{"title":"The causal impact of short-sale constraints on the idiosyncratic volatility puzzle","authors":"Yufeng Han, Angela Morgan, Jack Wolf, Weike Xu","doi":"10.1111/jfir.70018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.70018","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We investigate the causal impact of short-sale constraints on the idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL) puzzle, where high-IVOL stocks yield lower future returns. We leverage two opposing exogenous shocks to short-sale constraints: (1) 2005 Regulation SHO, which relaxes constraints for pilot stocks, and (2) 2003 Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA), which tightens constraints during dividend record months. We find that short-sale constraints significantly affect IVOL pricing: Regulation SHO weakens the IVOL effect for pilot stocks, whereas JGTRRA strengthens it after dividend record months. These findings underscore the importance of short-sale constraints in understanding the IVOL puzzle.</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 4","pages":"1821-1840"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jfir.70018","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145659771","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Danlin Chi, Hasibul Chowdhury, Nicolas Eugster, Jiayi Zheng
{"title":"Does the linguistic complexity of annual reports affect the corporate leasing decision?","authors":"Danlin Chi, Hasibul Chowdhury, Nicolas Eugster, Jiayi Zheng","doi":"10.1111/jfir.70010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.70010","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Using a sample of 94,697 US firm-year observations from 1994 to 2017, we document that annual report complexity is positively and significantly associated with a firm's operating lease ratio. In addition, we find that financially constrained and weakly governed firms with complex financial reports lease more. Finally, by employing a difference-in-differences method with the Plain Writing Act 2010 and a regression discontinuity design with eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) adoption, we find that the positive association is highly likely to be causal. Overall, our study shows that firms with linguistically complex annual reports strategically choose to use leasing as an alternative source of funding.</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 4","pages":"1700-1737"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jfir.70010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145659571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Psychological Cost of Debt: Evidence from Islamic Housing Mortgages","authors":"Saad Azmat, Isabel Harbaugh Macdonald","doi":"10.1111/jfir.70003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.70003","url":null,"abstract":"<p>How do borrowers prioritize financial versus psychological costs of holding debt? We explore these trade-offs using repayment data for 3,705 borrowers with an Islamic housing mortgage in Pakistan. The product allows borrowers to make early payments. Around 40% of borrowers in our sample make early payments, leading to an average cost of PKR 247,707 ($2,890 USD). We develop a new model of consumer hedonics to explain these results, and rule out religion, commitment devices, and cost misunderstanding as complete explanations. These findings suggest that there is a psychological benefit to decreasing debt, even if an account is not closed fully.</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 4","pages":"1479-1505"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145659448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spillover effects of creditor rights on corporate payout policy","authors":"Najah Attig, Paul Brockman, Mohammad Rahaman","doi":"10.1111/jfir.70000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.70000","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We use exogenous changes in creditor rights from staggered enactments of anti-recharacterization laws to show that enhanced creditor rights lead to economically significant increases in dividend payments. This impact is more pronounced for firms that are financially constrained, poorly governed, informationally opaque, and prone to agency problems. Our detailed loan-contract results show that stronger creditor rights provide greater access to credit markets, and it is through this channel that firms are able to redirect more funds toward shareholder payouts. Overall, our findings suggest that improving the rights of one stakeholder can create positive spillover effects for other stakeholders.</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 4","pages":"1609-1643"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145659522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The predictive power of option prices for stock returns and nonfundamental shocks","authors":"Asli Eksi, Saurabh Roy","doi":"10.1111/jfir.70001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.70001","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Option prices can predict stock returns. Previous studies suggest that this is because option traders have private information about the fundamentals of the stock. We show another reason is that option traders can anticipate the reversal of nonfundamental shocks to stock price. We use S&P 500 index inclusion as an example of a nonfundamental shock. We document that index inclusion increases the implied volatility skew of added stocks, which then predicts the reversal of the stock price shock in the following months.