This volume, dedicated to John W. Kensinger, explores a variety of topics in financial economics, including firm growth, investment risks, and the profitability of the banking industry. With its global perspective, Essays in Financial Economics is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any researcher in finance.

Dividend policy continues to be among the premier unsolved puzzles in finance. A number of theories have been advanced to explain dividend policy. This e-book briefly reviews the principal theories of payout policy and dividend policy and summarizes the empirical evidence on these theories. Empirical evidence is equivocal and the search for new explanation for dividends continues.

Volume 1A covers corporate finance: how businesses allocate capital - the capital budgeting decision - and how they obtain capital - the financing decision. Though managers play no independent role in the work of Miller and Modigliani, major contributions in finance since then have shown that managers maximize their own objectives. To understand the firm's decisions, it is therefore necessary to understand the forces that lead managers to maximize the wealth of shareholders.

The research explores the critical role of the business environment in shaping corporate decisions, with a specific focus on dividend policy. Written with a finance and treasury readership in mind, this work will appeal to students, educators, researchers, managers, and policymakers alike.