NBER工作证明书系列关于行为的公司财务(pdf 63页)(英文)

I. Introduction..........................................................................................................................1
II. The irrational investors approach...........................................................................................4
A. Theoretical framework.....................................................................................................6
B. Empirical challenges......................................................................................................10
C. Investment policy ..........................................................................................................13
C.1. Real investment ....................................................................................................14
C.2. Mergers and acquisitions.......................................................................................16
C.3. Diversification and focus ......................................................................................18
D. Financial policy .............................................................................................................19
D.1. Equity issues.........................................................................................................19
D.2. Repurchases..........................................................................................................23
D.3. Debt issues............................................................................................................24
D.4. Cross-border issues ...............................................................................................26
D.5. Capital structure....................................................................................................27
E. Other corporate decisions ..............................................................................................28
E.1. Dividends .............................................................................................................29
E.2. Firm names ...........................................................................................................31
E.3. Earnings management ...........................................................................................32
E.4. Executive compensation........................................................................................33
III. The irrational managers approach........................................................................................34
A. Theoretical framework...................................................................................................36
B. Empirical challenges......................................................................................................39
C. Investment policy ..........................................................................................................40
C.1. Real investment ....................................................................................................40
C.2. Mergers and acquisitions.......................................................................................42
D. Financial policy .............................................................................................................43
D.1. Capital structure....................................................................................................43
D.2. Financial contracting.............................................................................................44
E. Other behavioral patterns...............................................................................................44
E.1. Bounded rationality...............................................................................................45
E.2. Reference-point preferences..................................................................................46
IV. Conclusion.........................................................................................................................48
References .............................................................................................................................51

I. Introduction
Corporate finance aims to explain the financial contracts and the real investment behavior
that emerge from the interaction of managers and investors. Thus, a complete explanation of
financing and investment patterns requires an understanding of the beliefs and preferences of
these two sets of agents. The majority of research in corporate finance assumes a broad
rationality. Agents are supposed to develop unbiased forecasts about future events and use these
to make decisions that best serve their own interests. As a practical matter, this means that
managers can take for granted that capital markets are efficient, with prices rationally reflecting
public information about fundamental values. Likewise, investors can take for granted that
managers will act in their self-interest, rationally responding to incentives shaped by
compensation contracts, the market for corporate control, and other governance mechanisms.