The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the choice of cut-off points, sampling procedures, and the business cycle on the accuracy of bankruptcy prediction models. Misclassification can result in erroneous predictions leading to prohibitive costs to firms, investors and the economy....

LaFond and Watts (2008) provide evidence that information asymmetry might be a determinant of accounting conservatism. One implication of their paper is that regulators trying to reduce information asymmetry by lowering the level of accounting conservatism might be wrong. However, there is a...

This study analyzes the effect of the investment opportunity set (IOS) on management's use of discretionary accruals to increase or decrease income. We argue that the relation between the IOS and the managerial decision to select accounting methods to maximize or minimize reported results is...

This paper examines the impact of the New Economy on the relationship between corporate debt policy and firm investment opportunities. One distinctive feature of new economy firms is their high level of investment opportunities. We study whether the impact of investment opportunities on...

How costly are systemic credit contractions? We examine this question using episodes of systemic banking crises across many countries and compare firm sales, profitability and investment during crisis, post-crisis, and pre-crisis periods. We find that credit contractions are costly for firms and...

Why do countries differ so much in terms of their financial systems? Are banks and equity competing or complementary sources of financing for firms? To address these questions, I study various determinants of capital market development and whether these determinants favor one form of capital...

This paper investigates the effect of a firm's organizational structure on its debt financing activities. Using corporate diversification strategy as an identification tool for organizational structure, we find that diversified firms have significantly lower loan rates than comparable focused...

We examine the effects of demand-side (product market) and supply-side (supply chain) market power on firm profitability and the ease of access to bank financing. Using granular supply-chain and bank-loan information, we empirically demonstrate that both demand-side and supply-side power are...