We empirically evaluate 20 prominent contributions to a broad range of areas in the empirical corporate finance literature. We assemble the necessary data and apply a single, simple econometric method, the connected-groups approach of Abowd, Karmarz, and Margolis (1999), to appraise the extent...

We model and empirically assess industry tournament incentives for CEOs. The measures we develop for the tournament prize derive from the compensation gap between the CEO at her firm and the highest-paid CEO among similar competing firms. The model predicts that firm performance and risk...

We provide in this appendix a relatively parsimonious description of the results for the fields incompletely treated or not addressed in the body of Coles and Li (2022, CL): Observed firm characteristics do best in explaining market leverage, cash holdings, CEO pay level, and accounting...