We analyze a comprehensive sample of more than 10,000 U.S. OTC stocks. We first show that the OTC market is a large, diverse, and dynamic trading environment with a rich set of regulatory and disclosure regimes, comprising venue rules and state laws beyond SEC regulation. We then exploit this...

A review of the Dodd-Frank rulemaking projects suggests that the U.S. has entered into a “race to the top” of over-the-counter derivative regulation. Many of the Dodd-Frank statutes and proposed rules go well beyond the relatively modest objectives agreed to by the G20 countries in 2009....

We provide evidence on the long standing concern on auditor conflicts of interest from providing non-audit services (NAS) to audit clients by using rarely explored NAS fee data from 1978-80 Using this earlier setting, we find cross-sectional evidence of improved earnings quality when auditors...

In this study, I examine whether firms and executives with long-term political connections through contributions and lobbying incur lower costs from the enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). I find that politically connected firms on average are less likely to be...

This paper examines the differences between MiFID and Reg NMS and provides, based on market microstructure principles, insights as to their likely impact on European and US securities markets. Although MiFID and Reg NMS share the common objective of enhancing competition in securities markets,...

The effect of COVID‑19 on stock market performance has important implications for both financial theory and practice. This paper examines the relationship between COVID‑19 and the instability of both stock return predictability and price volatility in the U.S over the period January 1st,...

We investigate possible reasons for voluntary delistings by U.S. firms from the Tokyo Stock Exchange from 1982 to 2005. We find that the small shareholder base, as measured by low turnover, for U.S. stocks in Japan helps to explain the voluntary foreign delistings. This finding is consistent,...

Foreign firms terminate their SEC registration in the aftermath of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) because they no longer require outside funds to finance growth opportunities. Deregistering firms' insiders benefit from greater discretion to consume private benefits without having to raise higher...

This paper investigates how heterogeneous sentiments and perspectives expressed in public online media about the abolition of the Chinese presidential term limit in 2018 may have caused a divergence in investor behavior between the U.S. and China. We document that sentiments expressed in social...

Using variance risk premiums (VRPs) nonparametrically calculated from equity markets in selected major developed economies and emerging market economies (EMEs) over 2007 - 2015, we document the correlation of VRPs across the markets and examine whether equity fund flows work as a path through...