We study the effect of loan portfolio focus versus diversification on return and risk 105 Italian banks over period 1993–99 using data bank‐by‐bank exposures to different industries sectors. find that is not guaranteed produce superior performance and/or greater safety for banks. For high‐risk banks, reduces bank while producing riskier loans. low‐risk produces either an inefficient risk‐return trade‐off or only a marginal improvement. Our results are consistent with deterioration in...

We find that firms headquartered in U.S. counties with higher levels of social capital incur lower bank loan spreads. This finding is robust to using organ donation as an alternative measure and incremental the effects religiosity, corporate responsibility, tax avoidance. identify causal relation companies a social-capital-changing headquarters relocation. also high-social-capital face loosened nonprice terms, at-issue bond spreads, prefer public bonds over loans. conclude debt holders...

Abstract This paper investigates the effect of CFO gender on corporate financial reporting decision making. Focusing firms that experience changes from male to female, compares firms' degree accounting conservatism between pre‐ and post‐transition periods. We find female s are more conservative in their reporting. In addition, we relation varies with level various firm risks, including litigation risk, default systematic ‐specific risk such as job security risk. further aversion is...

We investigate whether the levels of social capital in U.S. counties, as captured by strength civic norms and density networks are systematically related to tax avoidance activities corporations with headquarters located counties. find strong negative associations between corporate avoidance, effective rates book-tax differences. These results incremental effects local religiosity firm culture toward socially irresponsible activities. They robust using organ donation an alternative proxy...

We find that companies with directors from academia are associated higher performance. This relation is driven by professors without administrative positions. also academic play an important governance role through their advising and monitoring functions. Specifically, our results show the presence of greater acquisition performance, a number patents citations, stock price informativeness, lower discretionary accruals, chief executive officer (CEO) compensation, CEO forced...

We try to contribute both the finance-growth literature and community banking by testing effects of relative health banks on economic growth, investigating potential transmission mechanisms for these using data from 1993-2000 49 nations. Data developed developing nations suggest that greater market shares efficiency ranks small, private, domestically-owned are associated with better performance, marginal benefits higher when more efficient. Only mixed support is found hypothesized through...

Using data from 1996 to 2000, we investigate the effects of ownership, especially by a strategic foreign owner, on bank efficiency for eleven transition countries in an unbalanced panel consisting 225 banks and 856 observations. Applying stochastic frontier estimation procedures, compute profit cost scores taking account both time country directly. In second-stage regressions, take these measures along with return assets as dependent variables dummy ownership type, variable controlling size,...