(cont.) around thresholds do convey information about a firm's future performance, firms with a higher degree of information asymmetry between the management and investors are more likely to use this signaling mechanism, and the capital market recognizes the information content of the earnings...

This paper explores how accruals capture managerial operating decisions that evolve over a firm's life cycle. I argue that growing firms face different operating environments and have fundamentally different accruals properties than those of mature and declining firms. I provide evidence that...

Aircraft leasing represents a significant portion of the financial statements of airline firms. Accounting treatment of lease transactions is becoming more complicated as firms attempt to achieve off-balance-sheet outcomes vis a vis special purpose entities(SPC). Cross-border leasing involving...

PIPEs (Private Investments in Public Equity) are unique in that they are negotiated privately between sophisticated investors and the public firm. As a result, the issue price deviates from the firm's stock price, often resulting in a substantial PIPE discount. However, only a limited set of...

This paper examines the properties of accounting numbers using a real investment framework that predicts asymmetric timeliness of both investment and its outcomes (i.e. sales, earnings and operating cash flows) even in the absence of conservative accounting. In particular, I predict and find...

(cont.) In total, my thesis suggests that recent changes in the book-tax income gap may be exogenous and transitory, due to changes to the calculation of book income, general business conditions or other factors which generate temporary differences, rather than due to the deceptive and permanent...

I investigate the relation between corporate governance and insider trading by corporate executives. Despite the general view that trade on non-public information adversely affects capital market participants, the impact of corporate governance on such trading remains relatively unexplored in...

In this paper, I examine the ex post and ex ante benefits of conservatism to lenders and borrowers in the debt contracting process. First, I argue that conservatism benefits lenders ex post through a timely signal of default risk in the form of accelerated covenant violations by more...

This research thesis explores the market dimensions of credit derivatives including the prevalent product structures, leading participants, market applications and the issues confronting this relatively new product. We find the market continues to experience significant growth particularly in...

Insurance firms perform two key economic functions. First, they intermediate risk by marketing, selling and administering insurance policies. Second, they warehouse the risks underlying those policies. If viewed as separate businesses, intermediation and warehousing have very different risk...