A large literature finds evidence that pricing kernels nonparametrically estimated from option prices and historical returns are not monotonically decreasing in market index returns. We argue that existing estimation methods are inconsistent and propose a new nonparametric estimator of the...

We provide novel evidence supporting the notion that arbitrageurs can contribute to return comovement via ETF arbitrage. Using a large sample of U.S. equity ETF holdings, we document the link between measures of ETF activity and return comovement at both the fund and the stock levels, after...

Leveraged buyouts allow for a separate identification of sponsor reputation and underlying firm quality and their effects on capital structure choices. In 616 U.S. LBOs for which we can reconstruct financing activity, we find that the average LBO issues an average of 1.16 additional debt...

Agency mortgage-backed securities trade simultaneously in a market for specified pools (SPs) and in the to-be-announced (TBA) forward market. TBA trading creates liquidity by allowing thousands of different MBS to be traded in a handful of TBA contracts. SPs that are eligible to be traded as...

Investors can trade individual agency mortgage-backed securities as specified pools (SPs), or trade them through TBA forward contracts. Sellers in the TBA market deliver the cheapest possible pool that fulfills the contracts, so they are traded on a cheapest to deliver basis. More valuable...

We examine how the confusion and regulatory uncertainty generated by the imposition of short sale restrictions in September 2008 impacted equity option markets. We uncover three primary findings. First, investors seeking short exposure in financial stocks did not migrate to the option market to...

A number of papers document a strong negative relation between idiosyncratic volatility and risk-adjusted stock returns. Using IHS Markit data on indicative borrowing fees, we show that stocks with high idiosyncratic volatility are far more likely to be hard-to-borrow than stocks with low...