We examine the influence of proxy advisors on firms’ shareholder engagement behavior. Our analyses exploit a quasi-natural experiment using Say-On-Pay voting outcomes near a threshold that triggers a review of engagement activities by Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). Firms receiving...

How do firms protect their human capital? We test whether firms facing an increased threat of being acquired strengthen their antitakeover provisions (ATPs) in order to bond with their employees. We use the adoption of the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine (IDD) by US state courts, which...

Based on the observation that managers provide almost 30% more revenue than earnings forecasts in recent periods, we jointly explore the decision to provide or forego revenue and/or earnings guidance. Our modeling innovation combines a random effects multinomial logit model, instrumental...

We examine the effects of institutional ownership on firms' information and trading environments using the annual Russell 1000/2000 index reconstitution. Characteristics of firms near the index cutoffs are similar, except that firms in the top of the Russell 2000 have discontinuously higher...

We examine the effect of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act on biotech startups, who conduct almost 40% of IPOs since 2012. Reduced compliance costs encourage innovation capital formation as biotech IPO volume increases 200% and proceeds rise by 30%. After the JOBS Act, biotech...

We examine the real effects of disclosing information about the pay gap between the CEO and employees. Firms reporting higher pay ratios tend to include discretionary narrative portraying their employee relations or compensation practices in a positive light. Reporting higher ratios is...