Published in: Managerial and Decision Economics 18, 693-708, 1997 Management Optimism and Corporate Acquisitions: Evidence from Insider Trading * Ekkehart Boehmer Jeffry M. Netter Department of Finance University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602 (706) 542-3654 * We thank Mark Mitchell for providing us with data and Larry Lang, Scott Lee, Harold Mulherin, Annette Poulsen, Erik Sirri, Scott Smart and seminar participants at Louisiana State University, Ohio State University, the Financial Management Meetings and the Western Finance Association Meetings for their helpful comments.