We examine whether options granted to non-executive employees affect firm performance. Using new data on option programs, we explore the link between broad-based option programs, option portfolio implied incentives, and firm operating performance, utilizing an instrumental variables approach to...

We examine whether options granted to rank and file employees have effects on the performance of the firm, by exploring the link between broad-based option grants, option portfolio implied incentives and firm operating performance. We employ an instrumental variables approach that combines...

This study documents a new value-added service provided by venture capitalists and addresses important questions about how resources are combined to create firms. As part of the nexus of contracts surrounding a firm, strategic alliances can be viewed as relational contracts that blur firm...

We explore how analyst recommendation changes affect a security's trading volume at the market maker of the analyst's own firm. Using Nasdaq PostData, we find a dramatic increase in trading volume handled by the market maker of the analyst's firm relative to other market makers on recommendation...

This paper examines bank behavior in venture capital. It considers the relation between a bank's venture capital investments and its subsequent lending, which can be thought of as intertemporal cross-selling. Theory suggests that unlike independent venture capital firms, banks may be strategic...

This paper examines bank behavior in venture capital. It considers the relationship between a bank's venture capital investments and its subsequent lending, which can be thought of as intertemporal cross-selling. Theory suggests that unlike independent venture capital firms, banks may be...

Analyzing a large sample of cross-border investments by U.S. venture capital firms, we find that average round sizes and the fraction of financing raised in the first round are larger for companies in countries with poorer legal enforcement. This evidence, which is consistent with third-best...

Milton Friedman argued that irrational traders will consistently lose money, won't survive and, therefore, cannot influence long run asset prices. Since his work, survival and price impact have been assumed to be the same. In this paper, we demonstrate that survival and price impact are two...

We study the optimal portfolio choice of hedge fund managers who are compensated by high-water mark contracts. Surprisingly, we find that even risk-neutral managers will not place unboundedly large weights on the risky assets, despite the option-type features of the contract. Instead they will...

We present a dynamic contracting model in which the principal and agent disagree about the resolution of uncertainty, and we illustrate the contract design in an application with Bayesian learning. The disagreement creates gains from trade that the principal realizes by transferring payment to...