This paper presents a model of intellectual property contracts. We explain why many intellectual property contracts are contingent on eventual production or success, even without moral hazard on the part of risk-averse sellers. The explanation is based on differences of opinion between buyers...

This paper investigates the optimal sequencing of debt issues. Our theoretical model suggests that once firms issue debt with one level of seniority, they may have an incentive to alternate seniorities, because of priced absolute priority rule (APR) violations. When we introduce explicit costs...

We present a model that shows how interactions between creditor groups in bankruptcy can affect the debt issuance decisions of firms, and test the most important implications of the theory. In particular, we show that firms that issue debt with a specific seniority level may tend to keep issuing...

There is a growing literature on the differential impact of soft vs. hard information on organizational structure and behavior. Most empirical papers on soft information study the financial intermediation industry. This is one of the few papers that measure the impact of soft information in a...

We present a model that shows how interactions between creditor groups in bankruptcy can affect the debt issuance decisions of firms. In particular, we show that firms that issue debt with a specific seniority level may tend to keep issuing debt at the same level to avoid the costs of conflicts...

We present a model that shows how interactions between creditor groups in bankruptcy can affect the debt issuance decisions of firms. In particular, we show that firms that issue debt with a specific seniority level may tend to keep issuing debt at the same level to avoid the costs of conflicts...

We present a model that shows how interactions between creditor groups in bankruptcy can affect the debt issuance decisions of firms. In particular, we suggest that deviations from APR should be priced and can affect the issuing decisions of junior and senior debt. Our model suggests that once...

The large literature on the impact of advertising on consumers and firm behavior in marketing and economics has tried to distinguish between the informative and the persuasive roles of advertising. The extant literature typically uses advertising expenditure and implicitly assumes that...

We analyze project choice in the motion pictures industry and find evidence consistent with revenue maximization and excessive hedging. We focus on the production of violent films and films that feature sex and violence. We find that such movies do not provide excess returns, but they increase...

The U.S. housing finance market has not yet recovered from the housing price bubble that peaked in late 2006. Even though prices have fallen significantly, there are still problems in clearing the market. For the last few years, a group of financial economists and practitioners who are part of...