A consequence attributed to economic crises is that firms could be forced to sell at deep discounts, or fire sale prices. In addition to the wealth transfer from the shareholders of the selling firms to that of the acquiring firms, the economy may also lose when bargain hunting acquirers may not...

U.S. common stocks are simultaneously traded on multiple trading centers. We study quotes and trades with millisecond timestamps during the flash crash of May 6, 2010 and document new findings about order dynamics when the fragmented market is under stress. First, relative to May 5, 2010, the...

We explore the effectiveness of the clawback provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act as a deterrent to earnings manipulations. Using a sample of firms that issued “high concern” earnings restatements, we estimate the career and monetary benefits the CEO...

Using the financial crisis as a natural experiment, we analyze the extent to which firms adjust financial policies on the margin in response to a credit supply shock. We document significant reductions in corporate payouts – both dividends and (to a larger extent) share repurchases - during...