We examine the impact of two defining social characteristics (individualism and risk aversion) and their interaction with governance and firm agency problems on capital structure in the G20 countries. With a sample of roughly 13,000 firms from 1995 to 2009, we show that higher levels of...

We examine the impact of social norms (individualism, risk aversion, and authoritarian control index) on firm capital structure in the G20 countries from 1995 through 2009. Our results show that increases in individualism increase firm willingness to use debt and decrease the average cost of...

This paper examines the impact of social norms on firm value and the capital structure of firms engaged in the production of tobacco, alcohol, and gambling services ('sin stocks') in the G20 nations. We first demonstrate that sin stocks are undervalued in countries where social norms are...