Lucas A. Mariani and Bernardo Ricca ♦ We examine how banks reallocate employees following mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and the resulting effects on productivity. Using matched employee–branch data combined with branch-level financial information, we show that M&As expand internal labor…
Brad Cannon and Hannes Mohrschladt ♦ Retail investor contrarian selling depends on whether a position is at a gain or loss. Selling propensity increases in daily returns for positions with unrealized gains (contrarian selling) and decreases in returns for loss…
Zhihui Gu, Hao Liang, and Hanyu Zhang ♦ We examine how Confucian culture operates as an informal institution by fostering relational contracts that substitute for formal legal frameworks in shaping corporate behavior. Using data on historical Confucian academies near firms’…
Claus Munk ♦ Applying a rich model of individuals’ life-cycle utility maximization, we comprehensively evaluate retirement saving plans. Across a range of individual characteristics, access to basic plans with constant expected payouts and no or full annuitization leads to individual utility…
Guanglian Hu and Kris Jacobs ♦ Expected returns on market volatility, which can be obtained from VIX futures prices in closed form using standard models, positively predict subsequent realized volatility returns. Volatility returns are negative on average. Following increases in…
Kevin Aretz, Shuwen Yang, and Yafei Zhang ♦ We argue that firms’ ability to disinvest real assets helps rationalize the negative distress premiums in stocks, bonds, and, as we show, loans and firm assets. Using a real-options model in which…
