Theory and recent empirical literature suggest that social and professional connections may influence corporate policy. However, inference may be biased by the possibility that firms who share peers also share unobserved characteristics that are correlated with observed policy. Using a novel...

Foreign directors can affect firm value through their advising and monitoring functions. However, the demand for these directors, as well as their effect on firm performance is likely to be influenced by firm- and country-level characteristics. In a large sample of non-U.S. firms, we find that...

A long-recognized phenomenon in capital markets is the underinvestment in foreign equity securities, known as equity home bias. Our study examines the effect of board independence on the firms' ability to attract foreign equity capital. After accounting for potential endogeneity, we document...

We ask if companies can attract foreign equity capital by improving the transparency of their financial statements. Using a large panel of firms across fifty-one countries outside the U.S., we show that the answer is yes, but only in countries with relatively high levels of investor protection....

A long-recognized phenomenon in capital markets is the underinvestment in foreign equity securities, known as equity home bias. Our study examines the effect of board independence on the firm's ability to attract foreign equity capital. After accounting for potential endogeneity, we document...