Edward M. Rice

Measuring portfolio performance and the empirical content of asset pricing models

Abstract Recent work by Richard Roll has challenged the worth of portfolio performance measures based on the capital asset pricing model. This paper demonstrates that Rolls conclusions are due to his focusing on a ‘truly’ ex-ante efficient index. Using a choice and information theoretic framework, we show that an appropriate index is efficient relative to the probabilities assessed by the ‘market’. Residual analyses and portfolio performance tests, using such an index, yield meaningful results for a wide class of information structures. Rolls primary criticisms, however, relate to tests of the asset pricing model itself. We argue that these criticisms are vastly overstated.

Organizational form, share transferability, and firm performance : Evidence from the ANCSA corporations

Abstract The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) established thirteen diffusely held profit-seeking corporations that were saddled with unusual organization restrictions, the most important of which is that stock cannot be traded. We find that these firms are characterized by poor financial performance, a high incidence of control contests, and high turnover among directors and managers. These and other findings about ANCSA firms are consistent, overall, with the theory of the firm. The results illustrate the importance of organizational form in accomplishing productive activities, and particularly the importance of freely transferrable shares for organizational efficiency in diffusely held corporations.

Corporate Tax Cuts, Merger Activity, and Shareholder Wealth

We study the impact of the Domestic Production Activities Deduction (DPAD) on mergers and acquisitions. DPAD reduces corporate tax rates on income from work or goods made in the US. Results indicate that the quantity and quality of acquisition bids by DPAD-advantaged firms conform to the predictions of the neoclassical theory of the firm and the theory of financial constraints. Specifically, bids, particularly those cash-financed, increase substantially in industries with large DPAD-related tax cuts and for firms with financial constraints. Moreover, DPAD improves acquisition quality where acquirers and targets are likely to generate incremental DPAD tax benefits through their merger.