This paper employs a stochastic frontier approach to examine how climate change and extreme weather affect U.S. agricultural productivity using 1940-1970 historical weather data (mean and variation) as the norm. We have four major findings. First, using temperature humidity index (THI) load and...

We study the effects of technological change and adoption timing on firms' liquidity management practices and subsequent product market outcomes. We first posit that investment in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software improves trade credit and inventory efficiencies between supply chain...

The rational choice model presumes that individuals are rational and make optimizing decisions based on available information. Theory suggests that lack of information and risk (and risk perceptions) can alter decisions from the static perfect information case, but do not necessarily result in...

Using a sample of dividend cuts and omissions between 1994 and 2013, we explore the cycle of dividend reductions due to a financial shock and the subsequent increase in payouts during the recovery. We indeed find that firms are more likely to cut and/or omit dividends during the recent crisis....

We explore the sources of gains in horizontal mergers by exploiting heterogeneity between the merging firms' geographic footprints. We calculate the geographic overlap between the bidder, target, and their rivals and customers to identify variation in the competitive impact of horizontal...

We investigate whether incentives to join the Fortune 500 affect corporate decisions. Firms closer to the cutoff appear to take actions to join the list by engaging in more M&A activity, bidding for larger targets, and paying higher takeover premia. Further, the relation is stronger for firms...

A firm's customers and suppliers make relationship-specific investments (RSI) whose value reduces if the firm undertakes risky investments. We hypothesize that the risk-taking incentives in the firm CEO's compensation will lower the RSI by firms up and down in the vertical channel. We provide...

We examine how access to bank credit affects trade credit in the supplier-customer relationships of U.S. public firms. For identification, we use exogenous liquidity shocks to supplier firms in the form of staggered changes to interstate bank branching laws. Using a variety of tests, we show...

We hypothesize that corporate takeover markets create significant constraints for short sellers. Both short sellers and corporate bidders often target firms with declining economic prospects. Yet, a target firm's stock price generally increases upon a takeover announcement, resulting in losses...

Using hand-collected data on chief executive officer (CEO) non-compete agreements (NCAs), we find that NCAs are less likely when CEOs expect to incur greater personal costs from reduced job mobility and more likely when firms expect to suffer greater economic harm if departing CEOs work for...