We construct a mortality table for U.S. public companies during 1985-2006. We find that firms' age-specific mortality rates initially increase, peaking at age three, and then decrease with age, implying that the first three years of public life are critical. Financial intermediaries involved...

We construct a mortality table for U.S. public companies during 1985–2006. We find that firms' age-specific mortality rates initially increase, peaking at age three, and then decrease with age, implying that the first three years of public life are critical. Financial intermediaries involved...

We investigate the link between distress and idiosyncratic volatility. Specifically, we examine the twin puzzles of anomalously low returns for high idiosyncratic volatility stocks and high distress risk stocks, documented by Ang et al (2006) and Campbell et al (2008), respectively. We document...

We are the first to provide closed-form analytic solutions for the joint problem of mortgage refinancing and default. Our solution takes into account reduction in mortgage interest rates and the "cash-out" motive for refinancing. The model predicts how long the households are likely to wait...