This research examines the relationship between policy uncertainty and mergers and acquisitions (M&As). We find that policy uncertainty is negatively related to firm acquisitiveness and positively related to the time it takes to complete M&A deals. In addition, policy uncertainty motivates acquirers to use stock for payment and to pay lower bid premiums. Acquirers, on average, create larger shareholder value from M&A deals undertaken during periods of high policy uncertainty, which is attributable to their prudence as well as the wealth transfer from the financially constrained targets to acquirers.

We investigate the relationship between brand capital and corporate environmental policies using toxic chemical release data. Using a sample of 4752 publicly listed U.S. firm-year observations from 1991 to 2020, we find that brand capital is significantly and negatively related to firm's toxic emissions, suggesting that firms with stronger brand capital tend to exhibit more environmentally responsible behavior. Further evidence reveals that the effect of brand capital on corporate environmental policies is more pronounced for firms in communities that prefer stringent environmental regulations. Additional analysis points to increased financial stability, environmental innovations, and environmental abatement investments as the mechanisms behind the documented effect of brand capital on firms' environmental policies. The results are robust to numerous robustness tests, including the use of alternative measures of brand capital, environmental policies, and several endogeneity tests. The results support the idea that strong brand capital can promote environmental responsibility in firms.

This research examines the relation between shareholder litigation and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Exploiting exogenous changes in shareholder litigation rights following the staggered adoption of universal demand laws by U.S. states and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling on securities class action lawsuits, we show that weaker shareholder litigation rights lead to lower CSR scores. Moreover, the relation is stronger for firms facing higher litigation risk, and a decreased CSR score enhances firm value. Our evidence suggests that firms engage in CSR activities partly to reduce shareholder litigation risk ex ante and mitigate its consequences ex post.