We examine how mandatory disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) impacts firm performance and social externalities. Our analysis exploits China's 2008 mandate requiring firms to disclose CSR activities, using a difference-in-differences design. Although the mandate does not require...

We study favoritism via hometown ties, a common source of favor exchange in China, in fellow selection of the Chinese Academies of Sciences and Engineering. Hometown ties to fellow selection committee members increase candidates' election probability by 39 percent, coming entirely from the...

Economic transitions from state planning and redistribution to market exchange create many businesses opportunities. But such transitions also create great uncertainty because many interdependent factors – modes of exchange, types of products, and forms of organizations – are in flux....

Using novel transaction-level data on Chinese business groups, this study provides the first direct evidence of the coinsurance theory of business groups, by investigating when different types of internal resources are transferred within a business group. We find that in Chinese business groups,...

Real estate bubbles can increase collateral value, thus relaxing financial constraints, which might spur innovation. However, they might also crowd out R&D expenditures, thus stifling corporate innovation. This paper shows that real estate prices negatively affect both corporate R&D and patents...

Do investors with concentrated shareholding infringe on the value of more-fragmented shareholders ("parasites") or facilitate the growth of firm value for all shareholders ("paragons")? In a major ownership reform of Chinese listed firms, we obtain evidence which suggests that larger minority...

We study favoritism via hometown ties, a common source of favor exchange in China, in fellow selection of the Chinese Academies of Sciences and Engineering. Hometown ties to fellow selection committee members increase candidates' election probability by 39 percent, coming entirely from the...