We argue that the relationship between managerial pay-for-performance incentives and risk taking is procyclical. We study the relationship between incentives provided by stock-based compensation and firm risk for U.S. non-financial corporations over the two business cycles between 1992 and 2009....

This paper theoretically and empirically analyzes the interactions among corporate real estate investment, product market competition, and firm risk. In our model, firms own strategic real estate or lease generic real estate. Our model predicts that strategic real estate ownership is positively...

This paper sets out an analytical framework for optimal asset allocation of sovereign wealth, based on the theory of contingent claims analysis applied to the sovereigns economic balance sheet. A country solves an asset-liability management problem involving its sources of income and its...

This paper studies the dual role of risk managers and loan officers in a bank's organizational structure. Using 75,000 retail mortgage applications, I analyze the effect of risk management involvement on loan default rates. The bank requires risk management approval for loans that are considered...

The literature on managerial style posits a linear relation between a CEO's past experiences and firm risk. We show that there is a non-monotonic relation between the intensity of CEOs' early-life exposure to fatal disasters and corporate risk-taking. CEOs who experience fatal disasters without...

This paper reviews recent research at the intersection of industrial organization and corporate finance on credit default swap (CDS) markets. These markets have been at the center of the financial crisis of 2007-09 and many aspects of their operation are not well understood. The paper covers...

This paper presents a simple dynamic investment strategy that allows long-term passive investors to hedge climate risk without sacrificing financial returns. We illustrate how tracking error can be almost eliminated even for a low carbon index that has 50% less carbon footprint than its...

Within the finance literature there is an apparent gap between the inherent risk premium ignorance of a risk parity approach on the one hand and the assumed risk premium clairvoyance of a mean variance approach on the other. We propose a portfolio selection framework that allows an investor to...

Debt restructuring is one of the policy tools available for resolving sovereign debt crises and, while unorthodox, it is not uncommon. We propose a scenario analysis for debt sustainability and integrate it with scenario optimization for risk management in restructuring sovereign debt. The...

This paper analyzes the effects of output volatility shocks and of risk appetite shocks on the dynamics of consumption, trade flows and the real exchange rate, in a two-country world with recursive preferences and complete financial markets. When the risk aversion coefficient exceeds the inverse...