We apply the IASB's conceptual framework to develop an accounting treatment for a cap-and-trade program. Under our treatment, firms recognize allowances as intangible assets, measured at fair value with a credit to cash for purchased allowances and to a current period gain for allocated...

I examine whether financial statement preparers (managers and auditors) treat recognized versus disclosed fair value of option compensation differently. Recognition refers to items that appear on the face of financial statements and that are included in subtotal figures that appear in the...

This paper examines the role of earnings management for firms that report at least three consecutive years of annual earnings increases (hereafter earnings string firms). Specifically, I examine how levels of earnings management change as earnings string firms approach the end of their earnings...

I examine the relation between a corporate commitment to increased disclosure and measures of liquidity, information asymmetry, and cost of equity capital. Relative to prior research on voluntary disclosure, I use a composite, ex ante measure of commitment based in social psychology and measure...

I develop an empirical model that estimates a firm-specific accrual noise ratio (ANR), an operational and statistically grounded measure of accrual reliability, and test the measure's construct validity. The model allows accrual reliability to vary across firms, which is particularly important...