Dividends are not only a signal about a firm's prospects under asymmetric information, but they can also act as a corporate governance device to align the management's interests with those of the shareholders. Dividend Policy and Corporate Governance is the first comprehensive volume on the relationship between dividend policy and corporate governance, and examines in detail empirical studies and current theories. Reviewing the interactions between dividend policy and other corporate governance mechanisms, it compares results for the UK and the US with those for other countries such as France, Germany, and Japan, and provides new empirical evidence on corporate governance in continental Europe and its impact on dividends. Focusing on one of the main representatives of this system, Germany, it highlights major differences between the dividend policies of German firms and those of UK or US firms. Conventional wisdom states that German dividends are lower than UK or US dividends, yet on a published-profits basis, the exact converse is true. In addition, the authors demonstrate a link between corporate control structures and dividend payouts, report evidence that the existence of a loss is an additional determinant of dividend changes, and demonstrate that the tax status of the controlling shareholder and the firm's dividend payout are not linked. The conclusions reached in this book have important implications for the current debate on corporate governance, making it invaluable for academics, finance professionals, regulators and legal advisors.

This book seeks to examine the relationship between corporate law rules and economic performance. Contributors examine the design of the two main systems of corporate governance to ascertain which bundle of rules is likely to support the emergence of a strong system of governance. They seek to show that the performance of companies is linked to different patterns of shareholding, legal rules, and non-legal relationships.

The contents of this book include: Introduction (L. Renneboog) - Part 1: Corporate restructuring; mergers and acquisitions in Europe (M. Martynova, L. Renneboog); the performance of acquisitive companies in the US (K. Cools, M. V. D. Laar); The announcement effects and long-run stock market performance of corporate spin-offs: The international evidence (C. veld, Y. Veld-Merkoulova); the competitive challenge in banking (A. Boot, A. Schmeits); Consolidation of the European banking sector: Impact on innovation (H. Degryse, S. Ongena, M.F. Penas) - Part II: Corporate governance; transatlantic corporate governance reform (J. McCahery, A. Khachaturyan); The role of self-regulation in corporate governance: evidence and implications from the Netherlands (A. De Jong, D. Dejong, G. Mertens, C. Wasley); and Shareholder lock-in contracts: Share price and trading volume effects at the lock-in expiry (P. P. Angenendt, M. Goergen, L. Renneboog). It also features: The grant and exercise of stock options in IPO firms: Evidence from the Netherlands (T. V. D. Groot, G. Mertens, P. Roosenboom); Institutions, corporate governance and firm performance (J. Grazell) - Part III: Capital structure and valuation; Why do companies issue convertible bonds? A review of the theory and empirical evidence (I. Loncarski, J. Ter Horst, C. Veld); The financing of Dutch firms: a historical perspective (A. De Jong, A. Roell); Corporate financing in the Netherlands (R. Kabir); Syndicated loans: Developments, characteristics and benefits (G. Van Roij); The bank's choice of financing and the correlation structure of loan returns: loans sales versus equity (V. Ioannidou, Y. Pierides); and shareholder value and growth in sales and earnings (L. Soenen) - Part IV: Asset pricing and monetary economics. This book includes: The term structure of interest rates: An overview (P. De Goeii); incorporating estimation risk in portfolio choice (F. De Roon, J. Ter Horst, B. Werker); a risk measure for retail investment products (T. Nijman, B. Werker); understanding and exploiting momentum in stock returns (J. C. Rodriguez, A. Sbuelz); and Relating risks to asset types: A new challenge for central banks (J. Sijben).

Leveraged Buyouts: Motives and Sources of Value analyzes the motives for taking public firms private and provides a structured and critical review of the empirical research in this area. The authors examine which types of firms go private and the determinants of takeover premiums in LBO transactions; investigate whether the post-transaction value creation, as well as the duration of the private status, can be explained by the aforementioned potential value drivers; answer the questions whether or not Public-to-Private (PTP) transactions lead to superior organizational forms compared to public firms, and whether going private is a shock therapy to restructure firms generating both strong short- and long-term returns; and document the trends and drivers of global LBO activity in the 1980s, 1990s, and the subsequent decades. After a short introduction, Section 2 briefly discusses on the different types of leveraged buyouts and going-private transactions. Section 3 discusses the theoretical considerations underlying the sources of wealth gains from going private deals. Section 4 focuses on the four main strands of the literature - namely, on the Intent to do an LBO, on the Impact of the LBO measured by changes in the share price returns, on the LBO Process or on how the firm is restructured in the post-LBO stage, and on the Duration of being a private firm - and on the empirical evidence supporting the eight motives proposed by each strand of the literature. Section 5 explains the drivers behind the observed LBO waves that emerged over the past 35 years. Section 6 lines out a future research agenda.