This article examines the relation between firm-level political risk (PRISK) and real earnings management (REM). Using a sample of U.S. firms from 2002 to 2019, we find that PRISK increases REM. This finding remains robust to using alternative measures of PRISK, alternative regression models,...

We investigate the determinants of firms' implicit insurance to employees, using a difference-indifference approach: we rely on differences between family and non-family firms to identify the supply of insurance, and exploit variation in unemployment insurance across and within countries to...

We investigate the extent to which banks' quarter-end borrowings in the repurchase market deviate from within-quarter levels, and associated factors. Quarter-end repo liabilities are materially lower than within-quarter averages for a large fraction of sample banks. These deviations are more...

This paper examines the impact of thin capitalization rules that limit the tax deductibility of interest on the capital structure of the foreign affiliates of US multinationals. We construct a new data set on thin capitalization rules in 54 countries for the period 1982-2004. Using confidential...

We study to what extent firms spread out their debt maturity dates across time, which we call "granularity of corporate debt." We consider the role of debt granularity using a simple model in which a firm's inability to roll over expiring debt causes inefficiencies, such as costly asset sales or...

This paper assesses the role of financial frictions and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on an economy´s growth rate, business cycle volatility, and firm´s capital structure. We gauge these effects within the Financial Accelerator framework, where entrepreneurs can establish affiliates of local...

We model a risk-averse firm owner who wants to maximize the intertemporal expected utility of firm’s dividends. The optimal dynamic control problem is characterized by two stochastic state variables: the equity value, and profitability (ROA) of the _rm. According to the empirical evidence, we...

We use new hand-collected data from corporate filings to study the drivers of corporate capital structure adjustment. Classifying firms by their adjustment frequencies, we reveal previously unknown patterns in their reasons for financing and financial instruments used. Some are consistent with...

The level of UK corporate debt directly affects financial stability in the United Kingdom because a significant amount of the exposure of the UK financial system is to UK corporates. Our paper provides a comparison of the determinants of corporate debt in the United States, the United Kingdom,...

In this article, we examine how startup firms finance their operations over time. We empirically test the financial growth cycle theory developed by Berger and Udell (1998) using the Kauffman Firm Survey data, the largest longitudinal data set comprised of all U.S. startups launched in 2004....