This study explores the impact of corporate takeover defenses on the extent of earnings management in the U.S. Theoretically, it is not obvious whether takeover defenses alleviate or exacerbate earnings management. I examine four well-known corporate takeover defenses; blank check preferred...

This study seeks to ascertain the impact of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) on earnings management. The empirical evidence shows that firms with larger ESOP ownership exhibit a lower degree of earnings management. I suggest that this is the case because ESOPs motivate employees to monitor...

Thailand was at the origin of the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Our research seeks to understand what economic and political factors contributed to the collapses of Thailand's financial institutions during the crisis. The distinctive feature of our model is that it incorporates variables for...

Leveraging as a quasi-natural experiment the staggered passage of universal demand laws, which raise the difficulty of shareholder lawsuits, we examine the effect of shareholder litigation rights on ESG controversies. Our difference-in-difference estimates show that an exogenous decline in...

We contribute to the literature on dividend policy by relaxing Miller and Modigliani's (1961) perfect capital market assumptions and incorporating a factor that has not been investigated before, i.e. variation in managerial ability. Based on more than 24,000 observations across over 20 years...

Motivated by agency theory, we investigate the effect of board independence on dividend policy. We exploit as a quasi-natural experiment the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the associated exchange listing requirement, mandating firms to have a majority of independent directors. Our...

Motivated by agency theory, we explore the potential impact of managerial entrenchment through staggered boards on dividend policy. The evidence suggests that firms with staggered boards are more likely to pay dividends and pay them more generously than do those with unitary boards. We also show...

We explore how bond investors view corporate cash distributions through dividends and how that view influences corporate cost of debt. Explaining between 45 and 67 percent of variance in credit spreads at the time of issuance, our model reveals a non-linear association between dividend payouts...

Purpose – Theory suggests that the market for corporate control, which constitutes an important external governance mechanism, may substitute for internal governance. Consistent with this notion, using a novel measure of takeover vulnerability primarily based on state legislation, we...

Employing as a quasi-natural experiment an unexpected judgment by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that raised the difficulty of shareholder litigation, we explore the effect of shareholder litigation rights on board gender diversity. Our difference-in-difference estimates show that an...