Do stock markets act as a spare tire during banking crises, providing an alternative corporate financing channel and mitigating the economic severity of these crises? Using firm-level data in 36 countries from 1990 through 2011, we find that the adverse consequences of banking crises on equity...

We find that analysts are more likely to downgrade stocks when prices approach the 52-week high. The results are stronger for stocks with higher information asymmetry but moderated by analysts' reputation, work experience, and educational background. We also find a strategy that shorts stocks...

Using a unique dataset on gaming and credit cards, we discover that default rates are higher among individuals who spend more, more frequently, and more erratically on video games, and among those who have more and more diverse games on their mobile devices. These results are less pronounced...

We study the impact of the TseTse fly—which is unique to Africa and transmits an epidemic disease harmful to humans and lethal to livestock—on modern financial development in Africa. Exploiting newly georeferenced firm data across the world, we discover that firms in regions that met the...

We explore how institutional and individual investors respond to analyst recommendations. Using a unique account-level trading dataset from the China, we find that 1) institutions are significantly net buyers (net sellers) on “strong buy” and “buy” (“hold” and “sell”)...

We investigate the effect of information asymmetry on corporate tax avoidance. Using a difference-in-differences matching estimator to assess the effects of changes in analyst coverage caused by broker closures and mergers, we find that firms avoid tax more aggressively after a reduction in...

Regulators can utilize a number of alternative methodologies for comparing firm efficiency, but these approaches need to be robust to be accepted by stakeholders. This study evaluates the consistency of water utility performance rankings for Peruvian water utilities. The results indicate that...

Both ownership and regulation affect the behavior of utility managers. Private ownership rewards managerial decisions that enhance shareholder value. Regulatory incentives reward behavior that affects profits and costs. An empirical analysis of 24 Ukraine electricity distribution companies from...

Debt capacity creates financial flexibility and collateral-based debt capacity is the least sensitive to cash flow shocks. Using variation in real estate prices as exogenous shocks to corporate financing capacity, we investigate the causal effects of financial flexibility on firms' cash...

Using variations in local real estate prices as exogenous shocks to corporate financing capacity, we investigate the causal effects of financial flexibility on cash policies of US firms. Building on this natural experiment, we find strong evidence that increases in real estate values lead to...