Corporate cross-ownership results in double counting of assets in the market's valuation of total equity. This paper is the first to use firm-specific data to measure the resulting bias in market capitalization, market portfolio return, capital structure, and the P/E ratio. Based on the...

We examine to what extent firms adhere to the stated intent of non-compulsory accounting standards when reporting for intercorporate investments. The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in Norway strongly recommend that a 20–50% intercorporate investment is accounted for by the...

Norway is the first, and so far the only, country to mandate a minimum fraction of female and male directors on corporate boards. We find that after a new gender balance law surprisingly stipulated that the firm must be liquidated unless at least 40% of its directors are of each gender, half the...

This paper compares the dividend policy of owner-controlled firms with that of firms where the owners are a minority relative to non-owner employees, customers, and community citizens. We find that regardless of whether owners or non-owners control the firm, the strong stakeholder uses the...