title: Empirical Essays on Labor Regulation, Geopolitical Shocks, and Investment
abstract: This thesis consists of three self-contained yet interrelated empirical essays in corporate finance. The first and third essays examine the impact of Right-to-Work (RTW) laws on investment, focusing on venture capital (VC) and artificial intelligence (AI), respectively, while the second analyzes the determinants of corporate divestment from Russia. Together, these essays explore how institutional and geopolitical shocks shape corporate investment decisions, offering a unified perspective on the 