Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Keywords

sovereign debt, sovereign bonds, transactional lawyers, reputational intermediaries, empirical research

Abstract

The claim that lawyers act as gatekeepers or certifiers in financial transactions is widely discussed in the legal literature. There has, however, been little empirical examination of the claim. We test the hypothesis that law firms have replaced investment banks as the gatekeepers of the market for sovereign debt. Our results suggest that hiring outside law firms sends a negative signal to the market regarding the pending issuance; a finding that is inconsistent with the thesis that outside law firms primarily play a certification role in the sovereign debt market.

Comments

This is the pre-print version of the article dating from 2012. The final publication can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144818813000616

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Public debts, Juristic transactions, Reputation, Government bonds, Lawyers

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