Publications

We consider a problem where an uninformed principal makes a timing decision interacting with an informed but biased agent. Because time is irreversible, the direction of the bias crucially affects the agent’s ability to credibly communicate…

This paper explores the implications of asymmetric information and learning in banking. We hypothesize that banks acquire private information about borrower quality, not just when screening the initial loan, but while monitoring the loan’s…

U.S. government bonds are considered to be the world’s safe store of value, especially during periods of economic turmoil such as the events of 2008. But what makes U.S. government bonds “safe assets?” We highlight coordination among investors,…

Part of thesis that received the 2014 INFORMS George Dantzig Dissertation Award. Finalist paper 2014 INFORMS George Nicholson Student Paper Competition.

Ad exchanges are emerging Internet markets where advertisers may purchase…

In August, 2015, the New York Times published a much-discussed and somewhat controversial article documenting the harsh working conditions facing white-collar employees at Amazon.com (Kantor and Streitfeld, 2015), a description that…

We apply methods developed in the literature initiated by Hannan and Blackwell on robust optimization, approachability and calibration, to price financial securities. Rather than focus on asymptotic performance, we show how gradient strategies…

A theory of money needs a proper place for financial intermediaries. Intermediaries create inside money and their ability to take risks determines the money multiplier. In downturns, intermediaries shrink their lending activity and fire-sell…

We present an algorithm to estimate the two-way fixed effect linear model. The algorithm relies on the Frisch-Waugh-Lovell theorem and applies to ordinary least squares (OLS), two-stage least squares (TSLS) and generalized method of moments (GMM…

This paper conceptualizes HP’s history of becoming between 1939 and 2015 in terms of an integral process overview encompassing seven distinct epochs and associated corporate transformations, and discusses the differential contributions of…

This paper shows how the study of the integral process of HP’s becoming and the differential contributions of successive CEOs to that process can be combined to create an evolutionary framework of the role of strategic leadership in corporate…

Why did productivity rise during recent recessions? One possibility is that average worker quality increased. A second is that each incumbent worker produced more. The second effect is termed “making do with less.” Using data from 2006 to 2010 on…

A statistical theory of overconfidence is proposed and applied to the issue of occupational choice. Individuals who can choose whether to engage in an activity or not must estimate their performance. The estimates have error and that error has…

The chapter applies the incomplete contract paradigm to the design of political systems and shows that some of the lessons from this inquiry were overlooked by studies focusing on firms, e.g., the importance of the voting rule in solving the hold…

We study optimal disclosure via two competing communication channels; hard information whose value has been verified and soft disclosures such as forecasts, unaudited statements and press releases. We show that certain soft disclosures may…

We show that analyst coverage proxies contain information about expected returns.  We decompose analyst coverage into abnormal and expected components using a simple characteristic-based model and show that firms with abnormally high analyst…

A Nordstrom customer in the mid 70s walked into the Fairbanks, Alaska store and asked to “return” two worn snow tires. An awkward moment! Nordstrom, which evolved from a shoe store to a department store, never sold tires (although another company…

Leveraging the social hierarchy literature, the present research offers a role-based account of the antecedents of interpersonal conflict. Specifically, we suggest that the negative feelings and emotions resulting from the experience of occupying…

The authors consider the case for augmenting risk models to be used in portfolio construction to reflect information embedded in the portfolio manager’s alphas. They consider both smart beta models and cases in which alpha signals are partly…