Research

Working Papers

Do Firms Voluntarily Respond to Local Social Issues? Evidence from Shocks to Female Labor Market (with Shawn Mobbs, Josh Pierce, and Tian Qiu)

Abstract: Do firms voluntarily respond to local social issues? We explore this question through state-level hospital policies that promote breastfeeding. While these policies have a positive intergenerational impact on infants, they also create challenges for the female workforce, particularly new mothers. Although firms are not required to respond, some proactively adapt by creating a more parenting-friendly work environment. These improvements are concentrated in firms with greater female and minority representation on their boards and those with a high female labor dependency. While these voluntary efforts enhance employee satisfaction, they do not significantly affect firms' operating performance.

• Presentations: Boca Finance and Real Estate Conference (2025, scheduled), AsianFA (2025), EasternFA (2025), SFA (2024), FMA (2024), Finance for the Common Good (2024), ASFAAG American Chapter Conference (2024)

Director Labor Market: A Conduit for Corporate Social Responsibility (with Daewoung Choi, Shawn Mobbs, and Josh Pierce)

Abstract: We examine the effect of CEOs' outside directorship experiences on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in their home firms. Using firm-level CSR ratings from MSCI KLD, we discover a positive association between the CSR scores of CEOs’ outside directorship firms and their own firms' CSR scores. Moreover, the greater the difference between the CSR scores of the directorship firms and the CEOs’ home firms, the greater the subsequent change in the CSR scores of the CEOs’ home firms, providing initial evidence of CSR propagation. Our findings remain robust when using ratings from Refinitiv. To alleviate endogeneity concerns, we employ staggered difference-in-differences estimations around large changes in directorship firms' CSR scores and a Heckman two-step sample selection analysis. The propagation is more evident in the social than the environmental dimension, which is less heterogeneous across industries. Our results underscore the director labor market's important role in propagating CSR ideas.

• Presentations: SFA (2024), FMA (2024), EasternFA (2024), NFA (2023, Ph.D. Poster)

Leave It to Innovate: Venture Capital’s Response to Paid Family Leave (with Amal Abeysekera and Hyeonjoon Park)

Abstract: This study examines how state-level Paid Family Leave Acts (PFLA) influence startup outcomes and venture capital (VC) investment. Following PFLA adoption, startups experience higher employment, inventor participation, and innovation. These positive effects are accompanied by greater VC investment, longer investment horizons, and stronger exit success. The effects are particularly pronounced among female-founded startups, which show stronger gains in female inventor participation and innovation, whereas family-owned startups exhibit weaker or negative responses. PFLA also imposes disproportionate compliance costs on early-stage startups. Overall, the findings highlight that employee-oriented labor policies, when effectively implemented, can enhance innovation and investment in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Monitoring Roles of CEO-Directors: Evidence from Corporate Misconduct

Abstract: Prior studies provide mixed evidence on whether independent directors who are chief executive officers of other firms (CEO-directors) are effective monitors. Using federal-level violations, a measure that goes beyond traditional monitoring proxies by capturing corporate activities outside of headquarters, we find that boards with more CEO-directors are associated with more corporate misconduct. This effect is driven by their committee service roles rather than by director busyness. Our findings suggest that CEO-directors are less likely to be effective monitors and that independent directors contribute to boards in heterogeneous ways.

Publications

Information Aggregation with Heterogeneous Traders (with Cary Deck, Laura Razzolini, and Tavoy Reid)

Abstract: The efficient market hypothesis predicts that asset prices reflect all available information. Recent experimental work found the rational expectation model to outperform the prior information model in contingent claim markets when traders hold homogeneous values, despite the no trade equilibrium. However, recent experiments have also demonstrated the inability of contingent claim markets to successfully aggregate information when traders hold highly differentiated asset values. These prior findings beg the question of whether homogeneous values are a necessary condition for efficient market outcomes in contingent claim markets. This paper shows that homogeneous values are not a necessary condition for information aggregation.

• Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance (2024) (ABDC: A)