This dissertation explores the ways in which institutional organizational theory can enhance our understanding of how organizational structures that shape social inequality emerge, diffuse, and persist over time. More specifically, in three distinct papers, I examine the institutionalization of...

In this dissertation, I study three resource allocation problems. In the first study, I present joint work with Yan Chen, Thomas Finholt, and Kan Takeuchi on a laboratory study evaluating three different package auction mechanisms for allocating access to large scientific equipments. I found...

This study investigates why externally advised real estate investment trusts (REITs) underperform their internally managed counterparts. Consistent with previous studies, we find that REITs managed by external advisors underperform internally managed ones by over 7 percent per year....

Capital structure and corporate governance are the important areas that represent salient part of corporate finance research. By studying various aspects of the two areas, this study attempts to deepen our understanding of the two. First, this study provides both a theoretical model and...

Prior research has identified the manner in which human capital, social capital, and other intangible resources create value for organizations. Among such resources, those contributed by a firm's top managers have been singled out as particularly important for the generation and preservation of...

Chapter 1 is a critique of a highly influential paper in corporate governance. Chhaochharia and Grinstein (2009) estimate that CEO pay decreases 17% more in firms that were not compliant with the recent NYSE/Nasdaq board independence requirement than in firms that were compliant. We document...

With the increasing importance of stock options as a component of executive compensation , it is important to understand their effectiveness in aligning executive interests with those of shareholders and their function as a retention device. With the collapse of the tech stock bubble in the past...

In the debate over executive compensation, the assumption seems to be that the CEO of a publicly traded corporation is ultimately an employee of the corporation. According to the conventional view, the business belongs to the stockholders. Executive compensation is an expense like any other...