Firms invest in Corporate venture capital (CVC) for strategic reasons. Consistent with maintaining financial flexibility to fund CVC driven innovation and acquisitions, CVC investing firms hold less debt and more cash. Our results are more pronounced among the highest CVC investors and strategically driven CVC investors as such firms maintain the most conservative financial policies. CVC firms are more likely to acquire using cash and this relationship is more pronounced among strategic CVC firms. Overall, our results are consistent with studies that advances that firms with growth or investment opportunities maintain financial flexibility.

This paper examines the benefits and costs associated with rookie independent directors (RIDs) in Chinese public companies from 2008 to 2014. We find that RIDs attend more board meetings. Boards with more RIDs tunnel less to controlling shareholders, suggesting that RIDs are efficient monitors. However, in state-owned firms, the presence of RIDs is negatively associated with investment efficiency, suggesting a potential cost of appointing RIDs. Overall, firms with more RIDs have higher operating performance, especially when tunneling is a more common issue, when board experience is less important and when monitoring costs are relatively low.

This paper examines the benefits and costs associated with rookie independent directors (RIDs) in Chinese public companies from 2008 to 2014. We find that RIDs attend more board meetings. Boards with more RIDs tunnel less to controlling shareholders, suggesting that RIDs are efficient monitors. However, in state-owned firms, the presence of RIDs is negatively associated with investment efficiency, suggesting a potential cost of appointing RIDs. Overall, firms with more RIDs have higher operating performance, especially when tunneling is a more common issue, when board experience is less important and when monitoring costs are relatively low.

The empirical literature on the relationship between capital structure and firm cash flow volatility is inconclusive. We explore this relationship using several measures of a firm's cash flow volatility and econometric methods that account for the non-linear relationship of proportional variables. Overall, our evidence indicates that ceteris paribus a one standard deviation increase from the mean of cash flow volatility implies an approximately 24% decrease in the long-term debt ratio, a 26% decrease in probability of holding debt with over 10years to maturity, and a 39% increase in the probability of holding neither short nor long term debt.

Using several different methodologies, we quantify the statistical robustness of variables used in prior research to explain initial IPO returns. We establish a parsimonious list of robust variables and evaluate their implications for different theories of IPO underpricing and clustering. Further, we illustrate how using such a set of robust explanatory variables leads to several different conclusions than prior research that failed to include these important control variables. Researchers who identify new potential predictors of IPO initial returns should control for the list of robust variables we identify.

Using state-level data from the United States covering the period 1980 to 2020, we explore the effect of right-to-work (RTW) laws on venture capital (VC) investment. Employing a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that the passage of right-to-work laws increases venture capital investment. The results are robust to omitted variable bias, reverse causality and unobservable local economic conditions. We find that the positive effect of RTW laws on VC investments remains significant in states that are highly unionized and technological. • Right to work laws encourage Venture Capital Investment. • Uses state-level data from the United States covering the period 1980 to 2020. • Employs a difference-in-differences strategy. • The passage of right-to-work law increases Venture Capital investment by 80%.