Much attention has been paid to the large decreases in value of non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) during the financial crisis. Many observers have argued that the fall in prices was partly driven by decreased liquidity and fire sales. We investigate whether capital...

This study examines the relation of independent directors and their gender diversity, busyness, and experience with risk taking for 112 listed US insurance companies over 2003- 2010. Using OLS, system GMM and 3SLS, we find that board independence, females amongst independent directors and busy...

This study examines the relation of independent directors and their gender diversity, busyness, and experience with risk taking for 112 listed US insurance companies over 2003-2010. Using OLS, system GMM and 3SLS, we find that board independence, females amongst independent directors and busy...

This study examines the relation of incentives and risk taking for 104 listed U.S. insurance companies over 2006-2010. Our results show that independent director compensation is positively related to risk taking as are CEO compensation and institutional ownership. Besides dollar value and...

We assess the capacity of the U.S. property-liability insurance industry and the efficiency of the state guaranty fund system in response to large scale loss events to assess the resilience of the current system to the growing challenges of climate change. We identify characteristics of the...

The financial crisis has generated a renewed interest in financial regulation as well as corporate governance more generally, among both academics and lawmakers. A large number of bills have been introduced in the Congress to address one or more aspects of corporate governance, including most...

This paper examines the potential for the U.S. insurance industry to cause systemic risk events that spill over to other segments of the economy. We examine primary indicators that determine whether institutions are systemically risky as well as contributing factors that exacerbate vulnerability...

This paper illustrates channels by which regulations that require banks to hold liquid assets can either increase or decrease a bank's incentive to take risk with its remaining ineligible assets. A greater capacity to respond to liquidity stress increases the potential profits a bank would put...

The U.S. mortgage finance system was one of the focal points of the 2007-08 financial crisis, yet legislative decisions about the appropriate role of the federal government in the system remain unsettled. Policy deliberations have focused on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—the two enormous...

This paper demonstrates that rating-based capital requirements, through their impact on insurers' investment demand, affect corporate bond prices. Consistent with insurers' low demand for investment-grade (IG) bonds with a rating close to non-investment-grade, these bonds are underpriced....