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Full-Text Articles in Law
Do Individual Investors Affect Share Price Accuracy? Some Preliminary Evidence, Alicia Davis Evans
Do Individual Investors Affect Share Price Accuracy? Some Preliminary Evidence, Alicia Davis Evans
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
A common belief is that individual investors are noise traders that distort stock prices. Because accurate share prices are important for economic functioning, the market effect of retail investors has significant regulatory implications. This paper, employing a new NYSE retail trading data set and the R2 metric of share price informedness, contributes to the debate by demonstrating that as the proportion of trading by individual investors increases, the R2 of firms decreases. Adherents of the R2 methodology hold that lower R2's imply more accurate stock prices. The results of an instrumental variable estimation suggest that this relationship is a causal …
Paying To Save: Tax Withholding And Asset Allocation Among Low- And Moderate-Income Taxpayers, Michael S. Barr, Jane Dokko
Paying To Save: Tax Withholding And Asset Allocation Among Low- And Moderate-Income Taxpayers, Michael S. Barr, Jane Dokko
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
We analyze the phenomenon that low- and moderate-income (LMI) tax filers exhibit a “preference for over-withholding” their taxes, a measure we derive from a unique set of questions administered in a dataset of 1,003 households, which we collected through the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan. We argue that the relationship between their withholding preference and portfolio allocation across liquid and illiquid assets is consistent with models with present-biased preferences, and that individuals exhibit self-control problems when making their consumption and saving decisions. Our results support a model in which individuals use commitment devices to constrain their consumption. …
Institutions And Inclusion In Saving Policy, Michael S. Barr, Michael Sherraden
Institutions And Inclusion In Saving Policy, Michael S. Barr, Michael Sherraden
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
No abstract provided.
Credit Where It Counts: Maintaining A Strong Community Reinvestment Act, Michael S. Barr
Credit Where It Counts: Maintaining A Strong Community Reinvestment Act, Michael S. Barr
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) has helped to revitalize low- and moderate-income communities and provided expanded opportunities for low- and moderate-income households. Recent regulatory steps aimed at alleviating burdens on banks and thrifts are unwarranted, and may diminish small business lending as well as community development investments and services. This policy brief explains the rationale for CRA, demonstrates its effectiveness, and argues that the recent regulatory proposals should be withdrawn or significantly modified.
Modes Of Credit Market Regulation, Michael S. Barr
Modes Of Credit Market Regulation, Michael S. Barr
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
No abstract provided.
Credit Where It Counts: The Community Reinvestment Act And Its Critics, Michael S. Barr
Credit Where It Counts: The Community Reinvestment Act And Its Critics, Michael S. Barr
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
Despite the depth and breadth of U.S. credit markets, low- and moderate-income communities and minority borrowers have not historically enjoyed full access to credit. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was enacted in 1977 to help overcome barriers to credit that these groups faced. Scholars have long leveled numerous critiques against CRA as unnecessary, ineffectual, costly, and lawless. Many have argued that CRA should be eliminated. By contrast, I contend that market failures and discrimination justify governmental intervention and that CRA is a reasonable policy response to these problems. Using recent empirical evidence, I demonstrate that over the last decade CRA …
Globalization, Law & Development: Introduction And Overview, Michael S. Barr, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah
Globalization, Law & Development: Introduction And Overview, Michael S. Barr, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
No abstract provided.
Microfinance And Financial Development, Michael S. Barr
Microfinance And Financial Development, Michael S. Barr
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
No abstract provided.
Banking The Poor: Policies To Bring Low-Income Americans Into The Financial Mainstream, Michael S. Barr
Banking The Poor: Policies To Bring Low-Income Americans Into The Financial Mainstream, Michael S. Barr
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
Low-income households in the United States often lack access to bank accounts and face high costs for conducting basic financial transactions through check cashers and other alternative financial service providers. These families find it more difficult to save and plan financially for the future. Living paycheck to paycheck leaves them vulnerable to medical or job emergencies that may endanger their financial stability, and lack of longer-term savings undermines their ability to improve skills, purchase a home, or send their children to college. High-cost financial services and inadequate access to bank accounts may undermine widely-shared societal goals of reducing poverty, moving …
Banking The Poor, Michael S. Barr
Banking The Poor, Michael S. Barr
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
Low-income households often lack access to banking accounts and face high costs for transacting basic financial services through check cashers and other alternative financial service providers. These families find it more difficult to save and plan financially for the future. Living paycheck to paycheck leaves them vulnerable to medical or job emergencies that may endanger their financial stability, and lack of longer-term savings undermines their ability to improve skills, purchase a home, or send their children to college. Additionally, high cost financial services and inadequate access to bank accounts may undermine widely-shared societal goals of reducing poverty, moving families from …
A Comparative Empirical Investigation Of Agency And Market Theories Of Insider Trading, Laura N. Beny
A Comparative Empirical Investigation Of Agency And Market Theories Of Insider Trading, Laura N. Beny
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
The paper summarizes various agency cost and market theories of insider trading propounded over the course of the perennial law and economics debate over insider trading. The paper then suggests three testable hypotheses regarding the relationship between insider trading laws and several measures of financial performance. Using international data and alternative regression specifications, the paper finds that more stringent insider trading laws and enforcement are generally associated with greater ownership dispersion, greater stock price accuracy and greater stock market liquidity. This set of findings provides empirical support to theoretical arguments in favor of more stringent insider trading legislation and enforcement.