This paper documents that momentum profits in corporate bonds prevail during weakening aggregate credit conditions, and are driven by losers. Consistent with this, we find that a conditional default factor explains the cross-section returns of corporate bond portfolios sorted by past...

In this paper, we explain momentum profits using innovations in aggregate economy-wide default risk. First, we show that momentum returns are positive only during high default shocks and nonexistent otherwise. Second, we present evidence suggesting that a conditional default shock factor is...

We examine if managerial ability affects the efficiency of the contracting environment with lenders. We find that higher ability alters the balance of information-sensitive covenants demanded by outside investors, increases the issuance of bonds with longer maturity, and decreases the issuance...

We examine the relation between institutions' investment horizons on firms' financing and investment decisions. Firms with larger short-term institutional ownership use less debt financing and invest more in corporate liquidity. In contrast, firms with larger long-term institutional ownership...

We examine how heterogeneity in institutional equity ownership affects bondholders. Firms with larger short-term (long-term) institutional ownership are associated with higher (lower) future bond yield spreads. The adverse effect of short-term ownership on bond pricing is driven by issuing firms...

This paper investigates the impact of political corruption on auditor behavior in the United States. We find that U.S. firms headquartered in more corrupt regions pay higher audit fees, have longer audit report lags, and are more likely to receive a going concern audit opinion. Political...