This is the first comprehensive examination of the stock option backdating litigation. One reason why it is important to study the stock option backdating litigation is that it was a blend of financial reporting fraud and executive misappropriation of assets. Sometimes the executive...

In the wake of the backdating scandal, many firms began awarding options at scheduled times each year. Scheduling option grants eliminates backdating, but creates other agency problems. CEOs that know the dates of upcoming scheduled option grants have an incentive to temporarily depress stock...

Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (hereafter, SOX), commonly known as the clawback provision, entitles the SEC to sue the CEO and CFO in an attempt to recover their incentive compensation based on misstated financial reports. While a stream of literature investigates the effects of voluntary...

In Japan, financial statements are disclosed under the timely disclosure regulations of securities exchanges before the completion of an external audit and disclosed again after the completion of an external audit under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. In each case, any errors...

We study the impact of corporate secretary tenure on the governance quality of Chinese A-share listed firms. Results show that corporate secretary tenure is negatively associated with board meeting frequency, outside director in-meeting dissent and incidence of fraud and lawsuit. Key findings...

In this study, I summarize the current state of executive compensation, discuss measurement and incentive issues, document recent trends in executive pay in both U.S. and international firms, and analyze the evolution of executive pay over the past century. Most recent analyses of executive...

What are the costs and benefits of retaining the former CEO on the board? Corporate boards frequently debate this question as part of the CEO succession process. Like many governance issues, empirical evidence indicates that a number of factors are involved in and may drive this on-going...

In this study, I summarize the current state of executive compensation, discuss measurement and incentive issues, document recent trends in executive pay in both U.S. and international firms, and analyze the evolution of executive pay over the past century. Most recent analyses of executive...

We study the impact of corporate secretary tenure on the governance quality of Chinese A-share listed firms. Results show that corporate secretary tenure is negatively associated with board meeting frequency, outside director in-meeting dissent and incidence of fraud and lawsuit. Key findings...

Based on signal theory and legitimacy theory, this paper examines whether firms with financial reporting misstatements (restatements) would prefer conservative financial reporting to send signals regarding their determinants of improving financial reporting credibility and legitimate...