Regulators are sometimes prevented from setting standards on a firm-by-firm basis. Such restrictions seem inefficient, and rationales for their prevalance have been in terms of politics or fairness. While the requirement that regulation be uniform does not allow the agency to commit to future standards, it does mean that what is required from one firm must be required from them all. Regulated f...

This paper investigates whether differences in international corporate governance systems affect firm performance. We construct a firm-level panel database from three countries and perform regression analyses that controls for country-specific effects. Our study includes governance characteristics that are present in all of the three countries, but also characteristics that are unique to one of...

While product innovation is a key contributor to long-term firm performance, newproduct failure rate remains high, especially in the face of intense competition. Therefore, marketers need a better understanding of how and why firms benefit from new product activity relative to industry competitors. Which types of innovations have the greatest impacts on relative firm value? In particular, which...

We analyze the effect of human capital on insurance within the firm. In our model human capital creates rents that are split between workers and firms. These rents are lost when employment at a particular firm is terminated, and thus create a (limited) commitment device over which a long-term contract can be agreed upon. We characterize the optimal long-term contract and study the impact that c...

How do the specific characteristics of a departing star influence the effects of the star’s turnover on a firm’s innovation processes? Proposing a contingency model of key employee turnover, we argue and demonstrate that the individual characteristics of a star scientist who exits a firm determine the effects of the star’s turnover for the organization. Based on a longitudinal study of star sci...

This paper evaluates the extent to which firm effects and location effects impact the adoption of organizational practice in pharmaceutical research laboratories. Examining simultaneously the relative salience of firm versus location effects enables the paper to assess quantitatively how multiple environments shape organizational characteristics. Using a novel dataset, the results suggest that ...

This study investigates the association between the ownership structure of a firm and the accuracy of individual one-year-ahead earnings forecasts made by UK analysts. The relationship is explored in the presence of individual analyst and firm-specific characteristics using a research-tailored dataset comprising 11,659 individual analysts’ forecasts made over the period, 1996 to 2001. To addres...

This paper utilizes unique survey data on labor union coverage at the firm level to examine union effects on the profitability of 705 U.S. companies during the 1970s. Market value and earnings are estimated to be about 10%-15% lower in an average unionized company than in a nonunion company, following extensive control for firm and industry characteristics. Deleterious union effects on firm pro...

This paper examines the determinants of intra-firm trade in U.S. imports using detailed countryproduct data. We create a new measure of product contractibility based on the degree of intermediation in international trade for the product. We find important roles for the interaction of country and product characteristics in determining intra-firm trade shares. Intra-firm trade is high for product...