- Facultad de CC. Económicas y EE.
Avda. Valle del Esgueva 6
47011 Valladolid (SPAIN) - +34 983 184 395
- Félix J. López-Iturriaga, Ph.D., is a Full Professor of Financial Economics at University of Valladolid (Spain). He h... moreFélix J. López-Iturriaga, Ph.D., is a Full Professor of Financial Economics at University of Valladolid (Spain). He has been visiting scholar at Boston College, John Hopkins University, and Columbia University. He has taught Finance courses at University of Exeter (UK), the Innsbruck Universität and Karl Franzens Graz Universität (Austria), the Université de Mons (Belgium), the Université de Rennes I and Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis (France), Skövde University (Sweden), Lüneburg Universität and Hochschule Augsburg(Germany), Budapest Business School (Hungary), and Vilnius University and Vilnius Technical University (Lithuania), Karol Adamiecki University of Economics in Katowice (Poland), Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus), and Riga Technical University (Latvia). He has earned teaching awards on four occasions and a number of research awards from the European Investment Bank, the Spanish Centre for Financial Studies, and the Spanish Foundation for Financial Studies. He has published several books, and many papers in international journals such as Applied Economics, Applied Financial Economics, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Research Policy, International Business Review, and Journal of Management and Governance. His main research topics are related to auditing, corporate finance, and corporate governance.edit
- Valentín Azofra Palenzuelaedit
El concepto de spin-off expresa la creación de nuevas iniciativas empresariales bajo el amparo de corporaciones u organizaciones ya existentes, que acaban adquiriendo, por iniciativa de una persona de la organización, independencia y... more
El concepto de spin-off expresa la creación de nuevas iniciativas empresariales bajo el amparo de corporaciones u organizaciones ya existentes, que acaban adquiriendo, por iniciativa de una persona de la organización, independencia y viabilidad propias en términos de estructura jurídica, técnica y comercial. Las razones que subyacen al desarrollo de esta estrategia permanecen, hasta cierto punto, ocultas en la valoración positiva con que los inversores suelen acoger este tipo de estrategia. Nuestro trabajo trata de desvelar las causas que explican los procesos de segregación empresarial en España utilizando una muestra de casi 3.500 empresas durante el período 1992-2002. En consonancia con la literatura empírica existente, nuestros resultados identifican tres factores motivadores de las estrategias de spin-off: el deseo de focalización de las empresas para desprenderse de aquellas actividades que no le permitan seguir creciendo eficientemente en su núcleo de actividades, la comercia...
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Purpose This paper aims to study how audit committee member expertise is related to certain features of the committee and to the audit process. Design/methodology/approach Based on information from 2,477 directors from 296 firms in eight... more
Purpose This paper aims to study how audit committee member expertise is related to certain features of the committee and to the audit process. Design/methodology/approach Based on information from 2,477 directors from 296 firms in eight European countries between 2005 and 2014, this study measures average audit committee expertise using a continuous variable, which combines education-based and experience-based expertise. Different measures of the audit process are then regressed against this and other control variables. Findings Average committee expertise has increased in recent years. Education-based and experience-based expertise seem to be complementary. Results also show that committees with greater expertise meet more frequently, have fewer directors with full-time dedication and pay lower audit fees. There is no link to changes in the external firm audit, which may be due to mandatory auditor rotation. Originality/value The paper provides a comprehensive metric of audit comm...
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We analyze the ability of the capital structure and the ownership structure as mechanisms of control of the managers of the firms and to reduce their accounting discretionary power for a sample of Chilean firms. Using earnings management... more
We analyze the ability of the capital structure and the ownership structure as mechanisms of control of the managers of the firms and to reduce their accounting discretionary power for a sample of Chilean firms. Using earnings management and abnormal accruals as indicators of discretionary behavior, our results show that both debt and ownership concentration reduce the managers’ discretionary behavior, so we corroborate the outstanding role both mechanisms play in a country with low protection of investors’ rights. At the same time, we find that earnings management is fostered by institutional investor ownership
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The aim of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of debt ownership as a mechanism of corporate governance in reducing the discretionary behavior of managers. We use earnings management and discretionary accruals as indicators of... more
The aim of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of debt ownership as a mechanism of corporate governance in reducing the discretionary behavior of managers. We use earnings management and discretionary accruals as indicators of managerial accounting discretion. Our results show that corporate debt has a prominent impact on reducing earnings management. Banking debt can foster the discretionary behavior of managers whereas public debt plays no relevant role. At the same time we test the complementary effect of some other mechanisms of corporate governance such as capital structure and ownership concentration.
