We test the hypothesis that investment banking networks affect stock prices and trading behavior. Consistent with the notion that investment banks serve as information hubs for segmented groups of investors, the stock prices of firms that use the same lead underwriter during their equity...

Several recent studies have documented a significant decline in the propensity to pay dividends over the past 30 years. However, dividends are only one component of a firm's payout policy and it is unclear whether the proportion of firms making net positive payments to shareholders has also...

We use a regulatory experiment (Regulation SHO) that relaxes short-selling constraints on a random sample of US stocks to test whether capital market frictions have an effect on stock prices and corporate decisions. We find that an increase in short-selling activity causes prices to fall, and...

Investment spending by US public firms is highly concentrated. The 100 largest spenders account for 60% of total capital expenditures and drive most of the variation in aggregate US investment. This high concentration creates a disconnect between the average public firm and macroeconomic...

Previous studies have found that the share of equity in total new issues (S) is negatively correlated with future equity market returns (in-sample). Researchers have interpreted this finding as evidence that managers are able to predict the systematic component of their stock returns and to...

We present evidence that product market advertising has a direct effect on a firm's breadth of ownership and on the liquidity of its common stock. We find that firms that spend more on advertising, ceteris paribus, attract a significantly larger number of both individual and institutional...

Both market timing and investment-based theories of corporate financing predict underperformance after firms raise capital, but only market timing predicts that the composition of financing (equity compared to debt) should also forecast returns. In cross-sectional tests, we find that the amount...

We investigate the efficiency of open market repurchases across managerial confidence types. We find that moderately confident managers repurchase at relatively lower prices than overconfident managers and at prices that are closer to the quarterly low stock price. Additionally, we analyze...

We use direct flight introductions as an exogenous shock to the travel time between mutual funds and firms to estimate the causal effects of proximity on fund investment decisions and performance. We find that a fund invests significantly more in firms that become more proximate following the...

This study examines the role of geographic competition in the mutual fund industry. We begin with the premise that investors exhibit local preferences in their investment choices, creating geographic segmentation in the mutual fund market. We examine how local competition affects the level of...