We ask nearly 400 CFOs about the definition and drivers of earnings quality, with a special emphasis on the prevalence and detection of earnings misrepresentation. CFOs believe that the hallmarks of earnings quality are sustainability, absence of one-time items, and backing by actual cash flows....

Using realized earnings over long periods of time, we investigate errors in earnings expectations implied by stock prices of firms. We compute lifetime earnings for 16,386 (3,711) domestic firms that started trading after (existed as of) January 1, 1975 for the years 1975-2019 and compare such...

The competitive target pay policy sets a target amount of total compensation within a specified range of the amount paid to executive peers. If such a policy were widely adopted by compensation committees, we would observe a negative cross-sectional association between the stock price...

The competitive target pay policy sets a target dollar number for total CEO compensation within a specified range of the amounts paid to a CEO’s peers chosen from similar sized firms in the same industry. If such a policy were widely adopted by compensation committees, we would observe a...