Using a sample of 3004 US firm-years with foreign sales, we provide the first evidence that a firm's employee treatment score is an important determinant of its fraction of foreign sales hedged with currency-based derivatives. The positive relation between employee treatment rating and currency hedging activity is driven by firms operating in competitive industries, businesses with relatively unique products or assets, and companies adopting aggressive business strategies. These results suggest that firms with foreign sales tend to factor employee benefits in their currency hedging policies when their acquisition, development, and retention of human capital are especially costly or highly valued.

When borrowers are delinquent, senior debtholders prefer liquidation, whereas junior debtholders prefer to maintain their option value by delaying resolution or modifying the loan. In the mortgage market, a conflict of interest (“holdup”) arises when servicers of securitized senior liens are also the owners of the junior liens on the same property. We show that holdup servicers are able to delay action on the first-lien mortgage. When they do act, servicers are more likely to choose resolutions that maintain their option value, favoring modification and soft foreclosures over outright foreclosures. Holdup behavior is more likely to result in borrower self-curing.