Essays in financial economics: information, frictions, and capital allocation

This thesis consists of five essays in financial economics, unified by a concern with how information, incentives, and frictions shape the allocation of capital. “Breaching the Chinese Wall: Cross-Market Information Flow Following Financial Institution Mergers” shows that when lenders and asset managers combine, private credit-market information flows into equity trading, altering firms’ disclosure and the information environment of their stock. “Financing the Transition: Evidence on Green Loans and Household Behavior” studies how discounted green loans and liquidity constraints shape household adoption of electric vehicles, and what this implies for the financing of the low-carbon transition. “The Agency Cost of Debt and Innovation” examines how the joint ownership of a firm’s debt and equity reshapes the creditor-shareholder conflict and, with it, the quantity and quality of corporate innovation. “The Global Rise of Index Ownership of Firms” measures index ownership around the world and documents its growth and uneven cross-country incidence.