Multiple Blockholders and Firm Value: A Simulation Analysis

In this paper, we analyse the relationship between the distribution of ownership and firm value in the presence of multiple blockholders. In recent years, the topic has attracted the attention of many scholars. Yet, the empirical evidence on the relationship between the distribution of ownership among large shareholders and firm value has been non-conclusive and contradictory. We focus on the interaction between a controlling block of shareholders and a non-controlling block that can monitor the largest controlling block. We develop and simulate a simple model combining the two effects related to the presence of additional blockholders that can monitor the largest controlling block of share…

A Simulation Analysis of the Microstructure of an Order Driven Financial Market with Multiple Securities and Portfolio Choices

In this paper we propose an artificial market where multiple risky assets are exchanged. Agents are constrained by the availability of resources and trade to adjust their portfolio according to an exogenously given target portfolio. We model the trading mechanism as a continuous auction order-driven market. Agents are heterogeneous in terms of desired target portfolio allocations, but they are homogeneous in terms of trading strategies. We investigate the role played by the trading mechanism in affecting the dynamics of prices, trading volume and volatility. We show that the institutional setting of a double auction market is sufficient to generate a non-normal distribution of price changes…

Unveiling the Role of Multiple blockholders: Evidence from Closely Held Firms.

Research Question/Issue. This paper disentangles how the modes of ownership distribution among multiple blockholders and their heterogeneity shape principal–principal conflicts and, in turn, affect firm performance. The paper offers empirical evidence from a panel of Italian closely held firms over the period 2009–2014. Research Findings/Insights. We explore the principal–principal conflicts among blockholders across two distinct control structures. When a single blockholder controls the firm, principal–principal conflicts are shaped by the trade‐off between the alignment effect and the monitoring effect. In this scenario, we find that the relationship between the two largest blockholders' …

VALUTAZIONE E COPERTURA DI OPZIONI SU MATERIE PRIME

Tramite un modello di super-replication è possibile costruire un portafoglio composto da titoli liquidi per coprire la basket option sul mix produttivo di argento ed oro. Il prezzo non è molto differente da quello di Black & Scholes, le cui ipotesi però rendono impossibile l’implementazione della copertura.

Learning and the Price Dynamics of a Double-Auction Financial Market with Portfolio Traders

In this paper we study the dynamics of price adjustments in an artificial market where portfolio traders with bounded rationality and limited resources interact through a continuous, electronic open book. The present work extends the model developed in [? ] introducing endogenous target individual portfolio holdings. We model the agents’ order-flow investment decision as an optimal choice given individual characteristics and the available information. We depart from the standard asset pricing framework in two ways. First, we assume that investors have imperfect information about the returns distribution. In particular, we assume that agents hold arbitrary priors about securities’ returns, w…

A High-Frequency Data Analysis of a Double Auction Artificial Financial Market

PRICING A CALLABLE CONVERTIBLE BOND: A CASE STUDY

In this note I use a simple method to value a complex hybrid security. I evaluate a convertible callable bond issue, adopting an incremental approach where the different features of the hybrid security are added sequentially. In this setting, I solve backwards the game played at each node between the firm and the investors to understand how the price of the callable convertible bond is determined on the basis of the equilibrium behaviour of the players. I show how the different features affect the price of the security, analyzing the security’s characteristics with an optimal capital structure perspective. I provide a simple intuition of why the callable convertible bond value does not nece…

The Dynamics of Quote Prices in an Artificial Financial Market with Learning Effects

In this paper we study the evolution of bid and ask prices in an electronic financial market populated by portfolio traders who optimally choose their allocation strategy on the basis of their views about market conditions. Recently, a growing literature has investigated the consequences of learning about the returns process1. There has been an increasing interest in analyzing what are the implications of relaxing the assumption that agents hold correct expectations. In particular, it has been asked the fundamental question of understanding if typical asset-pricing anomalies (like returns predictability, and excess volatility) can be generated by a learning process about the underlying econ…

High-Frequency Data Analysis of a Double Auction Artificial Financial Market

Putable common stock

Abstract The underpricing of initial public offerings is a well-documented phenomenon in the financial literature. The purpose of this paper is to show how this empirical regularity could be solved by an appropriate choice of financing instruments, namely, by an intelligent mix of common stocks and put options. The latter additional instrument, modeled in this paper as a lump sum paid by insiders of the firm to outsiders, helps alleviate the asymmetry of information existing between insiders and outsiders of the corporation, allowing good firms to sell the package they offer at the full information value.

Asset Return Dynamics under Alternative Learning Schemes

In this paper we design an artificial financial market where endogenous volatility is created assigning to the agents diverse prior beliefs about the joint distribution of returns, and, over time, making agents rationally update their beliefs using common public information. We analyze the asset price dynamics generated under two learning environments: one where agents assume that the joint distribution of returns is IID, and another where agents believe in the existence of regimes in the joint distribution of asset returns. We show that the regime switching learning structure can generate all the most common stylized facts of financial markets: fat tails and long-range dependence in volati…

Financial development and intergenerational education mobility

Using years of education as a measure of status, we study the relationship between financial development and intergenerational mobility, focusing on human capital investments boosted by financial deepening. We consider a set of indices to capture different components of the overall intergenerational education mobility. Using a sample of 39 countries, we find that financial development is related to structural mobility but not to exchange mobility. In particular, while we detect an inverted U-shaped relationship between financial development and structural mobility, we do not find any significant relationship with exchange mobility. Keywords: Intergenerational mobility, Financial development…

How does learning affect market liquidity? A simulation analysis of a double-auction financial market with portfolio traders

We study the relationship between liquidity and prices in an artificial financial market where portfolio traders with limited resources interact through a continuous, electronic open book. We depart from the standard asset pricing framework in two ways. First, we assume that investors have incomplete information about the distribution of returns. Second, we model the portfolio choice problem using prospect-type preferences. We model the utility function in terms of deviations of the portfolio growth rate from a specified target growth rate, and we assume that investors are more sensitive to downside movements. We show that the parameters defining the learning process affect the price dynami…

A Simulation Analysis of the Microstructure of an Order Driven Financial Market with n Securities and Portfolio Choices