This article describes the forces that drive financial innovation in the insurance industry, as it relates to the convergence between insurance and capital markets. The authors base their analysis on general principles of supply and demand underlying financial intermediation and innovation,...

Do professional forecasters provide their true unbiased estimates, or do they behave strategically? In our model, forecasters have common information, confer actively, and thus know the true pdf of future outcomes. Intensive users of economic forecasts monitor forecasters' performance closely;...

Summary This study compares interindustry wages differentials in the U.S. and Germany using large microdata samples from wage surveys in 1979, 1985, and 1987. In contrast to previous studies, which found correlations of wage differentials in Germany and the U.S. of .85 and .95, we find less...

type="main" <p>If liquidity shortages cause financial crises, a lender of last resort can provide funds to banks facing potential fire sales. However, if funding problems primarily occur at banks with existing solvency problems, then government liquidity programs may not spur bank lending. We find...</p>

We study the exchange rate exposures of a sample of firms that undertake large acquisitions of foreign companies. Using data from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings on their foreign operations and derivatives usage, we examine how the exposures change from before to after the...

We examine the relation between institutional investors and management discipline over the last several decades to better understand how CEO turnover has increased. Using a sample of forced and voluntary turnovers, we investigate the changing roles of activism and exit among institutional...