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The explanation of the capital structures found in companies of different countries is one of the main topics in corporate finance. The capital structure theory tries to answer questions such as why some financial contracts appear more... more
The explanation of the capital structures found in companies of different countries is one of the main topics in corporate finance. The capital structure theory tries to answer questions such as why some financial contracts appear more frequently in one country than in others, or why the financing models differ among countries (Hart, 1988). From Modigliani and Miller theory (1958), the financial instruments give their owners the right over the firm cash flows. Therefore, the firm capital structure is irrelevant and differences in capital structure in the international arena are a minor issue. In fact, these differences could be explained through the tax effect because each country has its own tax system.
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Page 1. PREDICTING BANKRUPTCY USING NEURAL NETWORKS IN THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS: A STUDY FOR US COMMERCIAL BANKS FÉLIX J. LÓPEZ-ITURRIAGA ÓSCAR LÓPEZ-DE-FORONDA IVÁN PASTOR SANZ ...
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Research Interests: Business, Banking, Corporate Finance, Bankruptcy, Capital Structure, and 12 moreFinancial System, Social Science Research Network, External Debt, Financial, Asymmetric Information, Debt, Firm Size, Agency Costs, Information Asymmetry, Senior Debt, Finance and Investment Banking Area, and Finance and Investment Banking
La entrada en vigor de la Ley de Medidas de Reforma del Sistema Financiero (44/02) introdujo la obligación de que las empresas cotizadas formen una comisión de auditoría delegada del consejo de administración, modificando de esta forma el... more
La entrada en vigor de la Ley de Medidas de Reforma del Sistema Financiero (44/02) introdujo la obligación de que las empresas cotizadas formen una comisión de auditoría delegada del consejo de administración, modificando de esta forma el carácter voluntario ...
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to verify the existence of financial constraints for investment in Brazil, an emerging market with growing international visibility. Design/methodology/approach – Using panel data methodology and... more
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to verify the existence of financial constraints for investment in Brazil, an emerging market with growing international visibility. Design/methodology/approach – Using panel data methodology and generalized method of moments (GMM), the paper estimates dynamic investment models based on the Euler equation and Tobin's q for a panel data set of 199 Brazilian non-financial firms for the time period 1995-2006. Findings – Results show that Brazilian firms face financial constraints since their investments depend on internally generated funds. Results are robust to different investment models based on the Euler equation, also controlling for growth opportunities. Significant investment-cash flow sensitivity has been found for the whole sample of firms. Subsamples of firms considered as under financial constraints, according to dividend payout and equity issuance policies, have higher investment-cash flow sensitivity. Investment-cash flow sensitiv...
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... The signaling explanation is based on the asymmetric information between managers and investors (Amihud and Murgia 1997; Benartzi et al. 1997). Firms signal growth opportunities by paying dividends (DeAngelo et al. 2000). ...
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Research Interests: Business, European Studies, Accounting, Corporate Governance, OECD, and 15 moreManagement Business, An, Regression Analysis, Board of Directors, North America, Firm Size, Weed Control, Control Management, Endogeneity, OECD countries, Enterprise Value, Firm Value, Simultaneous equations, Board composition, and Law and Legal Studies
Page 1. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=998307 BANKS AS SHAREHOLDERS: THE SPANISH MODEL OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Valentín Azofra-Palenzuela Félix J. López-Iturriaga (*) Fernando A. Tejerina-Gaite ...
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... Corresponding author: Mauricio Jara Bertin Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Administrativas Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción Concepción, Chile Teléfono: +56 41 2345516 E-mail: majara@ucsc.cl ... Sloan, 1996). ...
