Despite high levels of asymmetry of information, firms that issue SEOs within a year of their IPO (follow-on SEOs) are able to offer shares at a lower discount compared to more mature firms. We provide evidence that this seeming contradiction can be explained by a very high degree of demand for...

Although firm financial policies were affected by a credit contraction during the recent financial crisis, the impact of increased uncertainty and decreased growth opportunities was stronger than that of the credit contraction per se. From the start of the financial crisis (third quarter of...

Although firm financial policies were affected by a credit contraction during the recent financial crisis, the impact of increased uncertainty and decreased growth opportunities was stronger than that of the credit contraction per se. From the start of the financial crisis (third quarter of...

We analyze the empirical power and specification of test statistics designed to detect abnormal bond returns in corporate event studies, using monthly and daily data. We find that test statistics based on frequently used methods of calculating abnormal monthly bond returns are biased. Most...

We examine the depth of the labor market for female directors following an exogenous shock to demand caused by California Senate Bill 826. Despite a surge in female appointments, new female director qualifications remain stable when benchmarked to control groups, indicating a deep labor market....

Compared with regular employees, independent contractors (IC) offer labor flexibility and cost savings. Using a difference-in-differences (DID) design around the 2004 Massachusetts law that discourages IC usage, we find that this exogenous decrease in IC usage makes treated firms’ earnings...

As corporate payouts to shareholders reach record high levels and garner the attention of policymakers, understanding their causes and consequences is more important than ever. This chapter surveys the academic literature on repurchases, with a particular emphasis on research undertaken in the...

The average annual inflation-adjusted amount paid out through dividends and repurchases by public industrial firms is more than three times larger from 2000 to 2019 than from 1971 to 1999. We find that an increase in aggregate corporate income accounts for 37% of the increase in aggregate annual...