We study how parent liability for subsidiaries' environmental cleanup costs affects industrial pollution and production. Our empirical setting exploits a Supreme Court decision that strengthened parent limited liability protection for some subsidiaries. Using a difference-in-differences...

This paper studies the long-term effects of redlining policies that restricted access to credit in urban communities. For empirical identification, we use a regression discontinuity design that exploits boundaries from maps created by the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) in 1940. We find that...

I examine the effect of shareholder litigation rights on the governance of firms. My empirical strategy exploits the staggered adoption of universal demand (UD) laws, which restrict lawsuits alleging a breach of fiduciary duty by directors or officers. UD is associated with an increase in the...

We find that the bans on covered short sales, implemented in several countries during the financial crisis of 2008-09 improved market liquidity or at least had a neutral impact; a result we argue could be expected in theory, given a simple variation on the Diamond-Verrechia (1987) model. The...

We examine the role of strategic communication in public short selling campaigns by hedge funds. Such campaigns are associated with abnormal returns for targets of approximately -7% as well as changes in the behavior of stakeholders (e.g., other short sellers). The effects are driven by...

This paper discusses empirical methods that rely on Russell 1000/2000 index assignments for identification. Using simulated data, the paper illustrates why the varying approaches reach conflicting conclusions about the effect of index assignment on a firm's ownership structure and corporate...

We analyze how frivolous patent-infringement claims made by non-practicing entities (NPEs, or "patent trolls") affect startups' ability to grow and create jobs, innovate, and raise capital. Our identification strategy exploits the staggered adoption of anti-troll laws in 32 U.S. states. The laws...