Working Papers

In a patent privateering strategy, firms sell patents to a non-practicing entity (NPE) with the expectation that the NPE sues the seller’s rivals for patent infringement. We examine whether firms under competitive pressure and facing barriers to…

We examine how patent disclosures influence technology classification decisions by patent examiners and how firms strategically tailor these disclosures to affect classification outcomes. Using a novel machine learning approach, we construct a…

This paper develops and estimates a structural model of the labor market for accountants that integrates forward-looking lifetime occupational choices with oligopsonistic employer demand. Using longitudinal resume data covering career transitions…

We study how Russian oligarch-affiliated companies operate globally and respond to sanctions. We construct a dataset tracking 70 companies, 1,800 international subsidiaries, and their institutional investors between 2009 and 2023. These companies…

Firms’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies have received significant scrutiny in recent years, including their efficacy and role in long-term value creation. We provide new evidence on these issues by studying what is arguably the…

Responding to economic and environmental pressures, a growing number of companies seek to repurpose products (assets) that retain functional capacity beyond their initial first life. This paper examines a generic valuation model for used capacity…

It remains a continuing challenge for companies worldwide to reliably assess the greenhouse gas emissions incurred in connection with their operations. Here we argue that financial accounting offers an architectural template for corporate carbon…

Governments worldwide have recently launched policy support programs for hydrogen, where the level of support is to be tied to the carbon intensity of the hydrogen produced. Here we analyze the impact of alternative accounting rules for assessing…

We show how to measure the welfare effects arising from increased data availability. When lenders have more data on prospective borrower costs, they can charge prices that are more aligned with these costs. This increases total social welfare and…

This paper provides early evidence on the integration and impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in accounting at the accountant and task levels. Using a multi-method approach, we first identify heterogeneous adoption patterns,…

We develop a rational, non-behavioral framework in which analysts use empirical Bayesian techniques to construct their forecasts. Our approach assumes that analysts construct a single empirical prior by aggregating information across all of the…

Companies across industries face increasing pressure to assess the costs of decarbonizing their operations. This paper develops a generic model for constructing abatement cost curves in connection with carbon dioxide emissions. The resulting…

Converting public information into stock picks is unlikely to be costless, yet the magnitude of public information processing costs is unknown. We quantify extra-marginal information costs for mutual fund managers by building an “AI analyst” that…

Allocating capital to investment projects is one of a manager’s most critical responsibilities. However, such decisions are shaped by managers’ own beliefs and risk preferences, which can differ from those of diversified shareholders. To study…

We develop a model of disclosure timing in which the firm can commit to disclose its revenues at a fixed date (a time-based disclosure policy) or after a certain number of transactions have occurred (a news arrival-based disclosure policy). We…

We examine whether access to specialized business courts that are more proficient in resolving contractual disputes influences the design of firms’ supply contracts. We use the staggered creation of these courts in different states at different…

Using data from TransUnion, a large U.S. credit bureau, we analyze whether and how cuts in bank income taxation are passed through to the interest rates and size of consumer loans. Exploiting the change in bank corporate income taxation from the…

We examine the spillover effects of public firm disclosures on patent licensing, a key mechanism for technology diffusion. An interquartile increase in public firm presence, our proxy for peer disclosures, is linked to a 20.7% higher likelihood…

Bankruptcy insures consumers against large and unexpected wealth shocks. However, debtors may abuse this insurance. Indeed, close to 20% of consumer bankruptcy filings contain at least one material misstatement. I exploit the conditionally random…

In recent years, U.S. public companies have increasingly begun to voluntarily disclose official workforce diversity data (i.e., EEO-1 reports), which they previously only confidentially filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…