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...

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...

We find that firms report significantly higher cash holdings in the 4th fiscal quarter, followed by subsequent reversal. Such a phenomenon cannot be explained by traditional determinants of cash holdings, calendar year-end effect, and the choice of fiscal year-end quarter. We identify real,...

An employee's annual earnings fall by 13% the year her firm files for bankruptcy, and the present value of lost earnings from bankruptcy to six years following bankruptcy is 87% of pre-bankruptcy annual earnings. More worker earnings are lost in thin labor markets and among small firms. Ex ante...

Our paper investigates a corporation's mergers and acquisitions (M&A) investment decisions across business cycles and their impact on the firm's involuntary exit hazard in a recession. We find that firms that concentrate most of their M&A activities in the good times (economic expansions) exit...