Aggregate bank liquid asset holdings (reserves and liquid securities) increased from 13% to 33% of assets from before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to 2020. If banks allocate their balance sheet by equalizing the marginal risk-adjusted expected return across asset classes, they hold more...

We examine how boardroom gender diversity reforms impact the monitoring role of institutional investors. Using reforms from 25 countries that aim to improve gender diversity on boards, we find that the reforms increase the association between institutional ownership and subsequent female...

Bank liquid asset holdings vary significantly across banks and through time. The determinants of liquid asset holdings from the corporate finance literature are not useful to predict banks’ liquid asset holdings. Banks have an investment motive to hold liquid assets, so that when their lending...

We examine the joint effects of bank regulation and internal governance on bank stand-alone and systemic risk. Using a broad international sample, we find that banks with better governance in countries with better regulatory quality have lower risk. These results are stronger in more developed...

Our research examines the impact of dwindling community bank numbers on community investment and economic development. Initially, we confirm the vital role of community banks' small business lending in local development. Contrary to popular belief, we find that a decrease in community banks...

Using board reforms in 41 countries and staggered difference-in-differences (DiD) estimates, Fauver, Hung, Li, and Taboada (2017, FHLT) find that firm value increases following the reforms. In a study that reviews the recent econometric theory on staggered DiD estimations, Baker, Larcker, and...

We examine the spillover and direct effects of cross-border bank M&As on the systemic risk of banks in the target’s country. We document that higher cross-border bank M&A activity is associated with higher systemic risk for peer banks, while target banks exhibit a decrease in systemic risk...

We investigate whether the value of large banks, defined as banks with assets in excess of the Dodd-Frank threshold for enhanced supervision, increases with the size of their assets using Tobin’s q and market-to-book as our valuation measures. Many argue that large banks receive subsidies from...