We investigate firms that sell assets to determine whether corporate governance mechanisms are effective at controlling agency problems. Our evidence shows that these firms have lower managerial ownership and are more likely to make unrelated acquisitions, suggesting weak internal controls....

This paper documents a dramatic difference in the abnormal announcement period returns of the first bidder to announce an acquisition attempt in a particular industry. Typical of the literature, the set of all bidders in our sample earn abnormal returns indistinguishable from zero. However,...

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) tend to entrench incumbent managers and enhance employee incentives, so the effect of an ESOP on the sponsoring firm is important. We examine long-term performance of ESOP firms and find significant improvement in their year-end performance. This finding...