Despite the importance of audit committee independence in ensuring the integrity of the financial reporting process, recent research suggests that even when audit committees meet regulatory independence requirements, certain factors, such as undue influence by the CEO over the selection of the...

We document a stylized fact that more than 10% of S&P 1500 companies have hired a CEO who starts the job near or above the retirement age of 65 years old (Retiring CEOs). This phenomenon exists among all industries and persists over time. This finding is puzzling because conventional wisdom...