Nikolai RoussanovElsaify, Amr2023-05-222001-01-012018-02-232017-01-012018-02-23https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/29168This dissertation consists of three parts. The first documents that more innovative firms earn higher risk-adjusted equity returns and proposes a model to explain this. Chapter two answers the question of why firms would choose to issue callable bonds with options that are always "out of the money" by proposing a refinancing-risk explanation. Lastly, chapter three uses the firm-level evidence on investment cyclicality to help resolve the aggregate puzzle of whether R\&D should be procyclical or countercylical.146 p.application/pdfAmr ElsaifyAsset PricingCorporate BondsLeverageMacroeconomicsEconomicsFinance and Financial ManagementDissertation/Thesis