This paper shows how a shorter fecundity horizon for females (a biological constraint) leads to age and educational disparities between husbands and wives. Empirical support is based on data from a natural experiment commencing before and ending after China's 1980 one-child law. The results...

This paper examines the impact of shifting liquidity and institutional trading in the corporate bond market on inferences regarding informational efficiency. We find that when institutional trade dominance and other bond trading features are accounted for, stock leads evidenced in earlier...

This paper examines the prevalence of informed trading in corporate bonds prior to takeover announcements. We find significant pre-announcement trading activities and price movements in target bonds, in directions consistent with the nature of pending information. Improved transparency in the...

We examine the role of geographically proximate (local) market makers in providing liquidity and improving the quality of a dealer market. Firms with active participation of local dealers enjoy lower quoted and effective spreads, as well as more informative prices. The beneficial effects from...

We investigate a prominent allegation in congressional hearings that Moody׳s loosened its rating standards to chase revenue after it went public in 2000. Consistent with this allegation, Moody׳s ratings for both corporate bonds and structured finance products are significantly more favorable...

This study explores how the ethnicity of small business owners affects the influences of family ownership on their willingness to borrow. While the willingness issue is fundamental in the literature on small business debt financing, it has been understudied. We introduce an indirect measure of...