This paper provides an empirical test of the demand side of Thakor's (1982) theory of bond insurance signaling, namely that the insurance premium charged by municipal bond insurers provides a signal to the market that reduces asymmetric information in the market. We test the theory for a sample...

This paper employs Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports of the 35 largest population American cities from 2005 to 2011 to examine how these cities managed the Great Recession, which was a global macroeconomic shock particularly damaging to the housing sector. While broader surveys of local...

This study examines the relationship between underwriter placement risk and market transaction prices using a sample of state general obligation bonds. We proxy underwriter placement risk using three variables: “when-issued” trades, underwriter syndicate size, and bond sale method....