Over the past decade there have been a number of significant developments
in financial economics, and major contributions have been made both by individuals who
could be classified as conventional financial economists and by others who do not fit
easily into this category - theoretical microeconomists, public and industrial economists.
This volume contains a selection from the papers presented at a conference in
Oxford in September 1985 which aimed to bring together a number of the leading
participants in this field. The papers in the volume cover a wide range of topics -
Summers on the efficiency of financial markets; Heinkel and Schwartz, and Asquith and
Mullins on new equity issues; Green and Talmor on asymmetric corporate taxation and
investment; Stiglitz and Weiss on credit rationing; Anderlini on the foundations of
banking theory; and Alworth, and Cooper and Kaplanis on aspects of international
investment - but they clearly reflect the main themes in financial economics at present:
the importance of informational asymmetries and of taxation.
Table of Contents
List of tables; List of figures; Preface; Introduction Jeremy Edwards, Julian Franks,
Colin Mayer and Stephen Schaefer;
Part I. Financial Markets:
1. Do we really know that financial markets are efficient? Lawrence H.
Summers; Comment Richard A. Brealey;
Part II. Issues in Corporate Finance:
2. Precommitment to equity financing choices in a world of asymmetric
information Robert Heinkel and Eduardo Schwartz; Comment Steven M. Fries;
3. Equity issues and offering dilution Paul Asquith and David Mullins
Jr.;
4. Effects of asymmetric taxation on the scale of corporate investment Richard
C. Green and Eli Talmor;
Part III. Banking:
5. Credit rationing and collateral Joseph Stiglitz and Andrew Weiss;
Comment Oliver D. Hart;
6. Competitive banking in a simple model Luca Anderlini; Comment David C.
Webb;
Part International Finance:
7. A cost of capital approach to the taxation of foreign direct investment income Julian
Alworth;
8. Costs to crossborder investment and international equity market equilibrium Ian
Cooper and Evi Kaplanis.
256 pages, Paperback