We find a positive cross-sectional relationship between expected stock returns and default risk, contrary to the negative relationship estimated by prior studies. Whereas prior studies use noisy ex post realized returns to estimate expected returns, we use ex ante estimates based on the implied...

Despite plenty of anecdotal evidence of hidden losses in banks, there is no systematic study analyzing the economic drivers of this behavior: we simply do not get to observe what banks are hiding unless they are caught. Using a regulatory change in India that forced all commercial banks to...