back bond early via a new share offering whereas issuers of make whole bonds are rewarded with a lower offer spread for restricting calls to circumstances that does not expropriate bondholder wealth

Financial Expert CEOs and Earnings Management Around Initial Public Offerings

This study examines the association between financial expert CEOs and earnings management (EM) around initial public offerings. We identify financial expert CEOs as those having past experience in either banking or investment firms, large auditing firms, or finance-related roles. We find strong evidence that newly listed firms with financial expert CEOs are less likely to engage in either accrual-based or real EM in the offering year than those with non-financial expert CEOs. In particular, our results are robust after controlling for the potential selection issue that occurs due to non-random matching of CEOs to firms. In addition, we employ alternative measures of financial expertise, including past experience in a CFO position, financial experience variety, and professional qualifications. We document that CEOs who used to work as CFOs and those who gained varied financial experience are less likely to manage earnings through both accruals and real activities. Moreover, CEOs who have a professional qualification in finance and/or accounting are also associated with lower accrual-based EM

CEO Education and the Ability to Raise Capital

We examine whether heterogeneity of CEO academic qualifications matters in explaining the performance of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). We find that CEO education attainments perform a signaling role which depends not only on the level but also on the major of education. Specifically, we show that, irrespective of the level of academic achievements, IPO investors have a preference for top managers with practice or business oriented degrees as opposed to liberal arts degrees. Importantly, our findings suggest that both the level and quality of education training tend to reduce IPO underpricing, and this effect is less pronounced for less specialized degrees

Collateral regulation and IPO-specific liberalization: the case of price limits in the Athens stock exchange

This paper uses a unique testing ground on the effect of price limits upon IPO pricing and initial returns. The Athens Stock Exchange offers the opportunity for this new experiment, as three substantial changes in limit regulations were implemented in a short period of eight years. The results indicate significant differences in initial returns. Effective price limits reduce underpricing in all market segments, without visible diminution of IPO activity. The introduction of mandatory book-building after price limits were phased out in Athens also led to reduced underpricing in the main market segment. Nevertheless, the existence of an independent effect of price limits explains why some regulators continue to use them to the present day

Financial innovation and growth listings and IPOs from 1880 to World War II in the Athens Stock Exchange

The study explores the growth of the Athens Stock Exchange through new listings and IPOs over the period 1880-1940. We examine institutional changes in exchange governance and listing requirements. On a theme that has not been addressed before, we find that simple listings were far more numerous than actual IPOs, while even during ‘hot’ listing periods IPO activity was relatively limited. IPOs in Greece remained unregulated throughout the period and there is only sparse evidence on the involvement of professional investment banking services. IPOs over-pricing in the early decades gives way to under-pricing in the 1920s. The growth of the Greek stock market was coincident with development episodes in the economy, as well as phases of protectionism. It has been driven by a demand for listings basically serving the liquidity needs of company owners. Finally, the study presents data on "quasi-IPOs" (i.e. capital increases shortly after listing)and shows that they offer a more accurate assessment of the demand for the financing of listing firms

The investigation of the dynamic linkages between real estate market and stock market in Greece

We use quarterly data from Greece over the period 1997:1–2015:2 and investigate the dynamic linkages between the price of the real estate market and the price of the stock market focusing on two transmission mechanisms, namely the wealth and credit-price effects. The empirical analysis employs advanced methodological techniques and presents evidence supporting the existence of both the wealth effect and the credit effect in the long-run while in the short-run there is a one-way causal effect running from stock market towards house market. Results reveal asymmetric adjustment to equilibrium process and considerably stronger for positive deviations from the equilibrium

An empirical evaluation of e-learning usage in the higher education context

[EN] E-learning has been adopted for several years in Greece and abroad, and it is considered an integral part of blended learning. E-learning systems accumulate a vast amount of data which may be very valuable. The educational organizations may exploit the power provided by e-learning, if they analyze the usage and the content of the courses. An early assessment of the of e-courses use may provide useful information to the educators, in order to make educational interventions in their teaching material. This study suggests that the evaluation of e-learning usage may be carried out with the assesment of variables and metrics related to teacher training material and student trafficking. We propose three metrics which are combined efficiently, in order to quantify the quality characteristics of the courses and offer useful insights about the educational material and e-learning usage. This case study was implemented in the e-class platform of a Greek Higher Education educational institute. This platform created by the Greek Universities Network (GUNET) is very popular in Greece, since the majority of the Greek universities have adopted it. The results of our study confirmed the validity of our suggested approach, and highlighted the need for a more learnercentered focus and active participation of the students.Petasakis, I.; Kontogiannis, S.; Gounopoulos, E.; Kazanidis, I.; Valsamidis, S. (2020). An empirical evaluation of e-learning usage in the higher education context. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 291-300. https://doi.org/10.4995/INN2019.2019.10147OCS29130

Blended Learning Evaluation In Higher Education Courses

Although traditional learning was a necessity for centuries and distance learning is sometimes the only way for learning for many learners, the last two decades a supplementary mode to the other modes of learning emerged, the e-learning. However, the last few years, blended learning has dominated as the only mode which combines perfectly the advantages of the other modes of learning. The role of educational content in blended learning is crucial. The key factor to success is high quality educational content, appropriate for learning and able to fulfill course educational aims and objectives. Most of the times it is not an easy task to give feedback to instructors about the online educational content.  However, some course characteristics and students’ actions may reflect the quality and quantity of the educational content. This study evaluates the use of blended learning in TEI of West Macedonia with the use of structured questionnaires exposed to the learners. The learners express their attitude about how useful the blended learning is and how this blended means facilitates their studies. It proposes two variables Richness and Usefulness, taking into account statistics concerning the courses. These variables aim to help course instructors and administrators review course usage and find course weaknesses. Keywords: Blended learning, evaluation, questionnaire, richness, usefulnes