Using an agency model of firm behavior, the paper analyzes whether the cost of investment should be tax exempt. The findings suggest that, when managers engage in wasteful capital expenditures, welfare may decline if the cost of investment is tax deductible, as commonly advocated. The extent to...

We investigate whether and when firms manage the tone of words in earnings press releases, and how investors react to tone management. We estimate abnormal positive tone, ABTONE, as a measure of tone management from residuals of a tone model that controls for firm quantitative fundamentals such...

Based on the psychological theory of place attachments, managers favor hometown workers over others. Consistent with this prediction, I find that following periods of industry distress, establishments located near CEOs' childhood homes see fewer employment and pay reductions and are less likely...

We investigate if an individual manager’s preferences affect corporate decisions. Specifically, we consider the effects of religion since it is an important force shaping individual preferences. We hand-collect data on the religious affiliations of CEOs and find that firms with Catholic CEOs...