We examine whether investor behavior can be influenced by the social norms to which they are exposed. Specifically, we test two competing hypotheses regarding the influence of social trust on the disposition effect related to mutual fund investment. On the one hand, a higher level of social...

We study how secular culture affects firm behavior when formal institutions fall short. We find that firms more exposed to alcohol-related sin culture exhibit more earnings management and lean their operations more toward local business partners. Tests using latitude and snow/temperature as...

We investigate an informal yet important mechanism in the private equity industry that helps to reduce uncertainty: relationship building. Based on a large sample of private equity funds over the 1980-2010 period, we find that the general partners strategically allocate good funds to loyal...

The rise of social media has encouraged guru dreams because of the low entry barrier and highly skewed distribution of public attention that characterize social media. The pursuit of guru status, however, may be achieved through information provision or cheap talk, and competition inherent to...

We investigate the impact of the absence of short selling on the pricing of managerial skills in the mutual fund industry. In the presence of divergent opinions regarding managerial skills, fund managers can strategically use fees to attract only the most optimistic capital. The recognition of...

The mutual fund industry consists of heterogeneous managers and investors. Hence, traditional models of delegated portfolio management need to be extended to allow heterogeneity. We propose that this extension can be modeled as a dual matching-contracting problem of endogenously repeated trust...

We explore the relationship between internal governance and the disciplining mechanisms created by the threat of short selling (i.e. “short-selling potential”). We argue that the presence of short selling increases the cost of agency problems for shareholders and incentivizes them to improve...

We examine whether information manipulation by firms may reflect fundamental cooperation conventions induced by social norms in China. Consistent with this notion, we find that China’s leading social norms related to alcohol consumption and social drinking enhance earnings manipulation. An...

We propose that the presence of short-term investors, such as short sellers, does not necessarily enhance short-termism. On the contrary, based on a sample of 11,969 firms across 33 countries over the 2003-2009 period, we observe that the threat of short selling increases long-term (i.e., R&D)...

We propose that the presence of short-term investors, such as short sellers, does not necessarily enhance short-termism. On the contrary, based on a sample of 11,969 firms across 33 countries over the 2003-2009 period, we observe that the threat of short selling increases long-term (i.e., R&D)...