Events leading up to the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) increased the public's focus on corporate governance and increased regulatory scrutiny of corporate governance mechanisms. These events also contributed to a massive restructuring in the audit market which resulted...

Results have been mixed regarding whether, and how much, board of director connectedness is beneficial to firm value. Some prior research shows that overly busy directors are ineffective monitors, but these same “busy” directors can be valuable sources of information and other resources. For...

This study investigates how acquirers manage earnings between an acquisition announcement and deal completion (defined as the interim period of acquisitions). We find that acquirers manage their earnings downwards during this interim period and boost reported earnings in the following period....

This study adds to the literature on the existence of information asymmetries in financial markets by investigating whether information leakage occurs in the local geographic area surrounding corporate headquarters at the time of nonpublic corporate events. On days when a corporation's...

This paper examines the effect of the lead independent directors who serve on audit committees on financial reporting quality and external audit firm interactions. Lead independent director is a position on companies' boards of directors that encompasses several responsibilities, including...

This paper examines the effect that lead independent directors serving on the board have on corporate tax policy. Through reviewing and approving board meeting agendas, lead independent directors (LIDs) could affect corporate tax policy by influencing the tax-related content in board meeting...

Companies are adopting executive compensation recoupment ("clawback") policies to discourage aggressive financial reporting choices. Recent research suggests clawback policies might encourage other, less aggressive, means of meeting earnings expectations. We suggest that reducing income tax...

In this study, we explore the association between company reputation and the likelihood of a financial statement restatement (i.e., a revealed misstatement). We focus on restatements because they are one of the most visible forms of impaired financial reporting quality, and we suggest that...

This study investigates how differences in religiosity (i.e., the strength of religion) across countries influence an important characteristic of financial reporting, accounting conservatism. Prior literature suggests that religious individuals are more risk-averse and have higher ethical...

We examine whether managers besides the CFO have 'styles' that affect firms' reporting and operating decisions. Following recent studies, we develop a dataset of individual audit committee chairs, CEOs, and CFOs, that tracks their movements across firms and over time. Although audit committee...