During the recent financial crisis, there was a dramatic spike, across all industries, in the volatility of individual firm share prices after adjustment for movements in the market as a whole. In this Article, we demonstrate that a similar spike has occurred with each major downturn in the...

The Berle XIV: Developing a 21st Century Corporate Governance Model Conference asks whether there is a viable 21st Century Stakeholder Governance model. In our conference keynote article, [here], we argue that to answer that question yes requires restoring — to use Berle’s term — a...

A simple proxy for a bank’s credit risk – the average physical distance of small corporate borrowers from their bank’s branches – suggests risky lending before the global financial crisis was pro-cyclical and especially so in banks operating in counties where banking was competitive....

The UBS- Credit Suisse (CS) merger in March 2023, one of the biggest banking unions in history, was an emergency rescue deal engineered by Swiss authorities to avoid more market-shaking turmoil in global banking. The merger resulted in a significant increase in the combined stakeholder net...

This study investigates the relationships between bank activism and target firms’ debtholder value, shareholder value, and firm performance. We find that bank activists are more likely to target firms with heavier syndicated loan borrowing and lower credit quality than other shareholder...

Corporate spin-offs create new firms with characteristics markedly different from the original firm. Consequently, institutional investors pre-committed to certain investment styles and/or subject to fiduciary restrictions have incentives to rebalance their portfolios at the time of the...

This paper examines how the structural form of a bank's compensation payment function may impact on incentive-compatibility conditions between the centre of the bank (principal) and managers in the bank (agents). If this payment function is asymmetrical, with bonuses paid only upon the...

Hedge funds and other private equity funds are aggressive monitors of corporate America. Their investment strategies are designed to squeeze agency costs and other inefficiencies out of under performing companies. Mutual funds and public pension funds, by contrast, have remained relentlessly...

In recent years, the cost to merchants of accepting credit cards has risen without any corresponding new benefits. This trend has sparked a wide-ranging struggle between merchants and banks, as merchants have begun to seek greater control over payment systems. The conflict is playing itself out...

This paper examines the association between a mutual fund manager's personal fund investment and mutual fund performance. My database of newly-released managerial ownership disclosures reveals that fund ownership levels vary across mutual fund managers and, in many instances, are quite large. I...