Exploiting the staggered adoption of country-level takeover laws that increased takeover threats, this paper examines whether the resulting increase in CEOs' job security concerns leads to greater earnings management. Using a difference-in-difference design, I find that the enactment of laws...

One of the main goals of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) is to ensure a greater flow of timely and accurate accounting information to investors. While there has been a lot of criticism of SOX, mostly with regard to compliance costs, very little light has been shed on the impact of SOX on...

We examine the effects of Ontario Bill-198 (CSOX-2003), the strictest corporate law in Canada. Despite some drawbacks, we find the Act has added significant value contrary to many practitioners' beliefs. Using a large sample of Canadian tender offers between 1996 and 2009, we find that both...

We examine the relevance of the disclosure of internal control weaknesses (ICWs) by target firms for acquirers in making their merger-and-acquisition (M&A) decisions. Based on a sample of M&A transactions in 2005–2018, we find that acquirers offer lower premiums for targets that disclose ICWs...

This study examines how and why investors change the use of their information sources in valuation between book value and earnings after mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in both pre- and post-SFAS 141(R) periods. We find that investors generally put less weight on earnings but more weight on book...

Contingent considerations (“earnouts”) in acquisition agreements provide sellers with future payments conditional on meeting certain conditions. Prior research provides evidence that acquiring firms use earnouts to minimize agency costs associated with acquisitions. Using earnout fair value...

Contingent considerations (earnouts) in acquisition agreements provide sellers with future payments conditional on meeting certain conditions. Prior research provides evidence that acquiring firms use earnouts to minimize agency costs associated with acquisitions. Using earnout fair value...

Previous research suggests that share-financed acquirers inflate their earnings before merger and acquisition announcements. The existing literature also indicates that characteristics of chief executive officers (CEO) could affect earnings management. In this study, we extend prior studies by...

The accounting literature has found evidence that acquirers in stock-for-stock M&A have typically managed earnings upwards ahead of a bid. Other literatures have concluded that, when stock prices are high and rising, M&A is higher, more M&A is financed with stock, market sentiment and...