We relate the firm legal structure to the degree of credit advantage of the headquarters. We argue that subsidiary-based firms are born as the outcome of a process of agglomeration around firms with better credit advantage. Therefore, subsidiary based firms have better credit advantage than...

We study the link between a firm's quality of governance and its alliance activity. We consider alliances as a commitment technology that helps a company CEO overcome agency problems that relate to the inability to ex-ante motivate division managers. We show that well-governed firms are more...

We study how product market competition affects the firm's ownership by international and domestic investors and its stock performance. We argue that in the presence of local bias domestic investors tilt their portfolios towards domestic stocks that offer lower exposure to country-specific...

We study holdings in merger and acquisition (M&A) targets by financial conglomerates in which affiliated investment banks advise the bidders. We show that advisors take positions in the targets before M&A announcements. These stakes are positively related to the probability of observing the bid...

We study holdings in Mamp;A targets by financial conglomerates which affiliated investment banks advise the bidders. We show that advisors take positions in the targets before Mamp;A announcements. These stakes are positively related to the probability of observing the bid and to the target...

We study IPOs by focusing on the degree of portfolio diversification of the shareholders taking the company public. We argue that a less diversified shareholder has more to gain from taking the company public and would be more willing to accept a lower price for the sale of its shares, i.e....

We study the effects of the controlling shareholders' portfolio diversification on the IPO process. Less-diversified shareholders have more to gain from taking their firm public, and are more willing to accept a lower price for shares. We test these hypotheses using the data on all IPOs in...

We study the effects of the controlling shareholders' portfolio diversification on the initial public offering (IPO) process. Less diversified shareholders have more to gain from taking their firm public, and are more willing to accept a lower price for shares. We test these hypotheses using the...

We study the conglomerate discount from a novel perspective. We argue that the discount – measured in terms of Tobin's Q – far from being a sign of lower value is, instead, a sign of higher value for the conglomerate. This can be explained as conglomerates being less financially constrained...