Papers & Opinions

Corporate finance | Empirics | Political institutions

Democracy as a Fundamental Determinant of Cross-Border Merger Activity

Paper

Posted on 5 September 2022

By Thomas Lambert

Does democracy shape international merger activity? If so, how? The short answer is yes because democratic institutions are conducive to higher-quality corporate governance. In a new paper, we examine 104,425...
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Corporate finance | Electoral politics | Empirics

Smokestacks and the Swamp

Paper

Posted on 25 August 2022

By Stefan Lewellen

We examine the causal effect of politicians' partisan ideologies on firms' industrial pollution decisions. Using a regression discontinuity design involving close U.S. congressional elections, we show that plants increase pollution...
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Banking | Electoral politics | Theory

Bailouts by Popular Demand

Paper

Posted on 4 August 2022

By Stylianos Papageorgiou

We characterize conditions under which the majority of voters supports a bailout despite incurring bailout expenditures. This yields inefficiently high investments when economic prospects are good. When economic prospects are...
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Empirics | Financial markets | Media

Corporate Response to the Black Lives Matter Movement

Paper

Posted on 30 June 2022

By AJ Chen

We investigate determinants that encourage companies to speak out via twitter or their websites in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM) after the death of George Floyd on May 25,...
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Financial markets | Regulation | Theory

Clinging Onto the Cliff: A Model of Financial Misconduct

Paper

Posted on 17 June 2022

By AJ Chen

We propose a novel pressure-based model of financial misconduct. We interpret the robust empirical findings of a high “success rate of crime” as evidence of skewness in the payoff of...
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Corporate finance | Theory

Group-Managed Real Options

Paper

Posted on 14 June 2022

By ALI LAZRAK

We study a standard real-option problem in which sequential decisions are made through voting by a group of members with heterogeneous beliefs. We show that, when facing both investment and...
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Electoral politics | Financial development | Theory

Collective and Individual Investments in Financial Literacy

Paper

Posted on 10 June 2022

By Stylianos Papageorgiou

A collective and an individual investment in financial literacy, plus intrinsic skills, contribute to each household's financial literacy. We show that low- and high-skilled households oppose the collective investment, contrary...
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Central banking | Electoral politics | Political institutions

Ideology and Monetary Policy

Paper

Posted on 25 May 2022

By Nicolo Fraccaroli

We investigate the link between ideology and the sentiments of parliamentarians when they speak to the central bank they hold accountable. To this end, we collect textual data on the...
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Central banking | Empirics | Political institutions

Central Banks and Civil War Termination

Paper

Posted on 30 April 2022

By Ana Carolina Garriga

The ability to finance conflict likely affects the odds of sustaining a war and succeeding in it. Recent literature explores rebel group funding, but far less is known about how...
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Corporate finance | Empirics | Regulation

Exposing the Revolving Door in Executive Branch Agencies

Paper

Posted on 6 April 2022

By Logan Emery

We develop the first comprehensive mapping of the revolving door phenomenon in the U.S. by examining the work experience in executive branch agencies of 1,910,150 individuals covering top corporate positions...
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Empirics | Political institutions | Special interest politics

Foreign Influence in US Politics

Paper

Posted on 4 April 2022

By Max Miller

We provide the first large-sample evidence of foreign influence in US politics, showing that meetings between foreign countries and legislators affect government resource allocation directly for countries and indirectly for...
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Banking | Empirics | Special interest politics

Winning Connections? Special Interests and the Sale of Failed Banks

Paper

Posted on 16 March 2022

By Deniz Igan

We study how banks’ special interests affect the resolution of failed banks. Using a sample of FDIC auctions between 2007 and 2016, we find that bidding banks that lobby regulators...
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Electoral politics | Empirics | Financial markets

Investor Rewards to Climate Responsibility: Stock-Price Responses to the Opposite Shocks of the 2016 and 2020 US Elections

Paper

Posted on 28 January 2022

By Stefano Ramelli

Donald Trump's 2016 election and his nomination of climate skeptic Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency drastically downshifted expectations about U.S. policy toward climate change. Joseph Biden's 2020...
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Banking | Empirics | Political institutions

Bailouts and Political Connections of Bank Boards

Paper

Posted on 17 January 2022

By Pia Huettl

This paper investigates the political ties of too-big-to-fail bank boards in crisis times. We argue that after a bailout, governments are likely to influence bank board compositions to secure control...
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Banking | Empirics | Special interest politics

The Politics of the Paycheck Protection Program

Paper

Posted on 8 December 2021

By Thomas Lambert

This paper examines the incidence of special interests in the allocation of loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). We find that lobbying at the firm and industry levels helps...
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