RCFS General

                Initial coin offerings are fast becoming a new type of crowdfunding for blockchain-related startups. In this type of offerings, an entrepreneur raises capital through the creation and selling of virtual currencies or “tokens,” which themselves give rights to their holders (for example, access to a platform). As is to be expected, there are severe problems of information asymmetry associated with these instruments… Read More »Paper Spotlight: The Wisdom of Crowds in FinTech: Evidence from Initial Coin Offerings

              Recent survey evidence shows that the list of institutional investors paying close attention to environmental issues, with a consequent impact on their investment decisions, is increasing. A central factor that ought to be considered is the role of government regulation, especially the uncertainty surrounding it, and subsequent response of firms to those regulations against the background of a worsening environmental scenario. This is… Read More »Paper Spotlight: Investor Rewards to Climate Responsibility: Stock-Price Responses to the Opposite Shocks of the 2016 and 2020 U.S. Elections

The scale and scope of various government interventions around the globe in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak have been nothing short of staggering. Programs have come in different forms: guaranteed loans, equity injections, bank loans to SMEs that can be transformed into government-financed grants, etc. The actions taken in the initial stages of the outbreak, necessary to fight the economic fallout, are bound to generate major spillovers going forward.… Read More »Paper Spotlight: Efficient Programs to Support Businesses During and After Lockdowns

              The COVID-19 pandemic, with its heavy toll on human lives, unemployment, and financial distress, should be considered as an important acid test for firms’ professed investments in their responsibility toward society. It is during such times that we can better understand how to interpret the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores, standard proxies for firms’ corporate social responsibility, and what is really driving… Read More »Paper Spotlight: Resiliency of Environmental and Social Stocks: An Analysis of the Exogenous COVID-19 Market Crash

The relationship between hedge fund activists and institutional shareholders in firms targeted by activists could be fraught with conflicting interests, making it a very important question to explore. In the paper “Institutional Investors and Hedge Fund Activism,” Simi Kedia, Laura Starks, and Xianjue Wang study how differences among institutional investors impact their willingness to support hedge fund activists, the impact on the campaign’s success, and potential value created from hedge… Read More »Paper Spotlight: Institutional Investors and Hedge Fund Activism

The Conference on Corporate Finance and Financial Intermediation will feature a dual submission option with RCFS. The deadline for paper submissions is March 1, 2019. The conference will take place June 3-4, 2019, in Hong Kong. The Call for Papers may be viewed here.

The Conference on Finance, Labor and Inequality will feature a dual submission option with RCFS. The deadline for paper submissions is April 10, 2019. The conference will take place June 21-22, 2019, in Capri. The Call for Papers may be viewed here.