We show that run-ups in U.S. target firm stock returns preceding merger announcements have declined drastically over recent decades. The negative trend in target run-ups cannot be fully explained by changes in deal or target characteristics associated with merger anticipation. However, it...

This paper shows that exogenous director distraction affects board monitoring intensity and leads to a higher level of inactivity by management. We construct a firm-level director "distraction'' measure by exploiting shocks to unrelated industries in which directors have additional...

Over recent years, a substantial fraction of U.S. convertible bond issues have been combined with a stock repurchase. This paper explores the motivations for these combined transactions. We argue that convertible debt issuers buy back their stock in order to facilitate short selling by...

This paper studies convertible security design for a sample of 819 issuers over the years 2000 through 2007. We examine the determinants of the choice of fixed income claim and the method of payment using a nested logit regression model. We find that firms select security designs that reduce...

This paper studies convertible security design for a sample of 814 issuers over the years 2000 through 2007. We examine the determinants of the choice of fixed income claim and the method of payment using a nested logit regression model. We find that firms select security designs that reduce...

We provide evidence that culture is a source of pricing bias. In a sample of 1.9 million auction transactions in 49 countries, paintings by female artists sell at an unconditional discount of 42.1%. The gender discount increases with measures of country-level gender inequality — even in artist...

Mutual fund families increasingly hold bonds and stocks from the same firm. We study the implications of such dual holdings for corporate governance and firm decision-making by exploiting variations in dual ownership resulting from the rise in the popularity of bond mutual funds and from...

This study examines the role of differences in firms' propensity to meet earnings expectations in explaining why firms with high analyst forecast dispersion experience relatively low future stock returns. We first demonstrate that the negative relation between dispersion and returns is...

We propose that potential entrants learn about industry conditions from observing the investment behavior of established firms. Strong corporate governance at established firms facilitates learning spillovers. Empirically, we find that industries experience more entry if incumbent firms invest...