We study the role of peer effects in capital structure decisions by exploiting the heterogeneous and intransitive nature of product market networks combined with spatial econometric techniques that account for these features. In contrast to prior work, this approach allows us to provide...

We find that the rate of top management turnover and the sensitivity of turnover to stock returns for a sample of large industrial firms from 1933 to 1941 was significantly smaller than estimates reported for modern panels. We present evidence that management compensation has become more...

This paper documents a nonlinear relationship between insider shareholdings and the sensitivity of a firm's investment to its cash flow. As insider holdings increase from 0, investment-cash flow sensitivities rise sharply. This relationship weakens at higher levels of insider ownership, and I...

We provide evidence on earnings management by exploiting temporary exogenous shocks to utility firms' sales in the form of annual weather variation. We find that sample firms' sales are highly sensitive to annual changes in average temperatures in the region where the firm operates, but this...

We study the decision to choose bank debt rather than public securities in a firm's marginal financing choice. Using a sample of 500 firms over the 1980 to 1993 time period, we find that firms are relatively more likely to choose bank loans when variables that measure asymmetric information...

We study blockholder presence in a large panel and document substantial heterogeneity in holding periods, position sizes, and positions taken across blockholder types. Nonfinancial blocks are more likely to be observed in smaller, riskier, younger, and less liquid firms. These patterns are...

We study connections in academic hiring in a sample of finance doctoral graduates. Departments hire individuals with school connections to other recently hired faculty at a significantly greater rate than is expected. Similarly, schools exhibit an elevated propensity to hire individuals with...

We study connections in academic hiring in a sample of finance doctoral graduates. Departments hire individuals with school connections to other recently hired faculty at a significantly greater rate than is expected. Similarly, schools exhibit an elevated propensity to hire individuals with...