Seth Armitage
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View article: Competition and Debt Conservatism
Competition and Debt Conservatism Open
Exploiting changes in countries’ competition laws, we find that competition increases firms’ propensity to use zero leverage (ZL). We test the financial-flexibility, financial-constraint, and quiet-life explanations for this result, conclu…
View article: Institutional ownership and investment by private companies
Institutional ownership and investment by private companies Open
We examine the impact of institutional shareholders on the investment activity and external financing of established private companies. Our sample includes both VC and non-VC institutions, and both controlling and minority ownership stakes…
View article: The Effects of Regulatory Office Closures on Bank Behavior
The Effects of Regulatory Office Closures on Bank Behavior Open
We investigate if the decentralized structure of regulatory office networks influences supervisory outcomes and bank behavior. Following the closure of an office, banks previously supervised by that office increase their lending and risk‐t…
View article: The elusive relation between pension discount rates and deficits
The elusive relation between pension discount rates and deficits Open
The relation between defined‐benefit (DB) pension discount rates and funding status is more complex than it might first appear. Existing evidence suffers from estimation biases that make precise inference unreliable. We document the biases…
View article: Do checks on bureaucrats improve firm value? Evidence from a natural experiment
Do checks on bureaucrats improve firm value? Evidence from a natural experiment Open
This paper studies the impact on firm value of tighter checks on bureaucrats’ behaviour. We use as a natural experiment the revision in 2015 by the Communist Party of China (CPC) of its regulations on disciplinary actions. We document a po…
View article: The evolving relation between dividends and flexible payouts: A different evolution
The evolving relation between dividends and flexible payouts: A different evolution Open
We study payout by UK listed companies during 1993–2018. Regular dividends remain the dominant channel, but flexible payouts (special dividends and repurchases) have grown, and they make total payout more responsive to earnings. Flexible p…
View article: Is the Fox Guarding the Henhouse? Bankers in the Federal Reserve, Bank Leverage and Risk-shifting
Is the Fox Guarding the Henhouse? Bankers in the Federal Reserve, Bank Leverage and Risk-shifting Open
Nearly 30% of US banks employ at least one board member who currently serves (or has previously served) the Federal Reserve in a public service role. Public service roles take the form of Federal Reserve directorships or memberships in Fed…
View article: Corporate Governance Challenges in Emerging Economies
Corporate Governance Challenges in Emerging Economies Open
Corporate governance research in the context of emerging economies has received increasing attention in recent years. Corporate scandals and executive failures continue despite the growing emphasis on governance reforms around the world an…
View article: Is an Investing Institution One Shareholder or a Collection of Separate Funds?
Is an Investing Institution One Shareholder or a Collection of Separate Funds? Open
Manuscript Type Empirical Research Question/Issue The paper examines whether the fund managers in a given investing institution behave in a coordinated manner, in terms of their trading around the announcement of a major takeover by a comp…
View article: The impact of foreign bank penetration on the domestic banking sector: new evidence from China
The impact of foreign bank penetration on the domestic banking sector: new evidence from China Open
This study proposes a foreign bank branch networks index (FBBNI) to capture bank-level exposure to competition from foreign banks in terms of geographical proximity. The index takes account of the rapidly expanding branch networks of both …