</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 4","pages":"1671-1699"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145659763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Academic CEOs and corporate innovation","authors":"George J. Jiang, Wenquan Li, Yaohua Li, He Wang","doi":"10.1111/jfir.12469","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.12469","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In this article, we examine the impact of academic CEOs (i.e., CEOs with academic experience) on corporate innovation. We find that firms managed by academic CEOs have strong aspirations for innovation and generate more patents with higher citations. We employ exogenous CEO turnover to alleviate endogeneity concerns. In addition, whereas corporate innovation gradually increases following the entry of new academic CEOs, there is a clear decrease in innovation output after the departure of academic CEOs. This net effect concentrates in innovation-intensive industries. Moreover, academic CEOs enhance innovation by leveraging their network with academic community and ability to secure government funding.</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 4","pages":"1449-1478"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145659705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does local economic freedom matter for the cost of corporate borrowing from the banking sector? Evidence from the US states","authors":"Thanh Cong Nguyen, Theodora Bermpei, Antonios Nikolaos Kalyvas","doi":"10.1111/jfir.12468","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.12468","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Using data on large loans to US firms, we show that higher economic freedom in borrowers' headquarters states reduces the cost of bank credit. A one standard deviation increase in economic freedom lowers loan spreads by 12.38 basis points ($1.5 million interest savings for the average loan). We also provide evidence supporting the economic mechanism by which lenders view economic freedom as enhancing borrowers' ability to capitalize on investment and growth opportunities. The main drivers of this effect are freedom from government spending and taxation, while labor market freedom particularly benefits smaller firms and those in high economic growth potential states. Furthermore, higher economic freedom is linked to longer loan maturities, reduced fees, and looser general covenants.</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 4","pages":"1569-1608"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jfir.12468","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145659713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The pervasiveness of matching rights in merger agreements: Impact on shareholder wealth","authors":"Sridhar Gogineni, John Puthenpurackal","doi":"10.1111/jfir.12465","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.12465","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Matching rights provisions have become ubiquitous in merger agreements in recent years prompting calls for an evaluation of their usage. Using a sample of 2,640 M&A agreements announced between 2003 and 2018, we conduct the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of matching rights provisions on initial and final target premiums, controlling for other merger provisions, deal and firm characteristics. We do not find evidence to suggest that the indiscriminate usage of matching rights in the 2011–2018 period has been detrimental to target shareholders. Moreover, for the 2003–2010 period, we find a positive association between matching rights and target premiums. We also find a positive or non-negative impact on target premiums for different subsamples of potential concern based on selling method, bidder type, termination fee size, and information asymmetry. Finally, we do not find evidence that matching rights deter competing bids. Overall, the usage of matching rights appears consistent with efficient contracting, assuaging concerns raised by Restrepo and Subramanian (2017).</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 3","pages":"1249-1277"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144934786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Information absorption in stocks with short-selling constraints","authors":"Ioannis V. Floros, Ajai K. Singh, Katsushi Suzuki","doi":"10.1111/jfir.12462","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.12462","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We use a Japanese dataset with unique regulatory features to examine information absorption in stocks with short-selling constraints. Japanese stock exchanges place short-sales restrictions on a specific subset of stocks and have distinctive regulations pertaining to seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). In sharp contrast to the United States, no offer-related information is released on the Japanese SEO issue date. We observe a significant price reaction on the issue date only for short- sales restricted stocks, manifested when additional shares are introduced. We posit that the phenomenon is attributable to short-sales restrictions causing a delayed reaction to the stale publicly available information, to which the market has already reacted at its announcement.</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 4","pages":"1546-1568"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145659632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of horizontal mergers on suppliers' cash holdings","authors":"James E. Upson, Chao Wei","doi":"10.1111/jfir.12459","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.12459","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We examine the impact of customer horizontal mergers on suppliers' cash holdings. We show that suppliers strategically reduce their cash holdings after the merger to counteract the increased bargaining power of merged customers. This effect is more pronounced when the supplier relies on customers and less when the supplier operates in a concentrated industry. Consistent with the bargaining power hypothesis of cash holdings, we find that cash-reducing suppliers experience higher postmerger cash-flow margins. Finally, we show that suppliers are more likely to use cash reserves to finance their research and development investments to credibly reduce liquidity.</p>","PeriodicalId":47584,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Financial Research","volume":"48 4","pages":"1644-1670"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145659688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}