Charles C. W. Wang

2 Results

 

Boardroom Centrality and Firm Performance

Economists and sociologists have long studied the influence of social networks on labor markets, political outcomes, and information diffusion. These networks serve as a conduit for interpersonal and inter-organizational support, influence, and information flow. This paper studies the boardroom network formed by shared directorates and examines the implications of having well-connected boards, finding that firms with the best-connected boards on average earn substantially higher future excess returns and other advantages. Read More

Cost of Capital Dynamics Implied by Firm Fundamentals

Despite ample evidence that expected returns are time varying, there has been relatively little empirical research on estimating the dynamics of firm-level expected returns. Capturing the dynamics of firm-level expected returns is important, because it allows for a better understanding of firm risk over time and can inform investors in tailoring their portfolios to match their desired investment horizons. Findings show that cost of capital is time varying and highly persistent. The authors also demonstrate that the model produces empirical proxies of expected returns that can predict future stock returns up to three years into the future and sorts portfolio returns with near monotonicity. Aside from its practical contributions, this paper adds to a budding finance and accounting literature that studies the properties of expected return dynamics. Read More