We study the economic consequences of a recent SEC securities regulation change that grants foreign firms trading on the U.S. OTC market an automatic exemption from the reporting requirements of the 1934 Securities Act. We document that the number of voluntary (sponsored) OTC cross-listings did...

Using a sample of non-U.S. firms from 43 countries, we investigate whether laws and regulations as well as votes cast by U.S. institutional investors are consistent with an effective shareholder voting process. We find that laws and regulations allow for meaningful votes to be cast as...

Using a sample of non-U.S. firms from 43 countries, we investigate whether laws and regulations as well as votes cast by U.S. institutional investors are consistent with an effective shareholder voting process. We find that laws and regulations allow for meaningful votes to be cast as...

We study the transfer of governance across countries through overlapping boards. Companies converge to the governance characteristics and board practices of foreign firms through their directors' foreign board experiences. Learning from foreign firms' governance practices is as important as...

We study a regulatory change that permitted shareholder proposals to instate proxy access. It generated over 300 proposals and led more than 250 firms to adopt proxy access from 2012 to 2016. The firms expected to benefit most from proxy access have the most positive market reaction to receiving...

We study bank policies to limit lending to companies engaged in mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining, a form of coal extraction that has raised many environmental concerns. Using the staggered introduction of these policies, we document that these policies did not lead to meaningful changes in...

It has been shown, for non-Communist developed and developing countries, that earlier development of agriculture, a dense population, and a state-level polity is associated with a higher income and more rapid economic growth in the late 20th Century. We investigate whether this was also the case...

This paper documents that small-cap mutual funds allocate on average 27% of their portfolio to mid- and large-cap stocks. We find that larger and older small-cap funds are more likely to hold mid- and large-cap stocks, consistent with funds straying from their objective over time. Funds that...

Using unique data on investor views of EDGAR company filings, we document that many investors devote significant effort towards governance research. However, investors' monitoring is focused disproportionately on large firms and firms with meetings outside the busy spring proxy season. Using an...