DAY 2 : THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15



9:00 – 9:20 am
Coffee


Session III: Capital Structure

Session Chair: Vikram Nanda, Arizona State University


9:20 – 10:10
Do Firms have target leverage ratios? Evidence from historical market-to-book and past returns?

Laura Liu, HKUST

Discussant: Michael R. Roberts, University of  Pennsylvania


10:10 – 11:00
Back to the Beginning: Persistence and Cross-Section of Corporate Capital Structure

Michael L. Lemmon, University of Utah
Michael R. Roberts, University of Pennsylvania
Jaime F. Zender, University of Colorado at Boulder

Discussant: Vidhan Goyal, HKUST


11:00 – 11:30
Coffee Break

11:30 – 12:20
The Pecking Order, Debt Capacity, and Information Asymmetry

Mark T. Leary. Duke University
Michael R. Roberts, University of  Pennsylvania

Discussant: Peter Mackay, HKUST


12:10 – 14:00
Lunch, University Centre Bistro, HKUST


Session IV: The Birth, Life and Death of Equity

Session Chair: Manju Puri, Duke University


14:00 – 14:50
The Going Public Decision and the Product Market

Thomas Chemmanur, Boston College
Shan He, Boston College
Debarshi Nandy, York University

Discussant: Raj Singh, University of Minnesota


14:50 – 15:40
Credit Ratings and the Pricing of Seasoned Equity Offerings

Yang Liu, California Polytechnic State University
Paul Malatesta, University of Washington

Discussant: Michael Lemmon, University of Utah


15:40 – 16:10
Coffee Break

16:10 – 17:00
Share repurchases as a tool to mislead investors: Evidence from earnings quality and stock performance

Konan Chan, National Taiwan University and University of Hong Kong
David Ikenberry, University of Illinois and Urbana-Champaign
Inmoo Lee, National University of Singapore
Yanzhi Wang, National Taiwan University

Discussant: John Wei, HKUST


17:00 – 17:05
Closing Remarks by Professor Kalok Chan, Head, Department of Finance


End of Conference