Recent studies have shown that the congruence (i.e. value relevance) of accounting earnings-based measures of performance (e.g., earnings, residual income) has been declining significantly over an extended period of time. We confirm this prior finding, and examine the implications of poor...

Operating distortion causes inefficiencies in performance measurement systems and typically remains hidden in firms' operational layers, unless managers report its occurrence. One obstacle to managers reporting operating distortion is that they often benefit economically from remaining silent...

This paper examines whether and for how long managers' initial assessments of employee ability influence promotion decisions. Using archival data from minor league professional baseball, we find that, controlling for performance, initial assessments are associated with promotion decisions for at...

I examine whether directors' superior access to information and resources through their board network improves the quality of firms' forecasting. Managers may benefit from well-connected directors (i.e., greater board centrality) as, even though managers have firm specific knowledge, they may...

This study investigates the relationship between cost stickiness and income smoothing. Both arise as a result of managerial discretion. However, an asymmetrical reaction of costs to changes in activity counteracts an ambition to report smooth income. Inversely, reducing costs during periods of...

A significant portion of CEOs in publicly-listed Chinese state-owned enterprises receive zero pay from the companies for which they work. Instead, they are paid directly by their controlling shareholder who can be the Chinese government or parent firms controlled by the Chinese government. While...

The conventional view suggests that firms should benchmark CEO compensation to absorb systemic risk and to more efficiently incentivize executives to work hard. Yet, empirical research has found only a modest use of benchmarking in compensation contracts. In this paper, I highlight one weakness...

We examine the severity of punishments for employees who perpetrate economic crimes to understand how aggressively organizations enforce compliance with management control systems. Our dataset comprises 608 organizations around the world that identified they experienced economic crime. We find...

We examine whether cost stickiness is associated with value creation in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We find that the acquirer's cost stickiness is negatively associated with the abnormal returns around the acquisition announcement, and deal synergies, and positively associated with...

This paper analyzes a principal-agent-model with a principal, a manager, and a team of workers to investigate the incentive provision and optimal team size in a setting with uncertain productivity and team synergy effects which is typical for innovation environments. Workers are responsible for...