Within-Firm Pay Inequality

Financial regulators and investors have expressed concerns about high pay inequality within firms. Using a proprietary data set of public and private firms, this paper shows that firms with higher pay inequality—relative wage differentials between top- and bottom-level jobs—are larger and have higher valuations and stronger operating performance. Moreover, firms with higher pay inequality exhibit larger equity returns and greater earnings surprises, suggesting that pay inequality is not fully priced by the market. Our results support the notion that differences in pay inequality across firms are a reflection of differences in managerial talent

Flexible Prices and Leverage

The frequency with which firms adjust output prices helps explain persistent differences in capital structure across firms. Unconditionally, the most exible-price firms have a 19% higher long-term leverage ratio than the most sticky-price firms, controlling for known determinants of capital structure. Sticky-price firms increased leverage more than exible-price firms following the staggered implementation of the Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act across states and over time, which we use in a difference-in-differences strategy. Firms’ frequency of price adjustment did not change around the deregulation

Essays in financial economics

This thesis examines how product and input markets interact with firms' financial and real decisions and thus impact corporate policies. The first part of the thesis documents empirically how strategic considerations provided by product markets affect firms' investment decisions. It shows that firms react to actions taken by competitors when these indicate a competitive threat. Using news from restructur- ing announcements of manufacturing sites in the UK, it shows that other locally competing firms respond to the news by increasing their investment in capital if the restructuring action improves the competitive position of the announcing site. It also demonstrates the importance of financial constraints, showing that their existence dampens firms' ability to respond to the news. The fact that all restruc- turing announcements involve layoffs, and therefore impact firms' input markets, allows studying further responses by competitors, and namely their wages and hiring policies. The remaining part of the thesis focuses on how labor markets affect firms' capital structure and real activities. First, it examines the eect of labor regulation on firms' ability to access external finance. Exploiting changes in employment protection laws in 21 OECD countries, it shows that worker-friendly labor laws are negatively associated with firm leverage. In terms of firms' real activities, increases in employment protection legislation lead to lower firm invest- ment and growth and this effect is more pronounced for firms which depend more on external capital. These findings suggest a supply-side channel through which labor regulation hinders growth, that is, labor crowds out external finance. Finally, this part of the thesis examines the effect of labor bargaining power on firm leverage. It revisits the existing dominant paradigm that firms use debt to improve their bargaining position against labor and identifies an alternative channel which uncovers a negative relation between bargaining power of labor and firm leverage

Effect of aspartame and its metabolites on AChE, (Na+, K+)-ATPase, Mg2+-ATPase activities in frontal cortex and hippocampal homogenates of suckling rats

Η ασπαρτάμη (ΑSP) είναι ένα τεχνητό γλυκαντικό ευρύτατα διαδεδομένο στις δυτικές κοινωνίες. Έχει πολύ μικρότερη θερμιδική αξία σε σχέση με τη ζάχαρη και δεν επηρεάζει τη γλυκαιμική ρύθμιση στους διαβητικούς. Άρχισε να χρησιμοποιείται στη βιομηχανία τροφίμων στη δεκαετία του ’80. Έχουν, έκτοτε, γίνει, κατά καιρούς, εκτεταμένες αναφορές στη δυνητική τοξική δράση της στον ανθρώπινο οργανισμό και έχουν εκφραστεί πολλές και διϊστάμενες απόψεις. Ειδικότερα, μεταξύ άλλων, έχει ενοχοποιηθεί για την πρόκληση διαταραχών που σχετίζονται με το ΚΝΣ, όπως επιληπτικές κρίσεις, κεφαλαλγίες, ψυχιατρικές διαταραχές (επεισόδια μανίας, κρίσεις πανικού), διαταραχές μνήμης, ακόμα και για την εμφάνιση κακοήθων όγκων του εγκεφάλου (γλοιοβλαστώματα). Σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης είναι η διερεύνηση της τυχόν επίδρασης της ASP και των μεταβολιτών της (στους οποίους και διασπάται άμεσα μετά την κατανάλωσή της) φαινυλαλανίνης (phe), μεθανόλης (MeOH) και ασπαρτικού οξέος (asp), σε μείζονα ενζυμικά συστήματα του εγκεφάλου, που παίζουν κυρίαρχο ρόλο στη νευροδιαβίβαση. Τέτοια ένζυμα αποτελούν η (Να+,Κ+)-ΑΤΡάση, η Mg+2-ATPάση και η ακετυλοχολινεστεράση (ΑChE). Συγκεκριμένα, χρησιμοποιήθηκαν ομογενοποιήματα ιπποκάμπου και μετωπιαίου φλοιού νεογέννητων επιμύων (θηλαστικών που παρουσιάζουν βιολογική συγγένεια με τον άνθρωπο). Οι συγκεκριμένες δομές επιλέχθηκαν λόγω του κυρίαρχου ρόλου τους στη συμπεριφορά, στη μνήμη και στην επιληπτογένεση, τομείς της εγκεφαλικής λειτουργίας για τους οποίους υπάρχουν αναφορές της δυνητικής τοξικότητας της ASP, όπως ήδη σημειώθηκε. Ειδικότερα, τα ομογενοποιήματα καθώς και καθαρά ένζυμα επωάστηκαν με τους μεταβολίτες της ασπαρτάμης (μείγμα αυτών ή καθένα ξεχωριστά), σε συγκεντρώσεις που αντιστοιχούν σε αυτές που υπολογίζονται στο ΕΝΥ(μετά από εφάπαξ, per os, χορήγηση διαφόρων δόσεων του γλυκαντικού). Στη συνέχεια, μετρήθηκε, φασματοφωτομετρικά, η δραστικότητα των υπό μελέτη ενζύμων. Σε κάποια από τα μείγματα επώασης χρησιμοποιήθηκαν οι αντιοξειδωτικοί παράγοντες L-κυστείνη (cys) ή αναχθείσα γλουταθειόνη (GSH). Aυτό έγινε προκειμένου να διαπιστωθεί αν αναστρέφεται η επίδραση της ASP και των μεταβολιτών της στη (Na,K+)-ATPάση και στη Mg+2-ATPάση των μελετούμενων δομών, με την παρουσία των αντιοξειδωτικών. Με τον τρόπο αυτό, θα μπορούσαν να αποκαλυφθούν στοιχεία που αφορούν το μηχανισμό με βάση τον οποίο η ASP επιδρά στα παραπάνω ένζυμα. .........................................................................................

