We investigate the extent to which hedge fund managers smooth self‐reported returns. In contrast with prior research on the “anomalous” properties of hedge fund returns, we observe the mechanisms used to price the fund's investment positions and report the fund's performance to investors,...

We estimate the firm-level rate at which working capital accruals convert into future cash flows. These conversion rates determine the expected cash value of a dollar of working capital accruals. For firms whose accrual innovations reverse within one year, we find that, on average, a one dollar...

The audit market's unique combination of features - its role in capital market transparency, mandated demand, and concentrated supply - means it receives considerable attention from policymakers. We explore the effects of two market scenarios that have been the focus of policy discussions:...

Using a dataset which records banks' ongoing requests of information from small commercial borrowers, we examine when banks use financial statements to monitor borrowers after loan origination. We find banks request financial statements for half the loans and this variation is related to...

The new accounting standard requires that _nancial institutions provision for life-time expected losses on their loan portfolios. We develop a model for estimating long-term expected loan losses that incorporates a wide range of bank- and aggregate-level predictors of future losses. The model...

The accuracy of firm information disclosures and the efficiency of long-term investment both play crucial roles in the economy and capital markets. We estimate a dynamic model that captures a trade-off between these two goals that arises when managers confront realistic incentives to misreport...

A substantial literature investigates conditional conservatism, defined as asymmetric accounting recognition of economic shocks (ldquo;newsrdquo;), and how it depends on various market, political and institutional variables. Studies typically assume the Basu (1997) asymmetric timeliness...

Traders operating in informal economies rarely use financial information in their credit allocation decisions. Using a combination of survey questions and a hypothetical choice experiment, we study the frictions impeding traders’ financial information use in a bazaar economy. Based on...

We use equity portfolio allocation decisions to study the relevance of accounting information for investors’ demand for stocks. We document significant heterogeneity across investors in the demand relevance of profitability measures and income statement components. Although operating profit...

We use a long time-series from Australia to investigate the determinants and (to a lesser extent) consequences of audit market concentration. We show that increasing skewness in the size of public companies is associated with increased audit market concentration, and that the growth of the large...