This paper explores how bank characteristics and the institutional environment influence the composition of banks’ loan portfolios. We use a new and unique data set based on the EBRD Banking Environment and Performance Survey (BEPS), which was conducted for 220 banks in 20 transition countries. We show that bank ownership, bank size, and legal creditor protection are important determinants of t...

Financial information disclosed in the annual report is one of the main sources that investors are interested to make informed judgment in their decision for investment. Due to the financial crisis, Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance was introduced and this Code mentions that one of the tasks of the directors is to provide timely and useful information disclosure. However, in Malaysia, ther...

Stock price synchronicity at a country level has been the subject of many previous studies, but for most investors it is more relevant at a firm level. Working from the perspective of a foreign investor stock price synchronicity is analyzed at the firm-level in the hot Chinese stock market. The impact of foreign ownership, institutional ownership, the concentration of large shareholders, and au...

Received: 5 June 2004 Revised: 2 May 2005 Accepted: 30 May 2005 Online publication date: 24 November 2005 Abstract This paper examines the impact of market liberalization on firm performance through institutional changes during the economic reform in China. The conceptualization focuses on the decentralization of control, ownership restructuring, and industrial policy as the primary institution...

We compare the effects of transactional, institutional, and experience influences on the ownership strategies of Japanese investors. Our theoretical development suggests that the equity position of a foreign investor should increase as the specificity of the assets transferred to the foreign affiliate increases, but a lower equity position should be assumed when the foreign investor requires co...

This paper adds to the overconfidence literature by specifically considering the differential nature of information and its use by different classes of investors. The literature suggests that overconfidence is a major determinant of stock trading volume. We postulate that private investors are more prone to overconfidence bias as compared to institutional investors. This implies that turnover i...

In this paper, we challenge the view that foreign investors lead firms to adopt a shortterm orientation and forgo long-term investment. Using a comprehensive sample of publicly listed firms in 30 countries over the 2001-2010 period, we find instead that greater foreign institutional ownership fosters long-term investment in tangible, intangible, and human capital. Foreign institutional presence...

This paper serves three purposes. First, it gives a short introduction to the concept of sustainability in relation to land use. Since the Brundtland report it has become clear that sustainability is a dynamic concept that changes when conditions in society change. Moreover, it is easier to assess what is ‘unsustainable’ than what is ‘sustainable’. But that will not suppress the demand for sust...