Using a unique micro-loan application data set in China, we study the effect of intra-household monitoring in credit access on borrower welfare. In particular, we show that men are more likely than women to evade intra-household monitoring when accessing credit. Using the Chinese government's...

Using a comprehensive dataset of housing transactions in Beijing, China, we find that government officials are more likely than non-officials to buy housing units before government-imposed housing purchase restriction policy. We find that officials use their power to speed up the loan...

We exploit how local officials respond to environmental regulation as economic growth remains the top priority in China. Chinese central government implemented a strict environmental regulation on both air and water pollution since 2006. However, water pollution control is only valid for some...

Our paper examined the pollution leakage by the environmental regulation applied in 2+26 cities which are Beijing and surrounding Beijing area. Based on daily emission data, we empirically find that leakage is possibly happened among the firms in the same industry. We also use the example of...

Abstract We examine Chinese cities' COVID-19 reopening plans as a window into governments' economic and social priorities. Early reopenings are predicted by citizen discontent, as captured by Baidu searches for terms such as “unemployment” and “protest” in the prior week. Taking a longer...

This paper measures the impact of three types of defaulter-friendly foreclosure laws on the behaviors of mortgage lenders in loan origination, and borrowers in default decision. To disentangle the "pure" influence of foreclosure laws from that of unobserved regional factors, we use the border...

We examine how option compensation affects banks' risky mortgage origination and sale decisions before the financial crisis in 2008. We find that, in the period immediately before the financial crisis, option compensation has little impact on the riskiness of mortgages originated and is...

We examine the environmental impact of hedge fund activism. We find that firms targeted by hedge fund activism reduce toxic chemical emissions. In particular, target firms close heavy polluting plants and investing in green pollution-reduction technologies to reduce toxic emissions. We also find...

This paper empirically tests the relationship between corporate real estate (CRE) holdings and productivity risks of firms. Using a large sample of public listed US firms for the period from 1984 to 2011, we show that CRE ownership is significantly and negatively correlated with productivity...