Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Business

Program Name/Specialization

Finance

Faculty/School

Lazaridis School of Business and Economics

First Advisor

Madhu Kalimipalli

Advisor Role

Main advisor

Second Advisor

Si Li

Advisor Role

Co-supervisor

Abstract

Paper 1: Employee Whistleblowing and Corporate Environmental Performance

Abstract: Does employee whistleblowing improve the future environmental performance of firms? We address this question by studying how firm level regulatory violations initiated due to employee led whistleblowing concerns are related to subsequent climate risks. We show that whistleblowing of workplace safety and health hazards leads to significant reduction in firm level carbon emissions. The results are robust to alternative climate risk measures and endogeneity tests, where we exploit two sources of exogenous variation in whistleblowing incentives: (a) state-level changes in unemployment insurance benefits, and (b) state pension fund holdings with False Claims Act (FCA) protections. Channel tests show that the emission abatement is stronger in firms with higher risk, greater monitoring, and higher institutional ownership. Furthermore, whistleblowing improves environmental outcomes by strengthening carbon risk management, increasing green innovation, and lowering subsequent OSHA violations and monetary penalties. Taken together, our findings highlight the role of workplace whistleblowing as an effective internal governance mechanism in triggering external oversight and improving firms’ future environmental performance.

Paper 2: Water Compliance and Cost of Capital: Evidence from EPA Enforcements

Abstract: Does biodiversity risk affect firms’ cost of capital? We examine whether water-related regulatory risk influences firms’ financing costs using facility-level EPA formal enforcement actions under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Treating firms’ first formal NPDES enforcement actions as public signals of water-discharge compliance risk, we estimate stacked-cohort difference-in- differences models. We find that NPDES enforcement increases firms’ implied cost of capital, with stronger effects after 2010 and particularly after 2020. The effect is specific to water-discharge enforcement and does not arise following enforcement under air-pollution or hazardous-waste programs. Consistent with broader repricing by capital providers, affected firms subsequently face higher corporate bond yield spreads, higher bank loan spreads, and greater use of loan covenants. The effects are stronger for firms with greater water dependence and biodiversity exposure. Overall, our findings show that water-related regulatory risk is a financially material dimension of biodiversity risk that is priced in firms’ cost of capital.

Paper 3: Role of the Listing Exchanges: Revisiting Transaction Costs Between Nasdaq and NYSE

Abstract: This study examines the dominance in trading of the two listing exchanges in the U.S. stock market, where 15 trading venues operate with supposedly equal standing. Despite this, the data reveal significant discrepancies in trading volumes, with Nasdaq and the NYSE emerging as primary venues for trading their respective listed stocks. Also, Nasdaq consistently commands a larger share in its listings compared to the NYSE’s share of its own listings. Our analysis shows that while Nasdaq-listed stocks benefit from lower trading costs on their home exchange, this advantage does not extend to NYSE-listed stocks

Convocation Year

2027

Convocation Season

Spring

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