We find that the average value of clean-technology (green) innovation is 37–52% higher due to the effects of environmental regulations, a firm’s exposure to regulatory risk, its knowledge stock of clean technology, and product market competition. This value, however, has declined due to the...

We document that acquirer announcement returns and post-M&A performance rise with a target's proportion of intangible assets. This shareholder wealth creation is associated with profitable acquirers purchasing complementary intangible assets and promising growth options from less profitable...

We find that acquisitions exhibit less evidence of agency problems when the target possesses more intangible assets. Acquisitions of intangibles are associated with higher announcement returns, superior post-acquisition performance, and less free cash flow, mitigating empire-building concerns....

We find that corporate giving represents a private benefit of control that distorts corporate investment and financing activity, consistent with free cash flow agency theory. Corporate giving discourages managers from pursuing external financing, especially debt issuance, to minimize outside...

We evaluate Schumpeter's (1942) hypothesis that firms with disruptive technological innovations in concentrated industries challenge and ultimately displace established market leaders. We find that disruptive innovations significantly reduce firm size, but only in concentrated industries....

We hypothesize that political activism is valuable because it helps reduce political uncertainty, which, in turn, fosters firm innovation. We find that firms that support more politicians, winning politicians, politicians on Congressional committees with jurisdictional authority over the firms'...

Using a Delaware case law that recognized officers' distinct fiduciary duties (OFDs) for the first time in 2009, I examine the effect of OFDs on corporate acquisitions. I find that firms with entrenched officers prior to 2009 experienced increased announcement-period abnormal stock returns,...

Evaluating agency theory and optimal contracting theory of corporate philanthropy, we find that as giving increases, shareholders reduce their valuation of cash holdings. Dividend increases following the 2003 Tax Reform Act are also associated with reduced corporate giving. Using a natural...