Using data on identical and fraternal twins' complete financial portfolios, we decompose the cross-sectional variation in investor behavior. We find that a genetic factor explains about one third of the variance in stock market participation and asset allocation. Family environment has an effect...

This paper investigates the role of director networks in firms' decision-making. Using data on 25,621 unique directors who served on the boards of Samp;P 1,500 firms between the years 1996-2004, we map the entire network of directors and generate measures that account for each director's...

In recent years firms have greatly increased the amount of resources allocated to activities classified as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). While an increase in CSR expenditure may be consistent with firm value maximization if it is a response to changes in stakeholders' preferences, we...

We model a capital market in which some proportion of investors get utility from owning firms that undertake spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR). We also assume different categories of firms: those with good CSR fundamentals and those with poor CSR fundamentals. We develop an...

Green or socially responsible investing (SRI) refers to making investment decisions according to both financial and ethical criteria. This paper explores the effects of ethical screening on the investment decisions of firms that fail the screen (‘polluting’ firms) and on their decisions to...