Within an optimal contracting framework, we analyze the optimal number of creditors a company borrows from. We also analyze the optimal allocation of security interests among creditors and intercreditor voting rules that govern renegotiation of debt contracts. The key to our analysis is the idea...

It is well documented that the venture capital industry is highly volatile and that much of this volatility is associated with shifting valuations and activity in public equity markets. This paper examines how changes in public market signals affected venture capital investing between 1975 and...

As a result of deregulation, there was a dramatic shift during the 1980s in Japan away from bank debt financing towards public debt financing: in 1975, more than 90% of the corporate debt of public companies was bank debt; in 1992 it was less than 50%. This paper presents a theory of the choice...

This paper develops a general framework for analyzing corporate risk management policies. We begin by observing that if external sources of finance are more costly to corporations than internally generated funds, there will typically be a benefit to hedging: hedging adds value to the extent that...

This paper argues that a large component of success in entrepreneurship and venture capital can be attributed to skill. We show that entrepreneurs with a track record of success are more likely to succeed than first time entrepreneurs and those who have previously failed. Funding by more...

It is well documented that the venture capital industry is highly volatile and that much of this volatility is associated with shifting valuations and activity in public equity markets. This paper examines how changes in public market signals affected venture capital investing between 1975 and...

This paper documents that new loans to large borrowers fell by 47% during the peak period of the financial crisis (fourth quarter of 2008) relative to the prior quarter and by 79% relative to the peak of the credit boom (second quarter of 2007). New lending for real investment (such as working...

This paper examines the factors that lead to the creation of venture capital backed start-ups, a process we term quot;entrepreneurial spawning.quot; We contrast two alternative views of the spawning process. In one view, employees of established firms are trained and conditioned to be...

This paper compares the clinical trial strategies and performance of large, established (quot;maturequot;) biopharmaceutical firms to those of smaller (quot;early stagequot;) firms that have not yet successfully developed a drug. We study a sample of 235 cancer drug candidates that entered...