Empirical and experimental papers nd that high-powered incentives may re-duce performance rather than improve it; a phenomenon referred to as "chokingunder pressure". We show that competition for high ability workers neverthelessleads rms to oer high bonus payments, thereby deliberately...

Based on German data between 1999 and 2007, we analyze the growth factors of SMEs andcontrast them with those of large firms. Differences show up both in balance sheet and employmentgrowth. While we conrm earlier results on inherent growth structures and the inuence of firm age,we derive several...

This paper examines why unsolicited ratings tend to be lower than solicited ratings. Bothself-selection among issuers and strategic conservatism of rating agencies may be reasonableexplanations. Analyses of default incidences of non-U.S. borrowers between January 1996and December 2006 show that...

This paper examines the financing structure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) inGermany and questions whether an equity gap – or, more generally, a financing gap - exists.Reviewing the literature and available data sources, we find that financing constraints seem toaffect, if at...

Since summer 2007 the Subprime credit crisis has been affecting the international financialmarkets. One of the consequences of the crisis was the collapse of the market for large-sizedleveraged buyout transactions in late 2007 and early 2008.The goal of this Working Paper is to examine to what...

Generally, information provision and certi¯cation have been identi¯ed as the majoreconomic functions of rating agencies. This paper analyzes whether the \watchlist"(rating review) instrument has extended the agencies' role towards a monitoringposition, as proposed by Boot, Milbourn, and...

Im Mittelpunkt dieser Arbeit steht die Analyse der Vor- und Nachteile einer geglätte-ten versus aktuellen Informationsbasis in einem theoretischen Modell. Am Beispielstabiler Agency-Ratings und volatiler marktbasierter Ratings zeigt sich, dass die Ef-fekte der Berichtsmethode von den...