This dissertation consists of two essays: one looks at the relation between firm focus and hedging in the REIT industry, and the other compares bank board structures in China and the US.The first essay presented in Chapter 2 examines the relation between corporate hedging and firm focus in the...

The first essay examines how board structure affects manager dismissal decisions in mutual funds. We first find some evidence suggesting that the likelihood of managerial replacement is higher when fund boards are more independent and receive lower levels of compensation. Manager turnover is...

This dissertation consists of two essays: one looks at the relation between firm focus and hedging in the REIT industry, and the other compares bank board structures in China and the US. The first essay presented in Chapter 2 examines the relation between corporate hedging and firm focus in the...

This paper examines the information content of stock option exercises versus regular insider share trades by corporate executives. We argue that the asymmetric payoff structure of options makes managerial wealth - compared to holdings of shares - relatively more sensitive to stock price changes...

Recent studies [Bebchuk and Fried (2002)] have shown that managerial power and negotiations play important roles in the design of executive pay arrangements, suggesting that some CEOs may extract greater economic rent from shareholders when provided with the opportunity. This paper seeks to...

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...