This paper examines the impact of investor heterogeneity on trading. Institutional investors play a crucial role in the information environment of firms. We argue that heterogeneity in the information ability of institutional investors has a significant impact on trading around information...

In this paper we present new evidence on the relation between geographic diversification and firm risk using granular data on corporate locations. After accounting for determinants of geographic diversification, we find that geographically complex firms exhibit significantly higher risk than...

Empirical evidence on the relations between board independence and board decisions and firm performance is generally confounded by serious endogeneity issues. We circumvent these endogeneity problems by demonstrating the strong impact of the local director labor market on board composition....

In spite of considerable research into firm dividend behavior, dividend smoothing has eluded a definitive explanation. This paper provides an agency interpretation of dividend smoothing and offers evidence that variation in corporate governance and managerial incentive conflicts explains...

We study the costs and benefits of dispersion in directors' incentives and ability within corporate boards. Director incentive is measured by their ownership in the firm and number of outside directorships help by each director. Director ability is measured based on the experience of directors...

This paper conducts a cross-country empirical study of institutions and agency conflicts around ownership reforms and their implications for changes in performance and efficiency. We examine two main questions. First, we examine the privatization sample and evaluate property rights and...

This paper examines access to external financing in the privatization context and provides new evidence on the effects of financing constraints on performance and investment. Ownership reforms increase firms' reliance on external financing. Empirically, performance and investment changes around...

This article reviews existing research on board diversity. What role does diversity of board members play in board governance, and how does it influence firm behavior and firm value? First, given the recent focus on board diversity among institutional investors and regulators, we present...

This paper conducts a cross-country empirical study of the impact of institutions and agency conflicts on ownership reforms and their implications for changes in performance and efficiency. We examine two main questions. First, we evaluate the effects of certain property rights and institutional...