This study examines the impact of the California Nonprofit Integrity Act (2004) on CEO compensation costs in affected organizations. Contrary to the stated objective of the Act that executive compensation be “just and reasonable,” we find that CEO compensation costs for affected nonprofits...

There is growing public concern over the rapid growth in CEO pay relative to average worker pay (CEO pay ratio). Critics contend that high CEO pay ratios could destroy firm value by damaging employee morale and/or signal CEO rent extraction. In this paper, we use a proprietary dataset to examine...

In contrast to previous studies documenting positive abnormal returns to target shareholders, we find that hedge fund activism significantly reduces existing bondholders' wealth. Bondholders earn an average excess bond return of -3.9% around the initial 13D filing date, and an additional average...

This paper studies the effect of stock liquidity on blockholders' choice of governance mechanisms. We focus on hedge funds as they are unconstrained by legal restrictions and business ties, and thus have all governance channels at their disposal. Since the threat of governance, not just actual...

In contrast to previous studies documenting positive abnormal returns to target shareholders, we find that hedge fund activism significantly reduces existing bondholders' wealth. Bondholders earn an average excess bond return of -3.9% around the initial 13D filing date, and an additional average...

This paper studies the effect of stock liquidity on blockholder governance. Conditional upon acquiring a stake, liquidity reduces the likelihood that a blockholder governs through voice (intervention) – as shown by the greater propensity to file Schedule 13Gs (passive investment) than 13Ds...