This paper investigates the effect of an aggressive corporate growth strategy on the failure risk of a firm using information on firm-level mergers and acquisitions (Mamp;A) activities. I find that excessive acquisitiveness relative to an industry benchmark explain more variations in the failure...

This paper investigates the effect of corporate diversification on the pricing of bank-loan contracts. We find that diversified firms have significantly lower loan rates than comparable focused firms, and we find no evidence that diversified firms are subject to more restrictive non-price...

This paper investigates the effect of organizational capital, typified by various management practices within a firm, on the cost of external debt financing. Using a sample of medium-sized manufacturing firms in the US, we find that better management practices enhance a firm’s external...

This paper investigates the effects of managerial mergers- and acquisitions-related investment strategies on the exit risk of firms. Using a sample of hyperactive bidders, I show that managerial excessive acquisitiveness can precipitate firm exit. Overbidding is associated with weak corporate...

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

Why do some firms grow faster than others? Although various observed and unobserved aspects of firms have been suggested as potential drivers of firm heterogeneity, economists disagree sharply on the role of financial structure in influencing firm growth. In this paper, I use a sample of quoted...

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the choice of cut-off points, sampling procedures, and business cycles on the forecasting accuracy of bankruptcy prediction models. A misclassification can result in an erroneous prediction resulting in prohibitive costs to firms, investors,...