This paper examines empirical evidence pertaining to the hedging and derivatives activities of U.S. commercial banks. Because banks use derivatives for hedging, dealing, or both, the framework for the analysis includes both contemporary theories of banking and of hedging behavior. Although the...

In this article, we examine the current state of the research on firm performance and the gender diversity of firms' boards of directors. First, we present and analyze descriptive statistics for 13,000 board seats of the Standard and Poor's (S&P) 1500 companies for the years 2003-2007. Next, we...

Consolidation in the banking industry has sparked concern about the survival of small banks, particularly as it relates to the availability of credit to small businesses. However, if small banks have an advantage in processing credit information, compared to large banks, they should continue to...

This study examines the relationship between board diversity and firm value for Fortune 1000 firms. Board diversity is defined as the percentage of women, African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics on the board of directors. This research is important because it presents the first empirical...

Taxes and microstructure constraints are often cited as possible explanations for why stock prices drop by less than the dividend on their ex-dates. Using a sample of REITs, which have no significant correlation between dividend size and yield, we find that close-to-open ex-dividend price drops...

We examine the relationship between the gender and ethnic minority diversity of the board of directors and the financial performance of the firm. The research is unique because we analyze the diversity of important board committees to gain greater insight into the way diversity affects board...

We examine the relationship between the gender and ethnic minority diversity of the board of directors and the financial performance of the firm, i.e. the economic case for a diverse board of directors. The research is unique because we analyze both the diversity of the board and the diversity...

In this paper, we document a strong comovement between a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) score and the CSR scores of their social network. This result is strongest for the CEO’s social network and when firms that have a high number of connections or more central positions within...