Earnings management erodes the usefulness of financial statements, because the typical result of cooking the books is the occurrence of earnings bubble that bursts sooner or later, causing stock price to dive. This paper explores the presence of earnings management in the case of companies...

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...

This teaching guide is based on a comprehensive survey as well as in-depth interviews of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs). We ask the CFOs about the definition and drivers of earnings quality, with a special emphasis on the prevalence and detection of earnings misrepresentation. CFOs believe that...

This study examines the determinants of emphasis on non-GAAP disclosures in the earnings announcements of small cap companies. Two proxies of non-GAAP information emphasis are investigated — placement of the first non-GAAP disclosure and placement of the non-GAAP to GAAP reconciliation...

This study examines the implications of firm profitability, as a potential indication of audit-related risk, to audit quality, auditor reporting, auditor continuance decisions, and audit pricing in the post-SOX environment. Using a sample of non-financial public companies over the period 2005...

We investigate the association between public versus private ownership and future long-term changes in profitability. Managers have long debated the implications of public and private corporate ownership; however, little empirical research has provided insight into the issue. We find robust...

This monograph is not a review of the empirical accounting literature. This monograph tells a story and relates it to salient empirical phenomena. Why does accounting exist? Our answer is that financial accounting helps firms function efficiently. That efficiency is manifested in many ways, and...

Recent studies indicate dividends are associated with higher quality earnings. Our study extends the literature by examining whether dividends' information is associated with auditors' assessment of their clients' earnings quality. Our results show that auditors charge lower fees to...

This study investigates the market's response to earnings surprises after first-time going-concern modifications (GCMs). Using a sample of 581 firms and an events-study research design, we document a significant decrease in earnings response coefficients (ERCs) in the quarters following the GCM....