We investigate external and internal corporate governance activity observed at Japanese banks over 1985–1996. External governance appears to be inactive, and even after the onset of the banking crisis of the 1990s there are few mergers, failures, and other changes in ownership and control. Prior to the banking crisis we do not find a relation between bank performance and executive turnover. In contrast, non-routine turnover of bank presidents is inversely related to both stock returns and profitability in the 1990s. Consequently, internal governance activity is observable following the onset of the Japanese banking crisis, a period otherwise characterized by inactive external governance and regulatory forbearance.

Many Japanese firms reduced dependence on banks following financial deregulation in the 1980s. The financial architecture of Japanese firms after liberalization provides an opportunity to investigate the choice of financing with public bonds versus monitored bank loans. Examination of accounting and stock price data for a sample of Japanese firms in the late 1980s suggests that debt structure is related to variables that serve as proxies for agency costs of debt. In particular, we find that the proportion of bond debt is inversely related to growth opportunities, while the proportion of bank debt is positively related to growth opportunities.

After a large bank merger, the compensation of the surviving bank's CEO often increases materially. Theories of executive compensation based on managerial productivity and optimal incentives suggest that changes in CEO compensation are related to the potential gains from merger. Alternatively, compensation gains might result from an increase in bank size regardless of whether the merger creates value. We examine mergers among billion-dollar banks in the 1990s and find results consistent with managerial productivity. Specifically, we show empirically that changes in CEO compensation after mergers are positively related to anticipated gains from merger measured at the announcement date. Other changes in the structure of compensation are also consistent with hypotheses based on managerial productivity and incentive restructuring.

Growth in capital expenditures conditions subsequent classification of firms to portfolios based on size and book-to-market ratios, as in the widely used Fama and French (1992, 1993) methods. Growth in capital expenditures also explains returns to portfolios and the cross section of future stock returns. These findings are consistent with recent theoretical models (e.g., Berk, Green, and Naik (1999)) in which the exercise of investment-growth options results in changes in both valuation and expected stock returns.

We find that firms with CFOs who have extensive social connections within the finance industry hold less precautionary cash. CFO connections matter more than CEO connections, reflecting the preeminence of CFOs among C-level executives in cash management and negotiating access to corporate finance. Firms reduce the proportion of assets held in cash by seven percentage points in the two years following CFO turnover and the appointment of a CFO with finance industry connections. The stock market valuation of incremental cash holdings of firms with well-connected CFOs is lower than for other firms, consistent with investor recognition of CFO social capital as an alternative means to address constraints on external capital.

Given the frequency and value implications of post-IPO merger and acquisition activity, we investigate empirically whether investors can utilize information based on IPO deal structure to predict merger and acquisition activity among newly public firms. Consistent with the hypothesis that some firms conduct IPOs to facilitate future M&A activity, we find that aspects of IPO deal structure predict whether a newly public firm subsequently becomes a bidder or target. These characteristics include underwriter quality, promotional activity, pricing, proceeds, ownership structure, and issuance activity suggestive of market timing. Investors appear to rely on these observable aspects of a firm's going public process to anticipate the implications of M&A activity for security valuation. Specifically, when newly public firms with IPO deal structures predictive of acquisition activity announce an acquisition their stock returns are indistinguishable from zero. In contrast, abnormal returns to acquisition announcements by unlikely or surprise bidders are positive on average. These results suggest that the going public process has important implications for future M&A activity and valuation.

We investigate determinants of international diversification in institutionally managed portfolios from more than 60 countries. Survey-based country-specific variables on cross-cultural behaviors help to explain both home bias and diversification among foreign equities. In particular, investment funds from countries characterized by higher uncertainty avoidance behavior display greater home bias and are less diversified in their foreign holdings. Portfolios from countries with higher levels of masculinity and long-term orientation display lower levels of home bias, and portfolios from countries with higher levels of masculinity are more diversified abroad. Portfolios from culturally distant countries invest less abroad and underweight culturally distant target markets. The economic significance of cultural variables is high and comparable in magnitude to geographical distance, a consistent influence on foreign diversification in prior studies. Culture impacts investor behavior directly and not merely though indirect channels such as legal and regulatory framework.