We identify a firm's growth type by its valuation volatility which proxies for the extent to which asymmetric information arises from growth opportunities rather than from assets-in-place. We show that firm investment style (measured by R&D/[Capex R&D]) is persistent and positively aligned with...

We assess the impact of credit constraints on investment, inventories and other working capital and firm growth with a large panel of small and medium-sized enterprises from 12 European countries for the period 2014-2016. The data come from the Survey on the access to finance of enterprises...

This study provides critical observations on the state of key global equity markets as recent developments have put into question their efficiency and effectiveness in facilitating capital formation. It covers the top 26 initial public offering (IPO) producing nations, with a particular focus on...

U.S. financial development varies a good deal over the last half century, primarily increasing since the 1980s. We ask whether this variation had consequences for the real economy. Difference-in-difference tests reveal that increases in financial development have disproportionate effects on...

I develop a model of mergers in which M&A deals are used to reallocate investment opportunities. In equilibrium, acquirers lack internal growth options and seek out projects from targets in the M&A market. The model is able to reconcile many features of the merger data that I document, including...

We examine interactions between investment and financing decisions in a dynamic model where the firm can alter the mix of debt and equity financing and exercise a randomly arriving and potentially short lived growth option. The firm will typically finance the exercise of the growth option with...

We develop a model of endogenous lobby formation in which wealth inequalityand political accountability undermine entry and financial development. In-cumbents seek a low level of effective investor protection to prevent potentialentrants from raising capital. They succeed because they can...

Investor protection is associated with greater investment-sensitivity to q and lower investment-sensitivity to cash flow. Finance plays a role in causing these effects; in countries with strong investor protection external finance increases more strongly with q, and declines more strongly with...