This paper proposes a new governance structure for publicly registered corporate bonds that combines the benefits of those bonds -- including liquidity and ease of diversification -- with the benefits of private debt contracts, e.g., tight covenants and ease of recontracting. We propose that a...

This paper proposes that the issuer of a security should have the exclusive right to determine in which markets its securities will be traded. This is in contrast to the current regime, where markets can decide to trade securities unilaterally, without the issuer's consent. The trading regime of...

This paper presents a liquidity factor IML, the return on illiquid-minus-liquid stock portfolios. The IML, adjusted for the common risk factors, measures the illiquidity premium whose annual alpha is about 4% over the period 1950-2012. I then test whether the systematic risk (β) of IML is...

This paper explains and extends my 2002 paper. It presents a return factor of illiquid-minus-liquid stocks, called IML, which provides a time series of the illiquidity premium. The risk-adjusted predicted return on IML is lower in the period that follows my 2002 paper but it is still...

We propose and model that firms face two potential defaults: Financial default on their debt obligations and operational default such as a failure to deliver on obligations to customers. Hence, firms with limitations on outside financing substitute between saving cash for financial hedging to...

How does an idiosyncratic shock to the liquidity of a stock affect the liquidity and prices of related stocks? Utilizing the feature that the second stage of a two-step spinoff increases the float of an already-public firm, we document strong evidence that the enhanced liquidity of spun-off...

We analyze the link between creditor rights and firms' investment policies, proposing that stronger creditor rights in bankruptcy reduce corporate risk-taking. In cross-country analysis, we find that stronger creditor rights induce greater propensity of firms to engage in diversifying...