Using a general autoregressive distributed lag model, we estimate the longrun steady state determinants of corporate capital structure. We find that, in the long run, the leverage ratio is related positively to the corporate tax rate and firm size and negatively to future growth opportunities and stock returns. By contrast, there appears to be no relation between leverage and the corporate tax rate on a short‐run year to year basis. Our results suggest that prior empirical evidence on capital structure is of questionable value precisely because of its failure to clearly separate the short‐run relationship between leverage and its determinants from its long‐run relationship.

This paper analyzes stock returns and volatility relations between the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) and the global market as represented by stock markets in the US, the UK, Japan and Germany. Results from monthly data and multivariate cointegration tests suggest that the ISE became significantly integrated in the global market only in the period following market liberalization in late 1989. We also find evidence based on GARCH estimations that capital liberalization actually mitigated, rather than intensified, volatility in the ISE. Our results further suggest that the Asian crisis in mid-1997 and the consequent Russian economic meltdown in mid-1998 are partly responsible for the recent excessive volatility in the Turkish market. The results also identify the US and the UK markets as dominate sources of volatility spillovers for the ISE, even in the period following the Asian-Russian crises. Consequently, it appears that the two matured markets of the US and the UK shoulder significant responsibility for the stability and financial health of smaller emerging markets like the ISE. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2003.

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We use recent daily data and several testing procedures to re-investigate the weak-form efficiency of the Australian stock of the top 50 companies across different industries. Contrary to most prior studies, our results suggest that the Australian market is weak-form efficient with little or no evidence for short-term return predictability.