We investigate the relationship between the presence of former member of the U.S. Congress on corporate boards and fraud enforcement. We find that corporate fraud in companies with such members on the board stays undetected longer. When caught, such companies pay lower penalties. The appointment...

Using Consumer Finance Monthly national survey, we demonstrate that credit unions in the US did little to help consumers obtain home equity lines of credit (HELOC) during the recent financial crisis. Our results hold after including a two-stage regression structure using the availability of...

We show that small firms using syndicated loans for their mid- and long-term financial needs have significantly higher leverage than firms that do not borrow in this market. This difference cannot be attributed to firm characteristics like the availability of growth opportunities, asset...

We show that small firms using syndicated loans for their mid- and long-term financial needs have significantly higher leverage than firms that do not borrow in this market. This difference cannot be attributed to firm characteristics like the availability of growth opportunities, asset...

We study bankruptcy outcomes of 275 firms and find that hiring CEOs with golden parachutes (GPs) during financial distress is associated with a lower probability of liquidation. In contrast, firms led by incumbent CEOs with GPs are more likely to be liquidated, as are firms led by new CEOs...

This paper presents a theory to explain the economic value in tranching of syndicated loans. Over 35% of syndicated loans originated in the nineties had multiple tranches. These tranches were either for different types of loans (example, revolving and term loans) or had different terms and...

This paper recognizes the importance of tranching and establishes tranching as an integral component of a syndicated loan structure. We present a theory to explain the economic value of tranching and show that riskier firms are more likely to take loans with multiple facilities and therefore,...

This study examines whether the coauthors of executive editors of the Review of Financial Studies published more papers during the editor’ tenure. The paper finds that not all executive editors are created equal concerning their impartiality toward their coauthors. The results show that George...

We analyze participation by investment banks and other nonbank lenders in syndicated loan financings. We find that investment banks are more likely than commercial banks to lead syndicates to riskier borrowers and they participate more often than commercial banks in the riskier tranches of...

We empirically test the hypothesis that trade flows and debt flows complement each other as argued by Rajan and Zingales (2003). Using a dataset of loans made to U.S. borrowers, we find that the probability of a foreign bank participation in a loan increases as the bilateral trade between the US...