This study uses county-level data from across the US to examine whether non-pharmaceutical interventions lead to patterns consistent with lockdown fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic. The tests indicate that as lockdowns persist, any initial positive or negative correlation with future COVID-19...

Corporate finance has turned into a field where researchers produce what seem like a constant flow of disconnected papers. Theories are never confirmed or refuted. At best, empirical papers “confirm” models without a realistic alternative to refute. The problem is that today’s models are...

We collect a time-series database of business and related restrictions for every county in the United States from March through December 2020. We find strong and consistent evidence that employee mask policies, mask mandates for the general population, restaurant and bar closures, gym closures,...

Using a hand-collected database of partial business closures for all U.S. counties from March through December 2020, we examine the impact of capacity restrictions on fatality growth due to COVID-19. For the restaurant and bar sector, we find that several combinations of partial capacity...

We propose testing the joint and marginal power of characteristics in predicting returns via a dynamic trading strategy (e.g., Kyle, 1985). The analysis finds that most characteristics (88%) fail to supply independent information. Indeed, removing these subsumed characteristics significantly...

This article looks at modifying the currently reported CPI by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to produce a “better” CPI. Comparisons are based on each alternative index's ability to produce time series projections in line with measures reflecting changes in short term Treasury bill, consumer...

IPO firms' rivals tend to experience performance declines following an IPO in the industry. Why? We estimate a dynamic structural oligopoly model to distinguish among alternative theories that can explain an industry's evolution post-IPO. We find that most changes in rivals' performance are due...