During the past decade, new regulations have been adopted to improve audit committee effectiveness. Prior research has generally provided evidence in support of these regulations and suggests that a more independent and expert audit committee is more effective. We posit that CEO power reduces or...

This paper discusses the ability of models on cheap talk, and of audit and liability regulations, to provide analytically-based assessment of credibility of management forecast disclosure in market and regulated settings. While credibility is linked to restrictive conditions in pure market...

In this study, we examine the effect of accrual-based earnings management on the association between managers' earnings forecast errors and accruals, which we label “managers' accrual-related forecast bias.” We build on extensive research which finds that managers engage in accrual-based...

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...

Upper echelon theory posits that defining, executing, and overseeing an organization’s strategy is a shared activity among top executive teams. Based upon this perspective, we explore whether greater turnover among the members of a firms’ top executive group other than those with direct...

We consider a setting in which insiders have information about income that outside shareholders do not, but property rights ensure that outside shareholders can enforce a fair payout. To avoid intervention, insiders report income consistent with outsiders' expectations based on publicly...

We develop a theory of income and payout smoothing by firms when insiders know more about income than outside shareholders, but property rights ensure that outsiders can enforce a fair payout. Insiders set payout to meet outsiders' expectations and underproduce to manage downward future...

Inattentional blindness, also known as perceptual blindness, is the phenomenon of not being able to see things that are actually there. This concept is not covered in traditional accounting classes in general and forensic accounting and auditing in particular. We discuss why forensic accountants...

We investigate whether companies strategically change accounting estimates to manipulate earnings, as some claim (“opportunism” hypothesis), or whether these modifications represent changes in the underlying fundamentals of financially troubled or risky companies updating their priors about...

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...