Essays in corporate finance.

Summary The first chapter of this thesis focuses on the link between the behavior of the firm and the structure of its ownership and management. In particular, the study focuses on the different management styles implied by the presence of the founder's family in the shareholding or in the management team. In the second chapter, we show how internal governance mechanisms can supplant traditional corporate governance arrangements and exert effective discipline on the firm's managers. This empirical study is supported by a theoretical analysis that focuses more generally on the role of preference independence within organizations. The final chapter of this thesis empirically investigates the links between collateral value and investment policy. The analysis focuses specifically on the real estate assets owned by large U.S. firms.