This paper examines why unsolicited ratings tend to be lower than solicited ratings. Bothself-selection among issuers and strategic conservatism of rating agencies may be reasonableexplanations. Analyses of default incidences of non-U.S. borrowers between January 1996and December 2006 show that...

This paper studies optimal risk-taking and information disclosure by firms that obtain financing from both a relationshipʺ bank and arm’s-lengthʺ banks. We find that firm decisions are asymmetrically influenced by the degree of heterogeneity among banks: lowly-collateralized firms vary...

Small and medium-sized firms typically obtain capital via bank financing. They often rely on a mixture of relationship and arm’s-length banking. This paper explores the reasons for the dominance of heterogeneous multiple banking systems. We show that the incidence of inefficient credit...

Financial markets are to a very large extent influenced by the advent of information. Such disclosures, however, do not only contain information about fundamentals underlying the markets, but they also serve as a focal point for the beliefs of market participants. This dual role of information...

Market participants often suspect that large traders have a disproportionate effect on financial markets, increasing the aggressiveness of market responses. Prior studies have shown that the impact of a large trader on a currency crisis depends positively on his "size" and informational...

We analyze collateralized loan obligation (CLO) transactions by European banks(1997 - 2004), trying to identify firm-specific and macroeconomic factors influencing aninstitution’s securitization decision. CLO issuance seems to be an appropriate fundingtool for large banks with high risk and...

We investigate the returns from investing according to corporate social responsibility (CSR) criteria using factor model estimations for a large sample of U.S. firms over the period 2003–2017. To identify the CSR intensity that allows investors to optimize their portfolio returns for a given...

The issuance of sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) has grown exponentially in recent years. Using a scoring methodology, we examine the underlying key performance indicators of a large sample of SLLs and analyze whether their design creates effective incentives for improving corporate...