Using new quarterly U.S. data for the past 120 years, I show that sudden reversals in equity and credit market sentiment approximated by several measures of corporate securities issuance are highly predictive of banking crises and recessions. Deviations in equity issuance from historical...

In response to U.S. corporate failures involved in the current global financial crisis, traditional corporate finance vehicles and tools were widely used in new ways and for new purposes. Of course, one object of the U.S. government's investment and intervention in, and exercise of influence...

During 2008 and 2009 Australian listed entities raised large amounts of equity capital as the global financial crisis led to a significant tightening in credit markets. Over these two years listed entity after listed entity recapitalised, seeking additional equity to replace debt as lenders,...

Venture debt, or loans to rapid-growth start-ups, is a puzzle. How are start-ups with no track records, positive cash flows, tangible collateral, or personal guarantees from entrepreneurs able to attract billions of dollars in loans each year? And why do start-ups take on debt rather than rely...

Using Kickstarter, the largest global reward-based crowdfunding platform, we conduct an exhaustive search of all fraud cases from 2010 through 2015 for nine different countries. While fraud in this new market has been of concern to regulators, it is arguably of greater importance to the nascent...

Securities crowdfunding — the sale of unregistered securities to the public over the Internet — has come under attack before it has even begun. Legal scholars in particular have expressed concern that investors will lose any money they invest in crowdfunding companies. Even assuming that...

Using a comprehensive sample of securities litigation, we examine the effect of financial fraud on the subsequent use of external financing. We find that firms with a recent history of securities litigation, particularly more severe litigation, are less likely to seek external debt and equity...

This Article analyzes how the accumulation of liquidation rights over multiple rounds of investment in a start-up can result in an aggregate contractual arrangement among the company's investors and its management team that is suboptimal. Liquidation rights determine the allocation of the...

When contemplating Chapter 11, firms often need to seek financing for their continuing operations in bankruptcy. Because such financing would otherwise be hard to find, the Bankruptcy Code authorizes debtors to offer sweeteners to debtor-in-possession (DIP) lenders. These inducements can be...

What role does the selection of an investor and the timing of financing play in initial coin offerings (ICOs)? We investigate the operating and financial performance of ventures conducting ICOs with different types of investors at different points in the ventures' life cycle. We find that,...