Finance

Cohen, Team to Analyze Growth Tied to New Rail Line

Posted on by Claire Hall
Professor Jeff Cohen , pictured above, at Union Station in Hartford, is studying the impact that a new passenger rail line will have on residential and commercial development. The train, which travels from New Haven to Springfield, Mass., with many stops in between, began service in June. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
Professor Jeff Cohen , pictured above, at Union Station in Hartford, is studying the impact that a new passenger rail line will have on residential and commercial development. The train, which travels from New Haven to Springfield, Mass., with many stops in between, began service in June. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)

Urban planners and government leaders from across the country are expected to be paying close attention to the results of a newly-launched study of how convenient commuter train service impacts the economic growth and development of communities.Continue Reading

The Effect of Institutional Ownership Types On Innovation and Competition

Posted on by Melissa Ferrigno

Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation– In common ownership, the type of the common owner institution matters. Institutional ownership of firms has seen a marked rise in the past few decades, with average institutional ownership share of a firm rising from 20% to 30% in the 1980s to over 65% of the total by the 2010s, with residual retail ownership correspondingly falling from 80% to less than 35% of the firm. (See Borochin, Paul, and Jie Yang (2017). The Effects of Institutional Investor Objectives on Firm Valuation and Governance, Journal of Financial Economics 126.) Over the same period, the fraction of the average firm held by institutions holding blocks of same-industry rivals has risen from 4.5% to 28%. (See He, Jie, J. Huang, 2017, Product Market Competition in a World of Cross Ownership: Evidence from Institutional Blockholdings, The Review of Financial Studies 30.) This not only changes the portfolio properties of the institutional investors, but also has the potential to change the corporate strategies of held firms. Recent studies find opposing effects of common institutional ownership on the competitive behavior of firms:

Launch of New Hartford Passenger Line Part of ‘Train Renaissance’

Posted on by Claire Hall
Business professor Jeff Cohen, who has researched the business and real estate impacts of the CTfastrak bus rapid transit service, says the new Hartford Line commuter train will have an impact on land value and job opportunities in cities. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
Business professor Jeff Cohen, who has researched the business and real estate impacts of the CTfastrak bus rapid transit service, says the new Hartford Line commuter train will have an impact on land value and job opportunities in cities. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)

The Hartford Line is a new commuter rail service between New Haven and Springfield, Mass., with additional stops in suburbs along the 62-mile route. The service, a collaboration between the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts, will launch on Saturday, June 16.Continue Reading