Ronald Coase pioneered the transaction cost approach to the modern analysis of institutions, contracts, and property rights. We argue that core theory enhances Coase’s transaction cost approach by injecting considerations of coalition formation and stability into the analysis. Analysis of...

Do CEOs really matter for firm performance? And if they do, how does CEO human capital translate into firm value? We investigate these questions using a sample of firms with CEO turnover. We find that when a CEO with more general managerial human capital is matched with a firm relying more on...

How costly are systemic credit contractions? We examine this question using episodes of systemic banking crises across many countries and compare firm sales, profitability and investment during crisis, post-crisis, and pre-crisis periods. We find that credit contractions are costly for firms and...

This paper investigates the effect of a firm's organizational structure on its debt financing activities. Using corporate diversification strategy as an identification tool for organizational structure, we find that diversified firms have significantly lower loan rates than comparable focused...

We investigate empirically a market-based explanation for the rise in recent years in external CEO hiring and compensation. Consistent with the market-based theory, we find that firms in industries relying on general managerial skills are more likely to hire CEOs externally than firms in...

Are foreign investors in emerging markets more financial statement literate than domestic investors? If so, this conjecture implies that foreign (domestic) investors are more likely to revise their return expectations to cash flow (discount rate) news. It also implies that cash flow news and...

This study examines whether the term of the auditor-client relationship (i.e., auditor tenure) is associated with future stock price crash risk measured both ex ante and ex post. Using a large sample of U.S. public firms with Big Four auditors, we find robust evidence that auditor tenure is...