From the introduction: Motor vehicle accidents are still a leading cause of death, even if the trend has somewhat declined over the past 20 years. Indeed, motor vehicle accidents are a significant cause of death in comparison with air and space transport accidents, homicides and even HIV...

This thesis encompasses three independent studies related to the subject of financial intermediation. In the first study, we explore the credit analyst coverage of corporate debt issuers at the three leading credit rating agencies. In particular, we empirically assess whether analyst changes...