Do CEOs really matter for firm performance? And if they do, how does CEO human capital translate into firm value? We investigate these questions using a sample of firms with CEO turnover. We find that when a CEO with more general managerial human capital is matched with a firm relying more on...

Our paper investigates a corporation's mergers and acquisitions (M&A) investment decisions across business cycles and their impact on the firm's involuntary exit hazard in a recession. We find that firms that concentrate most of their M&A activities in the good times (economic expansions) exit...

Why do some firms grow faster than others? Although various observed and unobserved aspects of firms have been suggested as potential drivers of firm heterogeneity, economists disagree sharply on the role of financial structure in influencing firm growth. In this paper, I use a sample of quoted...

How costly are systemic credit contractions? We examine this question using episodes of systemic banking crises across many countries and compare firm sales, profitability and investment during crisis, post-crisis, and pre-crisis periods. We find that credit contractions are costly for firms and...

Why do countries differ so much in terms of their financial systems? Are banks and equity competing or complementary sources of financing for firms? To address these questions, I study various determinants of capital market development and whether these determinants favor one form of capital...

This paper investigates the effect of organizational capital, typified by various management practices within a firm, on the cost of external debt financing. Using a sample of medium-sized manufacturing firms in the U.S., we find that better management practices enhance a firm's external...