We analyze the words that firms use to describe their products to examine multiple-industry firm operations. Our central finding is that multiple-industry firms operate across industries with higher product language overlap. Multiple-industry firms also avoid industries with more distinct...

We use text-based computational analysis of business descriptions from 10-Ks to examine in which industries conglomerates are most likely to operate and to understand conglomerate valuations. We find that conglomerates are more likely to operate in industry pairs that are closer together in the...

We introduce a new framework for forming peer firm portfolios that can account for firm uniqueness and organizational form. Our new vocabulary-based peer firm portfolios explain much cross sectional dispersion in firm valuations and generate a direct measure of firm product market uniqueness. We...

Using text-based analysis of 10-K MD&A disclosures, we find that fraudulent firms produce verbal disclosure that is abnormal relative to strong counterfactuals. This abnormal text predicts fraud out of sample, has a verbal factor structure, and can be interpreted to reveal likely mechanisms that...

We use text-based computational analysis of business descriptions from 10-Ks to examine in which industries conglomerates are most likely to operate and to understand conglomerate valuations. We find that conglomerates are more likely to operate in industry pairs that are closer together in the...

This paper examines whether shocks to less visible product market network peers explain industry level post-earnings announcement drift (IPEAD). On the real-side, we find that peer earnings shocks propagate slowly through the peer network, creating a complex and conditional autocorrelation...

Many studies document predictable stock returns known as anomalies. We investigate whether insiders exploit anomalies and the consequences of mandatory disclosure using a large backward-extended insider trading database from 1975 to 2014. Our results suggest that all 13 anomalies we consider are...

We study how firms differ from their competitors using new time-varying measures of product differentiation based on text-based analysis of product descriptions from 50,673 firm 10-K statements filed yearly with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This year-by-year set of product...

We study how firms differ from their competitors using new time-varying measures of product similarity based on text-based analysis of firm 10-K product descriptions. This year-by-year set of product similarity measures allows us to generate a new set of industries where firms can have their own...