FIN 411 Quiz # 8: May 22, 1996


1. (10 points)

Amihud and Mendelson argue that liquidity is an important determinant of the demand for assets.

  1. Explain why security prices would be higher and expected rates of return lower if the cost of illiquidity could be reduced for an asset.
  2. Briefly summarize the evidence Amihud and Mendelson produce to support this hypothesis?
  3. What implications, if any, does the Amihud and Mendelson analysis have for portfolio theory (i.e., the way that different investors choose optimal portfolios of assets?) [Hint: can you think of specific types of investors or investment accounts that would be more or less suitable for illiquid assets?]
  4. How does it affect corporate finance (e.g., the types of securities that firms choose to sell to finance their activities? [Hint: what can a firm do to make its securities more liquid?]

A full-text version of this quiz is available in Acrobat's portable data format (.pdf). The file is about 11K and can only be viewed (and printed) using a copy of Acrobat Reader. If you do not have a copy of this program, you may download it now [this is a self-extracting ZIP file that you must install on your computer to read PDF files]. Click here to download this quiz.


Click here to see the histogram showing the grades for this quiz.

A histogram showing the grades for this quiz is available in Acrobat's portable data format (.pdf). The file is about 155K and can only be viewed (and printed) using a copy of Acrobat Reader. Click here to download this graph.


Return to FIN 411 Home Page