Most listed firms are freestanding in the U.S, while listed firms in other countries often belong to business groups: lasting structures in which listed firms control other listed firms. Hand-collected historical data illuminate how the present ownership structure of the United States arose: (1)...

We compare sources of funds and investment activities of venture capital (VC) funds in Germany, Israel, Japan and the UK using a newly constructed data set. The data provide a rare opportunity to evaluate relations between funds' sources of finance and activities. We find that sources of VC...

Using a newly constructed data set, we compare sources of funds and investment activities of venture capital (VC) funds in Germany, Israel, Japan and the UK. Sources of VC funds differ significantly across countries, e.g. banks are particularly important in Germany, corporations in Israel,...

Diversified business (or corporate) groups, consisting of legally independent firms operating in multiple markets, are ubiquitous in emerging markets and even in some developed economies. The study of groups, a hybrid organizational form between firm and market, is of relevance to industrial...

Using standard Industrial Organization tools, we analyze the relation between competition in arm's length financial markets and the prevalence of close bank-firms ties. We show how the degree of competition between financial intermediaries affects the intensity of relationships between banks and...

We examine the impact of capital markets reform on patterns of corporate finance in Israel, focusing on the role of banks in the Israeli financial system, and in particular on whether their role has changed following a decade of liberalization. Our main finding is that, although external...

Using a unique newly constructed data set on Israeli IPO firms in the 1990s, we study costs and benefits of universal banking. The post-issue accounting profitability of firms underwritten by bank affiliated underwriters that were also borrowers from the same bank in the IPO year, is...

Much has been written about the Japanese 'model' of corporate governance. Indeed, Japanese-style corporate governance has been described as an efficient alternative to corporate governance mechanisms available in the West, and as a model for developing economies. As opposed to American-style...

We investigate whether cultural differences between professional decision-makers affect financial contracts in a large dataset of international syndicated bank loans. We find that more culturally distant lead banks offer borrowers smaller loans at a higher interest rate and are more likely to...

How do firms that go public decide whether to list on a major stock exchange or locally? Using a unique data set on Israeli IPO?s in the US and Tel Aviv, we show that companies that list in the US are young and overwhelmingly high-tech oriented. We argue that high-quality innovative firms are...