A Service of zbw Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre for Economics LIS Working Paper Series Wage Inequality and Firm Growth Wage Inequality and Firm Growth *

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in February 2015 Abstract We examine how within-firm skill premia-wage differentials associated with jobs involving different skill requirements-vary both across firms and over time. Our firm-level results mirror patterns found in aggregate wage trends, except that we find them with regard to increases in firm size. In particular, we find that wage differentials between high-and either medium-or low-skill jobs increase with firm size, while those between medium-and low-skill jobs are either invariant to firm size or, if anything, slightly decreasing. We find the same pattern within firms over time, suggesting that rising wage inequality-even nuanced patterns, such as divergent trends in upper-and lower-tail inequality-may be related to firm growth. We explore two possible channels: i) wages associated with "routine" job tasks are relatively lower in larger firms due to a higher degree of automation in these firms, and ii) larger firms pay relatively lower entry-level managerial wages in return for providing better career opportunities. Lastly, we document a strong and positive relation between within-country variation in firm growth and rising wage inequality for a broad set of developed countries. In fact, our results suggest that part of what may be perceived as a global trend toward more wage inequality may be driven by an increase in employment by the largest firms in the economy. * We thank Xavier Giroud, Claudia Goldin, and Johannes Stroebel for valuable comments and Raymond Story at Income Data Services (IDS) for help with the data. † NYU Stern School of Business, NBER, CEPR, and ECGI

Labor Protection and Leverage

This paper exploits inter-temporal variations in employment protection across countries and finds that rigidities in labor markets are an important determinant of firms’ capital structure decisions. Over the 1985-2007 period, we find that reforms increasing employment protection are associated with a 187 basis point reduction in leverage. We interpret this finding to suggest that employment protection increases operating leverage, crowding out financial leverage. This result is robust across measures of employment protection and leverage, and does not appear to be due to pre-treatment differences between treated and control firms, omitted variables, unobserved changes in regional economic conditions, and reverse causality. Heterogeneous treatment effects are consistent with our economic intuition: we find that the negative effect is more pronounced in firms that are subject to frequent hiring and firing

Team Stability and Performance: Evidence from Private Equity

We examine the relation between team turnover and firm performance studying the private equity industry. Using a unique data set that tracks over time teams in 138 PE managers and their performance, we uncover a positive relation between turnover and fund performance. We propose and confirm in the data two channels that explain our findings: i) in the short-run, performance improves when bad performers are fired, ii) in the long-run, turnover helps teams to adapt and replenish their skills in response to shifting external demand. Our findings suggest that frictions coming from informational asymmetries may deter optimal turnover. These findings are surprising given the common belief among PE investors that team stability is key to long-term success

Wage Inequality and Firm Growth

We examine how within-firm skill premia-wage differentials associated with jobs involving different skill requirements-vary both across firms and over time. Our firm-level results mirror patterns found in aggregate wage trends, except that we find them with regard to increases in firm size. In particular, we find that wage differentials between high- and either medium- or low-skill jobs increase with firm size, while those between medium- and low-skill jobs are either invariant to firm size or, if anything, slightly decreasing. We find the same pattern within firms over time, suggesting that rising wage inequality - even nuanced patterns, such as divergent trends in upper- and lower-tail inequality - may be related to firm growth. We explore two possible channels: i) wages associated with "routine" job tasks are relatively lower in larger firms due to a higher degree of automation in these firms, and ii) larger firms pay relatively lower entry-level managerial wages in return for providing better career opportunities. Lastly, we document a strong and positive relation between within-country variation in firm growth and rising wage inequality for a broad set of developed countries. In fact, our results suggest that part of what may be perceived as a global trend toward more wage inequality may be driven by an increase in employment by the largest firms in the economy