Based on a difference-in-differences approach, we find strong evidence that the initial enforcement of insider trading laws improves capital allocation efficiency. The effect is concentrated in developed markets and manifests shortly after the enforcement year. Cross-sectional analyses show that...

Massa et al. (2015) show that corporate insiders become more opportunistic by selling more and faster in competition with short sellers. By considering the possibility that short sellers may react to insider trading, we propose a new hypothesis that short sellers play a disciplinary role in...