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Research Interests: Business, Economics, Corporate Governance, Conflict of Interest, Law and Finance, and 14 moreCapital Structure, Legal Systems & Methods, Ownership Structure, Legislación, Capital, Institutional Environment, Propiedad, Corporate, Finanzas, Control Management, Shareholder, OWNERSHIP CONCENTRATION, Corporate Control, and Law and Legal Studies
This paper analyzes the presence of financial constraints for investment in innovation in Brazil. Dynamic investment models are estimated for a panel dataset of 206 Brazilian non-financial firms in the period 1995–2006. Results show that... more
This paper analyzes the presence of financial constraints for investment in innovation in Brazil. Dynamic investment models are estimated for a panel dataset of 206 Brazilian non-financial firms in the period 1995–2006. Results show that innovation of Brazilian firms is subject to financial constraints in line with previous international evidence. Innovation of Brazilian firms is adversely affected by leverage and
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"In recent years, the debate about the efficiency of corporate governance mechanisms has focused on the activity of the corporate boards of directors. This paper analyses the effect of the size of the board, its composition and internal... more
"In recent years, the debate about the efficiency of corporate governance mechanisms has focused on the activity of the corporate boards of directors. This paper analyses the effect of the size of the board, its composition and internal functioning on firm value in a sample of 450 non-financial companies from ten countries in Western Europe and North America. The econometric method combines uniequational regression analysis with simultaneous equations in order to control for the possibility of board size and composition endogeneity. The results show a negative relationship between firm value and the size of the board of directors. This relation holds when we control for alternative definitions of firm size and for board composition, the board’s internal functioning, country effect and industry effect. We
find no significant relationship between the composition of the board and the value of the firm. These results are consistent with previous relevant papers and show that companies with oversized boards of directors have poorer performance both in countries where internal mechanisms of governance dominate and in countries where external mechanisms are predominant."
find no significant relationship between the composition of the board and the value of the firm. These results are consistent with previous relevant papers and show that companies with oversized boards of directors have poorer performance both in countries where internal mechanisms of governance dominate and in countries where external mechanisms are predominant."
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Abstract We test hypotheses about the structure of corporate debt ownership and the use of bank debt by firms in a civil-law country, Spain. We focus on bank debt effects in the presence of information asymmetries and agency costs, and on... more
Abstract We test hypotheses about the structure of corporate debt ownership and the use of bank debt by firms in a civil-law country, Spain. We focus on bank debt effects in the presence of information asymmetries and agency costs, and on efficient versus inefficient firm liquidation.
This paper analyses the influence of financial leverage decisions, dividend payout policies and the ownership structure on the firm market value when companies either face, or do not face, profitable growth opportunities. A sample of 101... more
This paper analyses the influence of financial leverage decisions, dividend payout policies and the ownership structure on the firm market value when companies either face, or do not face, profitable growth opportunities. A sample of 101 large non-financial publicly-traded Spanish companies is used. The results confirm the relevance of debt and dividends in terms of firm value creation by showing a negative relationship between firm value and both leverage and dividend payments in the presence of growth opportunities.
The debate on the relationship between financial organisation models and business development has become more lively in recent years. The traditional interpretation is that the financial system is simply the outcome of the real... more
The debate on the relationship between financial organisation models and business development has become more lively in recent years. The traditional interpretation is that the financial system is simply the outcome of the real requirements of an economy, not the driver of its performance. The strength of recent research on this issue, however, is the observation that this causality may be reversed, and that the design of the financial organisation model may influence real activity and economic development. Not only does competition between markets and financial institutions for the channelling of savings to investment determine the relationship between banks and firms in each country, but it also modifies α wide range of firm decisions. This paper shows on empirical analysis of the relationship between real and financial decisions taken by non-financial enterprises for α group of countries belonging to the OECD. The analysis makes α number of observations on the concentration of ownership, gearing levels, the risk of "short-termism", asset structure, and the volatility of profitability. Though the data does not give a clear answer, there may be α convergence taking place between Anglo-Saxon market-based financial systems, and those on the continent which ore more bank-based.
