This study examines contingencies written in firms’ material product market contracts, focusing on i) exogenous uncertainty as an ex-ante determinant, and ii) operating efficiency and market beta as ex-post consequences. We extract material contracts from firms’ public regulatory filings and...

We examine the effect of algorithmic trading (AT) on directors’ learning from stock prices. We find that the sensitivity of forced CEO turnover to stock returns decreases with AT. We mitigate correlated omitted variable bias by using the 2016 Tick Size Pilot Program as an exogenous shock to...

We examine the effect of news media consolidation on local business news dissemination and its consequences for local investors and capital markets. We use acquisitions of television stations by Sinclair Inc. as plausibly exogenous shocks to local news coverage since Sinclair is alleged to...

This study examines whether antitrust risk affects firms’ disclosure of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Due to regulatory exemptions, deals that fall below a size threshold escape formal antitrust scrutiny at the time of the merger. These “non-reported” deals can have important...

We study the effects of local religious beliefs on mutual fund risk-taking behaviors. Funds located in <i>low</i>-Protestant or <i>high</i>-Catholic areas exhibit significantly higher fund return volatilities. Similar differences persist when we use the religiosity ratios at fund managers' college locations....

<heading id="h1" level="1" implicit="yes" format="display">ABSTRACT</heading>This study examines firm performance surrounding insiders' prepaid variable forward (PVF) transactions to infer insiders' information when they enter these off-market contracts. PVFs allow insiders to hedge downside risk, share performance gains, and obtain immediate large-sum cash...

We argue that a firm's suppliers and customers prefer it to account more conservatively due to information asymmetry and these stakeholders' asymmetric payoffs with respect to the firm's performance. We predict that a firm meets this demand for accounting conservatism when suppliers or customers...