We find that firms behave consistently with how their CEOs behave personally in the context of leverage choices. Analyzing data on CEOs' leverage in their most recent primary home purchases, we find a positive, economically relevant, robust relation between corporate and personal leverage in the...

Advances in Financial Economics, volume 18, will present research on corporate governance both in the US and globally. Papers will deal with the role played by boards of directors, internal organization design and governance mechanisms, franchise agreements, the effect of regulation and policy,...

Based on the psychological theory of place attachments, managers favor hometown workers over others. Consistent with this prediction, I find that following periods of industry distress, establishments located near CEOs’ childhood homes see fewer employment and pay reductions and are less...

We examine the effects of diversity in the board of directors on corporate policies and risk. Using a multi-dimensional measure, we find that greater board diversity leads to lower volatility and better performance. The lower risk levels are largely due to diverse boards adopting more persistent...

Using exogenous wealth shocks stemming from the collapse of the housing market, we show that managers who experience substantial losses in their home values subsequently reduce the risk in their delegated funds. The decline in fund risk comes through reductions in idiosyncratic risk and tracking...