We examine firms' simultaneous choice of investment, debt financing and liquidity in a large sample of US corporates between 1980 and 2014. We partition the sample according to the firms' financial constraints and their needs to hedge against future shortfalls in operating income. In contrast to...

This study examines the role of actual and perceived financial sophistication (i.e., financial literacy and confidence) for individuals' wealth accumulation. Using survey data from the German SAVE initiative, we find strong gender- and education-related differences in the distribution of the two...

This paper examines the profitability of investing according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in the U.S. and Europe. Based on data from 2003 to 2017, we show that a portfolio long in stocks with the highest ESG scores and short in those with the lowest scores yields a...

This paper studies optimal risk-taking and information disclosure by firms that obtain financing from both a 'relationship' bank and 'arm's-length' banks. We find that firm decisions are asymmetrically influenced by the degree of heterogeneity among banks: lowly-collateralized firms vary optimal...

In this paper, we propose a model of credit rating agencies using the global games framework to incorporate information and coordination problems. We introduce a refined utility function of a credit rating agency that, additional to reputation maximization, also embeds aspects of competition and...

Open-end real estate funds are of particular importance in the German bankdominated financial system. However, recently the German open-end fund industry came under severe distress which triggered a broad discussion of required regulatory interventions. This paper gives a detailed description of...

Market participants often suspect that large traders have a disproportionate effect on financial markets, increasing the aggressiveness of market responses. Prior studies have shown that the impact of a large trader on a currency crisis depends positively on his size and informational position....

Generally, information provision and certification have been identified as the major economic functions of rating agencies. This paper analyzes whether the watchlist" (rating review) Instrument has extended the agencies' role towards a monitoring position, as proposed by Boot, Milbourn, and...

Stabilität versus Aktualität – Wann sind stabile Agency-Ratings marktbasierten Bewertungen vorzuziehen? Die Arbeit analysiert auf theoretischer Basis Vor- und Nachteile einer langfristig stabilen versus aktuellen, volatileren Informationsbasis anhand strategischer Portfolioentscheidungen....

Offene Immobilienfonds in Deutschland – Ursprung und Krise Offene Immobilienfonds sind für das deutsche, bank-dominierte Finanzsystem von besonderer Bedeutung. Die kürzlich beobachteten Schwierigkeiten einiger dieser Fonds lösten jedoch eine breite Debatte bezüglich der Notwendigkeit...