Using a simple textual measure of performance and innovation related keywords (PAI) in the 10-K reports, we document a significantly positive relation between PAI and credit ratings. Our results hold utilizing instrumental variable analysis, change analysis, firm fixed effects and propensity...

This study investigates the value-relevant implications of the target firm’s annual report readability for acquiring firms. We find robust evidence that readability has a positive association with bidder market reaction and bid premiums, as well as a negative association with the time to...

We investigate the link between foreign competition and corporate tax planning. We find that a one standard deviation increase in import competition leads to a reduction of 9% in firms’ effective tax rates relative to standard levels. Further, we document that our evidence is robust to a...

We find that firms with a corporate general counsel in top management (TMC) are less likely to pay dividends, and for such firms that do pay dividends, the dividend payouts are lower. Our results hold addressing both endogeneity concerns and selection biases. We also find that the presence of a...

We find that firms with a top management counsel (TMC) have lower stock price crash risk than other firms. We further show that firms with a TMC issue more negative relative to positive earnings guidance and use more negative relative to positive words in their annual report filings, compared to...

We examine the impact of options trading on audit pricing for a sample of US firms over the period from 2001 to 2016. Using two option trading measures, the average daily natural logarithm of option contracts volume and the average daily natural logarithm of option contracts dollar volume, we...

We examine the operating performance subsequent to dividend initiations by comparing firms with similar pre-event operating performance and growth opportunities. We find strong (weak) evidence of information content for dividends initiated by firms subsequent (prior) to the 2003 tax cut in the...

We exploit the staggered initiation of merger and acquisition (M&A) laws across countries as a plausibly exogenous shock to the threat of takeover to examine whether the market for corporate control has a real effect on firm-level stock price crash risk. Using a difference-in-differences...

We find that powerful chief executive officers (CEOs) are associated with higher crash risk. The positive association between CEO power and crash risk holds when controlling for earnings management, tax avoidance, chief executive officer's option incentives, and CEO overconfidence. Firms with...