Université de Fribourg

Chasing dividends during the COVID-19 pandemic

Eugster, Nicolas ; Ducret, Romain ; Isakov, Dušan ; Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe

(Working Papers SES ; 520)

This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the trading behavior of investors around ex-dividend dates in Europe. The sudden decrease in the number of companies paying dividends reduced the opportunities to capture dividends. The firms that have maintained dividend payments during the pandemic thus attracted more interest than before. This led to a doubling in the magnitude...

Université de Fribourg

The Korea discount and chaebols

Ducret, Romain ; Isakov, Dušan

(Working Papers SES ; 511)

Finance practitioners frequently claim that stocks of Korean firms are undervalued and trade at a discount relative to foreign firms. This phenomenon is commonly called «the Korea discount». It is based on anecdotal evidence comparing either the price- earnings ratios of different market indexes or those of different individual stocks. This paper provides empirical evidence on the existence...

Université de Fribourg

What if dividends were tax-exempt? : Evidence from a natural experiment

Isakov, Dušan ; Pérignon, Christophe ; Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe

(Working Papers SES ; 498, revised)

We study the effect of dividend taxes on the payout and investment policy of listed firms and discuss their implications for agency problems. To do so, we exploit a unique setting in Switzerland where some, but not all, firms were suddenly able to pay tax-exempted dividends to their shareholders following the corporate tax reform of 2011. Using a difference-indifferences specification, we...

Université de Fribourg

What if dividends were tax-exempt? : evidence from a natural experiment

Isakov, Dušan ; Pérignon, Christophe ; Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe

(Working Papers SES ; 498)

We study the effect of dividend taxes on the payout and investment policy of listed firms and discuss their implications for agency problems. To do so, we exploit a unique setting in Switzerland where some, but not all, firms were suddenly able to pay tax-exempted dividends to their shareholders following the corporate tax reform of 2011. Using a difference-in-differences specification, we...

Université de Fribourg

Founding family ownership, stock market returns, and agency problems

Eugster, Nicolas ; Isakov, Dušan

(Working Papers SES ; 490 (revised))

This paper explores the relationship between founding family ownership and stock market returns. Using the entire population of non-financial firms listed on the Swiss stock market for 2003–2013, we find that the stock returns of family firms are significantly higher than those of non-family firms after adjusting the returns for different firm characteristics and risk factors. Family firms...

Université de Fribourg

Founding family ownership, stock market returns, and agency problems

Eugster, Nicolas ; Isakov, Dušan

(Working Papers SES ; 490)

This paper explores the relationship between founding family ownership and stock market returns. Using the entire population of non-financial firms listed on the Swiss stock market for 2003–2013, we find that the stock returns of family firms are significantly higher than those of non-family firms after adjusting the returns for different risk factors and firm characteristics. Family firms...

Université de Fribourg

Do not wake sleeping dogs: Pay-out policies in founding family firms

Isakov, Dušan ; Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe

(Working Papers SES ; 443)

This article examines founding family influence on pay-out policies for Swiss listed firms over the period 2003-2010. We find that founding family firms have higher dividends and total pay-outs than non-family firms. There is no significant difference between stock repurchases for the two types of firms. We show that specific firm characteristics such as active involvement of family members, the...

Université de Fribourg

Are Founding Families Special Blockholders ? An Investigation of Controlling Shareholder Influence on Firm Performance

Isakov, Dušan ; Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe

(Working Papers SES ; 428)

This paper examines how family and non-family ownership affects the performance of Swiss listed firms from 2003 to 2010. We distinguish between these two types of controlling shareholders since they have different objectives. We hypothesise that only family shareholders have a real incentive to reduce agency costs whereas non-family blockholders are similar to widely held companies. Our results...

Université de Fribourg

Technical Analysis with a Long-Term Perspective: Trading Strategies and Market Timing Ability

Isakov, Dušan ; Marti, Didier

(Working Papers SES ; 421)

This paper extends the literature on the profitability of technical analysis in three directions. First, we investigate the performance of complex trading rules based on moving averages computed over longer periods than those usually considered. Different trading rules are simulated on daily prices of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and we find that trading rules are more profitable when...

Université de Fribourg

Portfolio diversification in Europe

Adjaouté, Kpate ; Danthine, Jean-Pierre ; Isakov, Dušan

(FAME Research Paper ; 86)

Have the euro and accompanying measures of financial integration had a discernable impact on the degree of diversification of European investors? This is an empirical question that this paper tries to answer by exploring four alternative avenues. First we focus on the final outcome: If European investors are indeed better diversified, their consumption should be increasingly correlated. Second we...