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El presente trabajo analiza el contenido de los códigos de buen gobierno, y realiza una comparación internacional de los mismos. Partiendo de 22 medidas de gobierno corporativo correspondientes a las estructura accionarial, al consejo de... more
El presente trabajo analiza el contenido de los códigos de buen gobierno, y realiza una comparación internacional de los mismos. Partiendo de 22 medidas de gobierno corporativo correspondientes a las estructura accionarial, al consejo de administración y a la función de auditoría, los autores han realizado un análisis comparativo de los códigos de buen gobierno de 29 países de los cinco continentes. El resultado pone de reliveve que el movimiento de reforma del gobierno corporativo trata de suplir las deficiencias del entorno legal e institucional a fin de otorgar una mejor protección a los inversores en aquellas naciones donde estos gozan de menor cobertura legal
We analyze the impact of some internal control mechanisms - ownership structure, capital structure and growth opportunities - on earnings management in Chilean firms throughout 1991-2001. Our results are interesting due to the specific... more
We analyze the impact of some internal control mechanisms - ownership structure, capital structure and growth opportunities - on earnings management in Chilean firms throughout 1991-2001. Our results are interesting due to the specific characteristics of the corporate system in Chile where investor protection is weak and banks play a prominent role. We find that ownership concentration has a non-linear relation with earnings management, consistent with both the control of directors by main shareholders and the idea of expropriation of minority shareholders by large controlling shareholders. Financial leverage and public debt gives managers incentives to accounting discretion whereas bank debt plays an active role in corporate governance as a control mechanism. Our results also show that earnings are not managed to signal growth opportunities.
Corporate risk taking has become more important due to 2007 financial crisis. In a period of financial deregulation, companies undertook riskier decisions that, in some cases, were value-enhancing, but in others led to bankruptcy or... more
Corporate risk taking has become more important due to 2007 financial crisis. In a period of financial deregulation, companies undertook riskier decisions that, in some cases, were value-enhancing, but in others led to bankruptcy or bailout by governments. Thus, using a sample of companies from 21 OECD countries for the period 2001-2013 we study the attitude towards risk taking in companies depending on shareholders expectations. Our results suggest that there is a negative relationship between risk and return for firms below their point of reference. On the contrary, there is a positive relationship between risk and return for firms above the point of reference, i.e. when the expected performance is above the aspired one. Moreover, we find that the U-form relationship between risk and return is less steep when the major shareholder is a family.
The aim of this paper is to show an empirical analysis of the main determinants of the dividend pay out decision in the big non-financial Spanish firms. After a review of the most outstanding theories which are supposed to explain in some... more
The aim of this paper is to show an empirical analysis of the main determinants of the dividend pay out decision in the big non-financial Spanish firms. After a review of the most outstanding theories which are supposed to explain in some extend the so called puzzle of dividends, we test them. In so doing, we have analyzed a sample of companies in two different ways: first of all, a descriptive analysis and later a causality analysis. The results we achieve confirm the influence of traditional variables in the dividend pay out firms' decisions like investment profitability and liquidity. Besides, some more variables arise whose justification is closely related to the theory of agency and the asymmetric information. On the other hand, the fiscal asymmetries hypothesis do not seem to be supported by the results of our research El objetivo del presente trabajo consiste en realizar un estudio empírico de los principales factores determinantes de la decisión de reparto de dividendos ...
Debt, dividends, and growth opportunities in East Asian firms: The role of institutional factors Abstract: We analyze the impact of debt and dividends on firm value, conditional on growth opportunities, using data from 11 East Asian... more
Debt, dividends, and growth opportunities in East Asian firms: The role of institutional factors Abstract: We analyze the impact of debt and dividends on firm value, conditional on growth opportunities, using data from 11 East Asian countries. Consistent with previous literature, our results show that debt and dividends play a dual role: First, they alleviate the problem of overinvestment when firms lack of growth opportunities, and, second, they exacerbate the problem of underinvestment when firms have growth opportunities. We also find that some institutional features such as the legal protection of investors, capital market activity, and the incentive to control shareholders from extracting private benefits potentially modify this relation.
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In this paper we focus on the conflict of interests among shareholders as a possible determinant of earnings management. Using a sample of 3,559 listed firms from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy... more
In this paper we focus on the conflict of interests among shareholders as a possible determinant of earnings management. Using a sample of 3,559 listed firms from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy between 2008 and 2013, we analyse how the distribution of power among shareholders affects earnings management in family owned firms. We find that the contest to the dominant family shareholder is relevant: namely, the more challenge to the control of dominant shareholders, the less earnings management in family firms. This contest is more important in civil law countries in which the shareholders rights are less protected. We also find that the nature of the blockholders can be relevant: consistent with the view that nonfamily shareholders are under more public scrutiny and have more difficulty to agree with the largest family shareholder to extract private benefits, our results suggest that a second or third nonfamily shareholder can reduce or alleviate earnings management.