{"title":"Crypto factor zoo (.Zip)","authors":"Aleksander Mercik , Adam Zaremba , Ender Demir","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105137","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105137","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>How many factors are genuinely needed to explain the cross-section of cryptocurrency returns? To answer this, we are the first to apply the alpha-based, iterative factor selection methodology of Swade et al. (2024), initially developed for equities, to the cryptocurrency market. Using a comprehensive set of 36 return-predictive factors, we find that just two to three factors can eliminate all significant portfolio alphas. The most influential factors include turnover volatility, bid–ask spreads, and blockchain-native metrics such as the new-address-to-price ratio. Liquidity-related variables dominate the selection process, appearing consistently across weighting schemes, model specifications, and periods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 105137"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146778886","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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 climate policy uncertainty on corporate investment","authors":"Wendi Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105118","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105118","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the impact of climate policy uncertainty (CPU) on corporate investment. Drawing on real options theory, the findings reveal a negative relationship between CPU and both corporate investment rate and investment efficiency. The effects are particularly pronounced for firms with greater exposure to climate change, higher levels of investment irreversibility, and more severe financial constraints. Additionally, CPU is associated with declines in operating performance and stock returns, consistent with the observed reductions in investment efficiency. These results underscore the disruptive impact of climate policy uncertainty on firms’ operational performance and investment decision-making processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 105118"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147278905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Monetary policy surprises and the cross sectional stock return predictability in volume sorted portfolios","authors":"Zijun Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105134","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105134","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The predictive power of monetary policy for the aggregate stock market has been well documented. This paper provides the first empirical evidence on whether monetary policy also predicts/explains any existing return anomalies (cross sectional return predictability) that figure prominently in the asset price literature. The results show that the Fed's forward guidance helps predict the volume premium, a notion that stocks that recently receive a substantial positive volume shock earn higher average returns. In contrast, current monetary policy action does not predict the return anomaly. Furthermore, the predictive power of monetary policy adopted after the unscheduled FOMC meetings is twice as strong as that following the scheduled meetings. Nevertheless, the predictive relation is statistically insignificant in the zero-lower-bound (ZLB) period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 105134"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147278903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When digital meets traditional financial intermediaries: How equity crowdfunding shapes venture capital value added","authors":"Samia Alam, Vincenzo Butticè","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105152","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105152","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study contributes to the debate on the post-campaign effects of equity crowdfunding by investigating how prior engagement in equity crowdfunding influences the value added by subsequent venture capital investment, and how this relationship is shaped by the governance structure adopted during the crowdfunding campaign. Analysing 2514 ventures that secured venture capital funding in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, or Italy between 2015 and 2021, we find that ventures previously funded through equity crowdfunding exhibit lower post-investment growth than those backed solely by venture capital. However, this negative effect is significantly attenuated when the crowdfunding campaign was conducted through a nominee shareholder structure. This study emphasizes the importance of designing financing sequences according to specific business needs, as well as the importance of managing the investor base, mitigating coordination and governance costs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 105152"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147387311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Non-financial misconduct and M&A returns: Evidence from workplace misconduct","authors":"Khadija S. Almaghrabi","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate the impact of non-financial misconduct on announcement returns, as well as the long-term market and operating performance. Utilizing workplace-related violation data, we find that while announcement returns are comparable for acquirers with and without workplace misconduct, the long-run buy-and-hold abnormal returns (BHARs) and operating performance are significantly negative for acquirers involved in workplace misconduct. This indicates that, at the time of the deal announcement, the market is largely unaware of the potential negative effects of workplace misconduct on the integration process and productivity of the combined firm. However, the market gradually reassesses the impact of these violations and reflects their negative impact on the lower average long-term abnormal returns of the acquirers' stocks. In additional analyses, we find that (1) the channel through which workplace misconduct affects M&A performance is the difficulty of integration and the resulting deterioration of employee productivity caused by such misconduct, (2) the effect is stronger among human capital-intensive acquirers, (3) workplace misconduct at target firms has a minimal effect on the long-term post-acquisition financial and operating performance, and (4) acquirers with workplace misconduct are more inclined to finance acquisitions through equity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 105146"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147351277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unauthorized immigrants and corporate cash holdings","authors":"Hyuksoon Lim","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105135","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105135","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>I examine how legal restrictions on hiring unauthorized immigrants affect U.S. firms' cash holdings by exploiting the staggered adoption of state-level E-Verify laws requiring employers to use federal databases to verify workers' eligibility. Following the adoption of the laws, firms in affected states significantly increase cash holdings, particularly those with greater reliance on unauthorized immigrant labor, higher cash flow volatility, greater operating leverage, financial constraints, lower unionization, and higher minimum wages. Additional evidence shows that operating costs rise, while cash flows and profitability decline after the law adoption. Overall, my findings suggest that hiring frictions involving unauthorized immigrants raise financial distress risk and induce more conservative financial policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 105135"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146778370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kevin Birk , Martin Rohleder , René Weh , Marco Wilkens
