We define creative companies by means of the Competing Value Framework, and we identify them by means of textual analysis. We show that a creative corporate culture is an important driver of innovation, as measured by the number of patents a firm files for as well as the patents' importance...

Cooperative banks are a driving force for socially committed business at a local level accounting for around one fifth of the European Union (EU) bank deposits and loans. Despite their importance, little is known about the relationship between bank stability and competition for these small...

We analyze whether relationship lending reduces borrowers' probability of default and, if so, whether this beneficial effect also applies to borrowers who are more exposed to the economic downturn. By using unique, matched data of 43,000 firms and their lending institutions between 2008 and...

This paper investigates the impact of banks’ environmental engagement on their future stock price crash risk. Given the strong commitment of European institutions towards a low carbon economy, we focus on European banks, who are expected to be crucial actors in driving this challenge. Using a...

Do investors like political connections? We answer this question by exploiting a unique political measure and analyzing the market reaction after the US Supreme Court decision in 2010, which allowed firms to establish a new form of political connection through the employment of independent...

Does a decline in shareholder litigation enhance managers’ monitoring efforts by ensuring adequate firm risk management? We explore how state Universal Demand laws (which limit shareholder litigation as a mechanism to discipline managers, UD law hereafter), affects bank holding companies’...

Measuring company culture in four types (collaborate, control, compete, and create) using 10-K text, we examine the role of culture in firm stability. We find that firms with higher controlling culture fared significantly better during the 2008-09 crisis. The results are robust to using...

What types of policy intervention had a greater impact during the financial crisis? By using a detailed dataset of worldwide policy, we answer this question focusing on Globally-Systemically Important banks (G-SIBs), looking both to stock returns and Credit Default Swap (CDS) spreads reactions....

In the last decade, most credit-industries registered a decline in lending volumes, with the exception of the factoring industries that instead registered a substantial increase. Surprisingly, only a handful of papers so far investigate factoring companies. Do factoring firms display the same...

Investment banks' core functions expose them to a wide array of risks. This paper analyses cost and profit efficiency for a sample of investment banks for the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US) and Switzerland prior to the recent financial crisis. We follow Coelli et...