We examine the impact of corporate board reforms on firm value in 41 countries. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that board reforms increase firm value. Reforms involving board and audit committee independence, but not reforms involving separation of chairman and CEO positions,...

We show that state corruption and political connections have strong effects on municipal bond sales and underwriting. Higher state corruption is associated with greater credit risk and higher bond yields. Corrupt states can eliminate the corruption yield penalty by purchasing credit...

Using a sample of 86 counties, we examine the cross-sectional determinants of sovereign credit ratings around the world. We find that the quality of legal and political institutions of a country plays a vital role in determining sovereign credit ratings. A one standard deviation increase in our...

Within the German corporate governance system, labor representation on the supervisory board is common and typically legally mandated. Because labor has detailed knowledge of firm operations, we propose that labor representation on corporate boards brings valuable first-hand operational...

Using a database of more than 8,000 companies from 35 countries, we find that the value of corporate diversification is related to the level of capital market development, integration, and legal systems. Among high-income countries, where capital markets are well developed and integrated, we...

In this paper, we investigate how investment banks determine the gross spreads paid by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) during 1981 to 2004. We then compare the gross spreads of ADRs to those of matching U.S. IPO and SEO firms to see if there are differences in gross spreads across types of...

We examine firm governance choices and firm valuation in the presence of expropriation risk. We argue that firms have fewer incentives to practice good governance and disclose more information when the state is likely to expropriate firm profits. We empirically confirm our arguments using...