{"title":"The performance of low-carbon equity funds","authors":"Kevin Birk , Martin Rohleder , René Weh , Marco Wilkens","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105096","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105096","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the performance of low-carbon equity funds by gaining a better understanding of what drove past performance, what opportunity costs arose from higher idiosyncratic risks, and which components would shape future expectations. Low-carbon funds outperformed medium- and high-carbon funds under traditional factor models, but this advantage declined after incorporating carbon-related factors and fund characteristics. Adjusting for the opportunity costs of idiosyncratic risk particularly weakened low-carbon fund performance. Considering factor premia, exposures, characteristics, and diversification costs, investors should expect lower returns relative to a passive market-wide benchmark and roughly comparable outcomes across low-, medium-, and high-carbon funds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 105096"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145995227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Corporate governance characteristics, shareholder dissent and agency cost of debt","authors":"Wenjie Ding , Danial Hemmings , Lynn Hodgkinson , Patrycja Klusak , Gilad Livne","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2025.104850","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2025.104850","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine how shareholder dissent both affects and is affected by agency cost of debt, using credit ratings as a proxy. Specifically, we explore (1) whether agency costs of debt trigger dissent differently across corporate governance regimes characterized by greater stakeholder collaboration versus those with stronger shareholder dominance, and (2) whether credit rating agencies' subsequent responses to dissent vary across these regimes. We find evidence that dissent is lower when ratings are higher, but there is limited evidence that shareholders in more collaborative regimes dissent more. Dissent tends to improve subsequent credit ratings when shareholders are highly dominant, but this effect diminishes in more coordinated governance systems. This evidence suggests that dissent shifts power toward shareholders, which is more costly to debtholders in governance systems that are based on collaboration among stakeholders.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104850"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145957358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Riccardo Tipaldi , Carmen Gallucci , José M. Liñares-Zegarra
{"title":"Herding behaviour in equity crowdfunding and P2P lending markets: A systematic meta-analysis","authors":"Riccardo Tipaldi , Carmen Gallucci , José M. Liñares-Zegarra","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105101","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105101","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper provides a systematic meta-analysis of empirical research on herding behaviour in equity crowdfunding (ECF) and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending markets. Despite the increasing importance of these fintech-driven entrepreneurial finance models, research on herding remains scattered. Based on a sample of 30 studies, the paper addresses four questions: (1) Is herding behaviour consistently observed in ECF and P2P lending markets? (2) Does herding differ between ECF and P2P lending? (3) Do competing offers impact herding dynamics? (4) Do regional groups (Western vs non-Western countries) and national cultural factors shape herding behaviour? Subgroup analyses reveal that: (1) herding is statistically detectable in these markets, although its magnitude varies widely across studies and contexts; (2) herding is more pronounced in P2P lending than in ECF; (3) herding effects diminish in the presence of competing offerings; (4) herding is more prominent in non-Western markets, with cultural factors also shaping its variation. These findings provide practical insights for platform managers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 105101"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146071482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jie Liu , Zhenshan Chen , Gengyan Lin , Yajing Ye , Jia Liu
{"title":"Never waste a crisis: Do stock market manipulators exploit geopolitical risks?","authors":"Jie Liu , Zhenshan Chen , Gengyan Lin , Yajing Ye , Jia Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105103","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.irfa.2026.105103","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Utilizing a closing price manipulation detection model, which identified 11,064 suspected cases, we investigate the impact of geopolitical risks on market manipulation. We find that geopolitical risks increase the probability and frequency of manipulation in geopolitically sensitive stocks. This effect is validated by a quasi-natural experiment, utilizing the misfiring of the Taiwan missile in 2016, through difference-in-differences (DID) estimation. The enhanced information asymmetry serves as a main channel for the effect. The impact of geopolitical risks on manipulation is intensified among firms with lower transparency but reduced by high quality auditing and cross-listing, demonstrating that manipulators target stocks traded in opaque information environments. Additional analysis indicates that management disclosure effectively mitigates the effect of geopolitical risks on market manipulation. Our findings shed light on the crucial role of information transparency in the effectiveness of financial markets and investor protection, especially during periods of heightened geopolitical risk.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48226,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Financial Analysis","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 105103"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146071786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}