We analyze new Swedish data on the portfolio holdings of large blockholders and find that firm value increases with the weight of a stock in a large blockholder's portfolio. In our sample, this weight may be greater than 50%. We are the first to show that this value premium is correlated with portfolio weights for any large blockholders, not just institutions. We find some evidence that indicates that “stock importance” (high portfolio weight) can mitigate the negative effects of a dual-class structure on firm value. Further, it does not seem that a large blockholder's tenure as a CEO or as a board chairman affects this value premium. We conduct a variety of tests to rule out endogeneity and reverse causality.

This paper investigates how firms’ bidding behavior in various auctions is affected by capital structure. A theoretical model is developed where the first price sealed bid and the English auction are examined. We find as debt levels increase, firms tend to decrease their bids. The lower bids give the competition incentives to decrease their bid as well. These results are then investigated empirically using the recent FCC spectrum auctions. Consistent with the theoretical model, larger debt levels of the bidding firm and the competition tend to lead to lower bids. Additional determinants of bidding behavior in these auctions are also analyzed.

This paper studies the impact of career concerns on technological change by analyzing the adoption of digital cinematography in the U.S. motion picture industry. This setting allows us to collect rich data on the adoption of this new technology at the project level (i.e., movie) and on the career of the main decision-maker (i.e., director). We find that early-career directors played a leading role in the adoption of digital technology, an effect that appears to be explained by career concerns, rather than alternative motives we consider and analyze. Technological savviness also plays a role.