We combine the Decennial Census, credit reports, and administrative earnings to create the first panel dataset linking parent's credit access to the labor market outcomes of children in the U.S.We find that a 10% increase in parent's unused revolving credit during their children's adolescence...

The first essay provides theory concerning the risk-taking incentives of microfinance borrowers in varying cases: individual liability, group liability without social sanctions, and group liability with social sanctions. The results provide insight into how a community's social capital and a...

This thesis examines the relationship between real flexibility and financial structure using detailed economic and financial data on firms in 17 manufacturing industries. I investigate the impact of real flexibility on firms' finance capacity, namely, their ability to obtain debt, borrow...

Mergers and acquisitions are a fast way for a firm to grow. Using plant-level data, we examine how firms redraw their boundaries after acquisitions. We find that there is a large amount of restructuring in a short period following mergers. Acquirers sell 27% and close 19% of acquired plants...

We examine the effect of financial dependence on acquisition and investment within existing industries by single-segment and conglomerate firms for industries undergoing different long run changes in industry conditions. Conglomerates and single-segment firms differ more in rates of...

We examine a comprehensive set of private and public security issuance decisions by publicly traded companies. We study private and public issues of debt, convertibles and common equity securities - a total of 6 different security-market choices. The market for public firms issuing private...

We study the resource allocation decisions of U.S. multinational corporations (MNCs). We examine how established MNCs grow across countries and how firm-specific resources and host country financial-market development influence MNC growth. We find evidence of intra-firm trade-offs to growth in...

We investigate the role of industry specialization in horizontal cross-border mergers and acquisitions. We find that acquirers from more specialized industries in a country are more likely to buy foreign targets in countries that are less specialized in these same industries. The role of...

How does consumer credit access impact job flows, earnings, and entrepreneurship? To answer this question, we build a new administrative dataset which links individual employment and entrepreneur tax records to TransUnion credit reports, and we exploit the discrete increase in consumer credit...

We empirically and theoretically examine how consumer credit access affects displaced workers. Empirically, we link administrative employment histories to credit reports. We show that an increase in credit limits worth 10% of prior annual earnings allows individuals to take .15 to 3 weeks longer...