Research

20240327 Heitz CV.pdf

Working Papers:

Revise and Resubmit at The Journal of Finance

2022 FMA Best Paper Award in Financial Institutions and Markets

2023 Eastern Finance Association Best Paper Award in Financial Institutions

2022 Runner-Up Community Bank Research Conference Best Paper Award

Presented at: American Economic Association, ASU Sonoran Winter Finance Conference*, FDIC Fall Bank Research Conference, Community Banking Research Conference, South Carolina Fixed Income and Financial Institution, Northern Finance Association, IBEFA Summer Meeting, Financial Management Association, Eastern Finance Association, Southern Finance Association, Ohio State University, FDIC, Tulane University


Revise and Resubmit at The Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking

2018 International Conference on Banking and Economic Development Best Paper Award

Presented at: International Conference on Banking and Economic Development, China International Conference in Finance, Financial Intermediation Research Society, University of Regensburg*, University of Konstanz*, University of Bonn*, Collaborative Research Center Transregio 224*, German Economic Association*, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Florida State University, Pepperdine University (Graziadio), Tulane University (Freeman), University of Georgia (Terry), University of Colorado at Boulder (Leeds), University of Hawaii (Shidler), DePaul University (Driehaus), University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee (Lubar), University of San Diego, University of Minnesota (Carlson)


2019 Wellington Finance Summit Best Paper Award

Presented at: Wellington Finance Summit, Chinese Accounting Professors' Association of North America (CAPANA), American Accounting Association*, University of Toronto*, Tulane University, IIMB Online Accounting Research Conference*, Financial Intermediation Research Society (canceled), Financial Management Association, Midwest Finance Association, City University London


Presented at: Joint Virtual Workshop by the Research Group of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Deutsche Bundesbank and the Centre for Economic Policy Research, FARS Midyear Meeting*, Federal Reserve Stress Testing Research Conference, Northern Finance Association, Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting, St. Louis Federal Reserve and Indiana University Workshop on Financial Institutions Research*, Financial Management Association, Pennsylvania State University (accounting)*, Tulane University, FDIC, Southern Methodist University  (accounting)*


2021 Semifinalist for FMA Best Paper Award in Financial Institutions and Markets

Presented at: Financial Intermediation Research Society, Finance Down Under,  OCC Symposium on Emerging Risks in the Banking System, FDIC Fall Bank Research Conference, Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting, Midwest Finance Association, FARS Midyear Meeting, Financial Management Association, IBEFA Summer Meeting, Tulane Accounting Mini-Conference, Australasian Finance and Banking Conference, Southern Finance Association, AFFECT Mentoring Workshop, University of Oregon, FDIC, Tulane University


Presented at: University of Oregon Summer Finance Conference, ASSA Annual Conference, Villanova Webinars in Financial Intermediation, SURF Interagency Virtual Seminar Series (SURF WiFi)*, Eastern Finance Association*, Financial Management Association, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, IBEFA Summer Meeting, Federal Housing Finance Agency*, Southern Finance Association, Financial Management Association early ideas, Midwest Finance Association 


Presented at: Federal Reserve Board of Governors*, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Financial Management Association*, AFFECT early ideas session, IBEFA Summer Meeting


Presented at: European Finance Association, 28th Annual Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting, Louisiana State University, Tulane University


Published Papers:

Many policymakers and practitioners argue that corporations may become more stakeholder focused if employees are given more power. We study the causal impact of unionization on stakeholders by analyzing how close labor union elections affect environmental and social (E&S) scores. We find that unionization is associated with an increase in internal social scores that primarily benefit employees and a decrease in external E&S scores that primarily benefit non-employees. The negative effects on external E&S are amplified when firms have greater financial constraints. The effects on both internal and external E&S are magnified when labor unions have more bargaining power. Our results suggest that policymakers consider implications for all stakeholders before implementing policies that prioritize the corporate influence of one stakeholder group. 


We examine whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uniformly enforces the Clean Air Act for politically connected and unconnected firms using a close election setting. We find no difference in regulated pollutant emissions or EPA investigations between the two groups, although connected firms experience less regulatory enforcement and lower penalties. These results are more pronounced for firms connected to politicians capable of influencing regulatory bureaucrats and for connected firms that are more important to their supported politicians. Taken together, our results show that campaign contributions can indirectly benefit firms by way of reduced environmental regulatory enforcement and penalties. 


We develop hypotheses regarding the association between two types of creditor rights and bank loan losses. Contrary to prior research conclusions, bank lending risk is negatively associated with both restrictions on reorganization and the secured creditor being paid first. Using accounting disclosures, we develop novel empirical measures of the probability of default (PD) and loss given default (LGD) at the loan-portfolio level. Different types of creditor rights have differential effects pertaining to PD and LGD and exhibit significant intertemporal variation. We corroborate our cross-country findings using the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) shock to creditor rights. 



While the policy of too-big-to-fail has received wide attention in the literature, there is little agreement regarding economies of scale for financial firms. We take the stand that systemic risk increases when the larger players in the financial sector have a larger share of output. Calculations indicate that the cost to the macro-economy due to increased systemic risk is always much larger than the potential benefit due to scale economies. When distributional and intergenerational issues are considered, the potential benefits to economies of scale are unlikely to ever exceed the potential costs due to increased risk of a banking crisis.