In this study, we exploit the unique reporting requirements for employee stock options to provide large sample evidence on the accuracy of footnote disclosures related to a specific complex estimate, the fair value of options granted. We first document the frequency and magnitude of differences...

We investigate whether politically-sensitive contractors pay higher taxes and whether their bargaining power reduces these tax costs. Using federal contractor data, we develop a new composite measure of political sensitivity that captures both the political visibility arising from federal...

Recent research provides evidence that corporate tax departments and tax directors have incentives to reduce financial statement effective tax rates, but little or no incentive to reduce cash taxes paid. The lack of managerial incentives to reduce cash taxes paid provides a stark contrast to the...

Recent research finds that analysts' cash flow forecasts have meaningful financial reporting ramifications, but to date, the identified effects are unlikely to yield meaningful cash flow benefits. This study examines whether analysts' cash flow forecasts increase managerial focus on real cash...

Recent research finds that analysts' cash flow forecasts have meaningful financial reporting ramifications, but to date, the identified effects are unlikely to yield meaningful cash flow benefits. This study examines whether analysts' cash flow forecasts encourage managers to enhance the firm's...

Regulators have recently expressed concern that existing disclosure rules prevent financial users from fully understanding the location of a firm's operations. In this study, we develop an estimate of the location of firms' cash holdings using financial statement data and validate our estimate...

We examine the incidence, valuation and management of tax-related reputational costs during 2011, a year containing numerous protests that increased scrutiny of corporate tax avoidance. We report three main results. First, consistent with firms incurring tax-related reputational costs, we find...

Many studies use GAAP effective tax rates (ETR) as proxies for tax avoidance and rely on the maintained assumption that very low (high) ETRs represent the greatest (least) tax avoidance. We provide large-sample empirical evidence on how well ETRs capture cross-sectional differences in tax...

The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 created a tax holiday allowing firms to repatriate foreign earnings at a reduced tax rate and a domestic production activities deduction (DPAD) to encourage domestic investment. We investigate whether the DPAD affects firms' decisions to use repatriated...

This study examines the nature of tax avoidance among loss firms. Using the methodology in Schwab, Stomberg, and Xia (2022) to identify and classify deliberate and intentional tax avoidance activities from companies’ effective tax rate reconciliations, we find that approximately 35 percent of...