We estimate the value of equity analyst research motivated by regulatory changes such as MIFID II, which unbundles equity research and trading functions. We find that changes in target prices (CTPs) of equity analysts even as early as 120 days before a rating change can accurately predict actual...

We examine whether natural disaster experiences affect households' portfolio choice decisions. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we find that adversely affected households are less likely to participate in risky asset markets. After a disaster shock, households...

The U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy has traditionally been viewed as equity friendly, with frequent absolute priority deviations (APDs) in favor of equity. By contrast, based on a more recent sample we find that both APDs and time spent in bankruptcy have declined dramatically. We hypothesize and...

This paper examines how external governance pressure provided by both the product market and the market for corporate control affects the type of debt that firms issue. Consistent with a governance substitution effect, we find that (i) an exogenous increase in governance pressure from the...

Using a novel information asymmetry index based on measures of adverse selection developed by the market microstructure literature, we test if information asymmetry is an important determinant of capital structure decisions, as suggested by the pecking order theory. Our index relies exclusively...

Possibly. We empirically examine the plausibility of rational models designed to explain stock price bubbles associated with technological revolutions such as the internet. Our innovation is to examine the volatility patterns of old economy (brick and mortar) firms that adopted the internet as a...

This paper is among the first to use a unique controlled empirical setting - traditional firms' adoption of the Internet for commerce - to investigate the impact of changes in firms' technological environment on their stock return volatility. Using three distinct empirical methodologies we...

Declining worker power has been advanced as an explanation for dramatic generational changes in the U.S. macroeconomic environment such as the substantial decline in labor's share of the national income, the loss of consumer purchasing power, and growing income and wealth inequality. In this...

This paper proposes the yield spread between public bonds and bank loans of the same firm (the Bond-Bank spread) as a measure of compensation for agency costs that cannot be mitigated by bondholders but can be mitigated by banks due to their ability to monitor the firm and renegotiate the loan....