Fall 2002

A Phenomenon of the Market
Stock Market-Based Mergers and Acquisitions
New research explains who acquires whom, whether payment is made in cash or stock, what valuation consequences arise from mergers, and why there are merger waves.
Research by Robert W. Vishny

Consumers and Their Satellite Dishes
How Strong is the Bond?
A new study shows that cable companies have a greater degree of market power than satellite companies.
Research by Austan D. Goolsbee and Amil K. Petrin

The Pack Mentality
A Behavioral Finance View of Stock Price Comovement
By looking carefully at data on individual stock prices, it is easy to find many examples of "comovement"- groups of stocks whose prices tend to move together. For instance, prices of stocks in the same industry tend to move together, as do the prices of small-cap stocks, value stocks, and closed-end funds.
Research by Nicholas Barberis

Gender and Competition
Do Competitive Environments Favor Men More Than Women?
From evolutionary biology to discrimination to personal preferences, science and society have offered many reasons for why women have not caught up with men in the workforce. New research suggests that part of the answer lies in the different ways men and women react to the incentive of competition.
Research by Uri Gneezy