We study the impact of upstream tariffs on downstream investment in US manufacturing firms. Exploiting tariff reductions following multinational trade agreements (GSP, GATT, NAFTA) in a difference-in-differences framework, we estimate that a 10% decrease of upstream tariffs entails an increase...

We examine how mark-to-market accounting affects the investment decisions of managers with reputation concerns. Reporting the current market value of a firm's assets can help mitigate agency problems because it provides outsiders (e.g., shareholders) with new information against which the...

I study the effect of chief executive officer (CEO) optimism on CEO compensation. Using data on compensation in US firms, I provide evidence that CEOs whose option exercise behavior and earnings forecasts are indicative of optimistic beliefs receive smaller stock option grants, fewer bonus...

This paper examines the effect of dispersion in firms' existing debt structures on the use of covenants in new loans. The authors find that more covenants are included when the existing debt is more dispersed. This result is consistent with the idea that dispersed debt structures harbor a...