Professor of Empirical Practice
Harvard Law School

Associate Professor
Eitan Berglas School of Economics
Tel-Aviv University

Faculty Fellow
National Bureau of Economic Research

E-mail: alcohen@law.harvard.edu

SSRN Author Page / Google Scholar Profile

Publications:

Judging Under Public Pressure
(with Florian Auferoth and Zvika Neema)
106(1)The Review of Economics and Statistics 151-166 (2024)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 1069 (July 2021), and NBER Discussion Paper No. W31400 (2023)
VOXEU Column about the study

How to Communicate the Nudge: A Real-World Policy Experiment
(with Oren Bar-Gil)
65(3) Journal of Law and Economics 607-633 (2022)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 1067 (July 2021)

Politics and Gender in the Executive Suite
(with Moshe Hazan and David Weiss)
Harvard Law School John M. Olin Center Discussion Paper No. 1029, March 2020
NBER Discussion Paper No. W28893 (2021)
Articles about the study in NYT
VOXEU Column about the study
Forthcoming at the Journal of Law Economics and Organization

The Politics of CEOs
(with Moshe Hazan, Roberto Tallarita, and David Weiss)
11 Journal of Legal Analysis 1-45 (2019)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 1002 (April 2019), and NBER Discussion Paper No. W25815 (2019)
Articles about the study in The New York Times, Axios, WSJ , CNN, WSJ.
Blog posts noting this paper: ProfessorBainbridge.com, Marginal Revolution, Quartz, Harvard Corporate Governance Blog.
VOXEU Column about the study

The Heterogeneous Effect of Affirmative Action on Performance
(with Anat Bracha and Lynn Conell-Price)
158 Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 172-218 (2019)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 805 (January 2015), and NBER Discussion Paper No. W25322 (2018)

Judicial Politics and Disparities in Sentencing
(with Crystal Yang)
11 American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 160-191 (2019)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 943 (January 2017), and NBER Discussion Paper No. W24615 (2018)
Media about the study in Raw Story, Washington Post, New York Times, Above the Law, Alternet, Atlanta Black Star, The Atlanta Voice, Blavity, Bustle, Essence, The Hill, Newsweek, Splinter News

Judging Insurance Antidiscrimination Law
(with Ronen Avraham and Ity Shurtz)
Selection and Decision in Judicial Process around the World: Empirical Inquires. Cambridge University Press, p. 223-241 (2019)

Termination Risk and Short-Termism at the NBA
(with Nadav Levy and Roy Sasson)
34 Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 579-618 (2018)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 819 (April 2015), and NBER Discussion Paper No. W24708 (2018)

Reexamining Staggered Boards and Shareholder Value
(with Charles CY Wang)
127 Journal of Financial Economics, 637-647 (2017)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 908 (June 2017)

The Agency Problems of Institutional Investors
(with Lucian Bebchuk and Scott Hirst)
31 Journal of Economic Perspectives 89-102 (Summer 2017)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 930 (August 2017)
Media coverage: Livewire Markets, The Economist
Blog posts noting this paper: ProfessorBainbridge.com.

Judicial Decision Making: A Dynamic Reputation Approach
(with Alon Klement and Zvika Neeman)
44 Journal of Legal Studies 133-159 (2014)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 803 (January 2015)

Golden Parachutes and the Wealth of Shareholders
(with Lucian Bebchuk and Charles C.Y. Wang)
25 Journal of Corporate Finance 140-154 (2014)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 683 (December 2010)
Article about the study in U.S News and World Report

How Do Staggered Boards Affect Shareholder Value? Evidence from a Natural Experiment
(with Charles C.Y. Wang)
110 Journal of Financial Economics 627-641 (2013)
Issued earlier as NBER Discussion Paper No. W17127 (2011)
Articles about the study in New York Times DealBook and Thomson Reuters

Learning and the Disappearing Association between Governance and Returns
(with Lucian Bebchuk and Charles C.Y. Wang)
108 Journal of Financial Economics 323-348 (2013)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 667 (2012), and NBER Discussion Paper No. W15912 (2010)
Won the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institutes 2013 Academic Research Award

Financial Incentives and Fertility
(with Rajeev Dehejia and Dmitri Romanov)
95 Review of Economics and Statistics 1–20 (2013) (lead article)
Issued earlier as NBER Discussion Paper No. W13700 (2007)

Asymmetric Learning in Repeated Contracting: An Empirical Study
94 Review of Economics and Statistics (2012)
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 606 (2011), and NBER Discussion Paper No. W13752 (2008)

The Wages of Failure, Executive Compensation at Bear Stearns and Lehman 2000-2008
(with Lucian Bebchuk and Holger Spamann)
Yale Journal on Regulation, Vol. 27, pp. 257-282 (2010)

Testing for Adverse Selection in Insurance Markets
(with Peter Siegelman)
Journal of Risk and Insurance, Vol. 77, Issue 1, pp. 39-84 (2010)
Won the 2011 Robert C. Witt Award awarded annually by the American Risk and Insurance Association
Won the 2020 Robert I. Mehr Award for research that has stood the test of time

What Matters in Corporate Governance?
(with Lucian Bebchuk and Allen Ferrell)
Review of Financial Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 783-827 (2009)
Data on the Entrenchment Index 1990-2006
List of over 307 studies using the entrenchment index

Estimating Risk Preferences from Deductible Choice
(with Liran Einav)
American Economic Review, Vol. 93, Issue 3, pp. 745-788 (2007)
Issued earlier as NBER Discussion Paper W11461 (2005)

The Disadvantages of Aggregate Deductibles
B.E. Journals in Economic Analysis & Policy, Vol. 6, No. 1, article 7 2006

The Costs of Entrenched Boards
(with Lucian Bebchuk)
Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 78, pp. 409-433 (2005)
[Included in the JFE “Hall of Fame” (https://www.billschwert.com/jfe/allstar.htm) of influential JFE articles that have that have an average of 10 or more citations per year since publication; Supported by BSI-Gamma foundation grant]
Asymmetric Information and Learning: Evidence from the Automobile Insurance Market
Review of Economic and Statistics, Vol. 87, No. 2, pp. 197-207 (2005)

The Effects of Automobile Insurance and Accident Liability Laws on Traffic Fatalities
(with Rajeev Dehejia)
Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 357-393 (2004)
NBER Working paper W9602 (2003)

Firms's Decisions Where to Incorporate
(with Lucian Bebchuk)
Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 46, Vol. 2, pp. 383-425 (2003)

The Effect of Mandatory Seat Belt Laws on Driving Behavior and Traffic Fatalities
(with Liran Einav)
Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 85, No. 4, pp. 828-843 (2003)

Does the Evidence Favor State Competition in Corporate Law?
(with Lucian Bebchuk and Allen Ferrell)
California Law Review, Vol. 90, No. 2, pp. 1775-1921 (2002)
Issued earlier as NBER Working paper W9380 (2002)

Current Working Papers:

The Pervasive Influence of Political Affiliation on Circuit Court Decisions
Issued earlier as Harvard Law School Olin Discussion Paper No. 1109 (February 2024), and NBER Discussion Paper No. W31509 (2023)
Washington Post article about the study
ProMarket
VOXEU Column about the study

Older Working Papers:

The 8-K Trading Gap
(with Robert J. Jackson Jr. and Joshua Mitts)
Articles about the study in Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg View, Bradshaw Law Group, CFO, Law360, Lexology, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Law360.
The 8-K Trading Gap bill motivated by this paper is discussed in a June 2018 Senate Committee Hearing, Testimony of Damon Silvers, and Testimony of John Coates