Researchers in finance and accounting recently find that male CEOs’ high facial masculinity (fWHR: facial width-to-height ratio), which is known to be related to aggressiveness to achieve higher social status in the neuroendocrinology literature, shows dual impacts on corporate outcomes. For...

Using natural disasters as shocks to local economies, we document that a bank branch's ability to set deposit rates locally has real effects. Following disasters, branches that set rates locally increase deposit rates more and experience higher deposit volumes in affected counties. Consistent...

This paper investigates how banks utilize soft information to provide contractual flexibility in loan covenant enforcement. We find that relationship lenders are significantly less likely to enforce material covenant violations when borrowers breach financial covenants. In addition,...

We study the impact of succession tournaments on risk-taking in family firms. More sons (less daughters) in controlling families are associated with higher income volatility and lower performance – especially, in opaque private firms with pyramidal ownership structure. Contestants exhibit...

Governance improvement measures often demand more financial experts on corporate boards. Directors from the lending bank require particular attention because the conflicts of interest between shareholders and debtholders would be severe. Hence, we examine whether commercial banker directors work...

Commercial banker-directors (CBDs) bring both financial expertise in risk management and conflicts of interest between shareholders and debtholders. The burgeoning literature on stock price crash risk generates important questions of whether CBDs reduce crash risk. Using BoardEx data from 1999...

Did the masculinity-driven corporate culture of Wall Street change after the 2008 global financial crisis? According to the neuroendocrinology literature, the voice pitch of a male is an ‘honest signal' of his testosterone level that affects risk taking for social dominance. We use digitally...