We examine whether exogenous and extremely negative events such as terrorist attacks and mass shootings influence the sentiment and forecasts of sell-side equity analysts. We find that analysts who are local to these attacks issue forecasts that are relatively more pessimistic than the consensus...

This paper examines whether the corporate decisions of S&P 500 CEOs are influenced by spousal risk preferences. We hand-collect data on the cultural origins of CEOs and their spouses to measure within-marriage transmission of cultural norms. We find that spousal risk preference influences a...

Extreme negative events adversely influence people's sentiment and induce pessimism in risk assessments in unrelated domains. Motivated by this finding, we examine whether managers of firms located in close proximity to terrorist attacks and mass shootings become more pessimistic and choose more...

We examine the impact of culture on portfolio decisions and asset returns, focusing on the large and growing Hispanic population in the United States. We find that both retail and institutional investors in high Hispanic neighborhoods overweight local, lottery-type, and high-momentum stocks and...

This study examines whether sell-side equity analysts help the market assimilate information contained in global climate change. Using a new measure of firm sensitivity to climate change, we show that analysts located in states where firms exhibit greater sensitivity to abnormal temperature...

We examine whether travelling to foreign countries affects international equity investment decisions. Our key conjecture is that travel to a foreign country will increase familiarity with that country, which in turn can stimulate equity investments. The results strongly confirm this hypothesis....

Despite evidence of the importance of sleep for cognitive performance, prior research finds limited effects of sleep disruptions in financial markets. This is puzzling because financial decisions rely on higher-order cognitive processes that are typically affected by sleep. We reconcile this...

Mindfulness, the meditative process of non-judgmentally focusing on the present, has gained popularity as an accessible and efficacious cognitive behavioral therapy. We experimentally examine whether state mindfulness affects individuals' preferences and financial choices. By shifting...

Using data on political speeches, I demonstrate that U.S. presidential candidates influence stock market outcomes. Political speeches that contain economic information increase aggregate market returns and trading volume but decrease market volatility. Speeches with a net negative linguistic...