By modeling the market for IPOs as a repeated game with imperfect monitoring, we establish that collusion among underwriters explains the concentration of spreads at 7%, along with other characters of the data on spreads. Furthermore, the structure of optimal spreads in the model explains the...

We analyze the determinants of covenant structure in private debt contracts. While previous studies have demonstrated a relationship between firm characteristics and the overall strictness of loan contracts, few studies have examined why covenants are written on a range of accounting variables...

Private debt contracts tend to have covenants that restrict future investment, restrict capital structure decisions, or impose thresholds for cash flows or other performance measures. While previous studies have demonstrated a relationship between firm characteristics and the overall strictness...

This paper investigates the determinants of the amount of parental time a young child receives. Specifically we study primary childcare time, secondary childcare time and total childcare time using the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). The analysis takes into account the potential endogeneity...

We examine the effect of parental inputs on children's labor market outcome measured by the individual fixed effect in the wage equation and the education level obtained. We explicitly control for parental ability and child care time along with parental education, family disruption,...

This paper uses a text-based approach to analyze the level of detail and customization found in the defaults and covenants sections of a large sample of private loan contracts. While previous studies have examined a small number of well-defined accounting covenants, we characterize a significant...

We show that a platform-pays mechanism can address ratings inflation and ratings shopping with minimum regulatory oversight. While we focus on ratings industry, the mechanism also applies to a setting where firms seek unbiased reports from external auditors. The mechanism has two necessary and...