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Capital market frictions and human capital investment: Evidence from workplace safety around regulation SHO
Author(s) -
Bai John Jianqiu,
Lee Eunju,
Zhang Chi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
financial review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.621
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1540-6288
pISSN - 0732-8516
DOI - 10.1111/fire.12227
Subject(s) - human capital , workplace safety , negotiation , investment (military) , business , corporate governance , work (physics) , labour economics , capital (architecture) , monetary economics , finance , economics , occupational safety and health , market economy , archaeology , politics , political science , law , history , mechanical engineering , engineering
This paper examines the effect of capital market frictions on firms’ workplace safety. Using Regulation SHO as a natural experiment, we find a significant increase in work‐related injury rates of pilot firms. The effect is stronger for firms in more competitive industries and with high financial constraints, and weaker for firms whose employees have high negotiating power and with good corporate governance. Further tests suggest that managers’ myopia shifts their focus away from investments in workplace safety when workplace safety is not related to firm performance. Overall, the results highlight how capital market frictions affect firms’ investment in human capital.