We examine whether Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), an external governance mechanism, stimulate cross-border mergers by protecting the property rights of foreign acquirers. Exploiting the staggered adoption and bilateral nature of the treaties, we find that BITs have a large positive effect...

Using staggered changes in state corporate income tax rates, we document that firms are more likely to undertake an acquisition and pay cash for it when taxes increase. The likelihood is greater for financially constrained firms. We find no change in the CAR and takeover premia after tax...

We examine the impact framing of information has on the ability of market participants to process information in an earnings conference call. Following conference calls' use of greater linguistic framing, uncertainty is higher. We show that firms experience up to three months of higher total and...

We examine the effects of diversity in the board of directors on corporate policies and risk. Using a multi-dimensional measure, we find that greater board diversity leads to lower volatility and better performance. The lower risk levels are largely due to diverse boards adopting more persistent...

We provide novel evidence of an economically significant “seller's put” implied in M&A deals. Sellers maintain extensive legal rights to walk away from an initial deal – presumably when their value increases – while bidders are more constrained in their ability to withdraw. We model M&A...