China may soon become the world’s largest economy, but most academic research in top journals is based on U.S. data.  The insights from papers on U.S. data may not automatically apply to China, since it has a unique set of institutional features, hence the need for research specific to China.  At the same time, many aspects of the Chinese economy are shared by other developing as well as developed countries, such as the potential conflicts of interest between majority and minority shareholders, the prevalence of state ownership, and the intricate interactions between market mechanisms and policy interventions.  Thus, the insights from papers on China may be applicable to countries far beyond China.… Read more...

The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious crisis.  To understand its effects, and to guide policy responses, we need evidence.  However, since the crisis is recent, we do not yet have enough data to understand its long-term effects; since some policy responses have not yet been tried, or have only recently been implemented, we are unable to assess their success. … Read more...

The pandemic of COVID-19 infections is causing substantial disruptions to daily life around the world. We are grateful to authors continuing to consider the RF as an outlet for their work during these disruptions. Our editors and referees reviewers are also affected by these disruptions.… Read more...

The lead article in Volume 23, Issue 6 of the Review of Finance is Governance Under the Gun: Spillover Effects of Hedge Fund Activism by Nickolay Gantchev, Oleg Gredil and Chotibhak Jotikasthira.  This paper finds that the threat of hedge fund activism spurs non-targeted companies to improve profitability and valuations, increase payout, and reduce capital expenditure and cash holdings. 

The Debate Around Hedge Fund Activism

Hedge fund activism is a controversial topic.  Prominent lawyer Marty Lipton argues that the long-term future of corporate America is being undermined “by a gaggle of activist hedge funds who troll through S.E.C.… Read more...

The Rewiew of Finance is delighted to announce the appointment of Marcin Kacperczyk as Editor for a three-year term starting in January 2023. He replaces Jules van Binsbergen whose term ends in December 2023. Jules has made superb contributions to the RF, not only in handling papers but also providing insights into broader journal strategy, and will continue in a new role of Advisory Editor after he steps down.… Read more...

The Managing Editor’s Report for 2018/9 is available here. Some highlights include:

• Our acceptance rate for regular submissions has fallen to 4.1% (from 5.3% in 2017-8 and 6.3% in 2018-9), consistent with our policy of applying top-three standards. Our fast-track acceptance rate is 2%
  • As a result, our backlog continues to fall substantially, reducing the time between acceptance and in-print publication.

The lead article in Volume 23, Issue 5 of the 推荐个能用的梯子 is Credit Market Competition and Liquidity Crises by Elena Carletti and Agnese Leonello.  This paper finds that – contrary to common concerns – greater competition in the banking industry can reduce the risk of financial crises. 

The Double-Edged Sword of Competition

In most industries, competition is believed to be socially beneficial – it benefits customers through greater product choice and lower prices, suppliers through higher input costs, and workers through enhanced wages.… Read more...

The 能用的梯子加速软件congratulates the following award winners:

Pagano/Zechner award for best non-investments paper

Winner: Gene Amromin, Jennifer Huang, Clemens Sialm, Edward Zhong for Complex Mortgages (summary)

Runner-up: Han Kim, Ernst Maug, Christoph Schneider for Labor Representation in Governance as an Insurance Mechanisms (求稳定的梯子)

推荐几个梯子

• Ryan Michaels, Beau Page, Toni Whited, Labor and Capital Dynamics under Financing Frictions (求大佬给个梯子
• Carl Hsin-han Shen, Hao Zhang Tournament Incentives and Firm Innovation
• Anthony M Kwasnica, Raisa Velthuis, Jared Williams: Did You See What I Saw?

The lead article in Volume 23, Issue 4 of the Review of Finance is Are US Industries Becoming More Concentrated? by Gustavo Grullon, Yelena Larkin, and Roni Michaely. This paper finds that industry concentration has increased substantially in the US over the last two decades.… Read more...

The lead article in Volume 23, Issue 3 of the Review of Finance is Do Credit Default Swaps Mitigate the Impact of Credit Downgrades? by Sudheer Chava, Rohan Ganduri, and Chayawat Ornthanalai.  When a firm’s debt is downgraded, its stock price falls, it subsequently raises less debt, and its cost of debt increases.  This paper finds that, when credit default swaps (CDS) trade on its debt, all three effects are reduced – suggesting that CDS alleviates the financial frictions arising from downgrades.… Read more...