This paper studies the monitoring role of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). By using unique dataset from one of the largest SWF: Temasek holdings, we find that SWF's presence has a positive effect on cash holdings of portfolio companies. The effect is more pronounced for well-governed firms,...

Numerous influential critics and corporate managers allege that activist investors demand changes that increase short-term stock prices at the expense of long-term shareholder value (“short-termism”). Research to-date focuses on hedge funds. We provide new evidence by using a larger sample...

We examine the relation between four dimensions of national culture and earnings quality of banks using a sample of banks from 39 countries. We conduct our analyses over two sample periods, one spanning the pre-financial crisis (i.e., the period 1993-2006) and the other spanning the financial...

From business to politics and academia, the economic effects of restrictions of high-skilled migration are under scrutiny. We examine and quantify the effects of the restrictions on corporate directors' mobility on the firm market value. Using two unexpected events – the outcome of the EU...

We study the effects of country-level accounting enforcement on earnings quality of banks and whether bank regulation substitutes or complements the effect of accounting enforcement on bank earnings quality. We also examine whether the influence of accounting enforcement on bank earnings quality...

Non-financial performance measures, such as Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) measures, are potentially leading indicators of firms' financial performance. I draw on the prior academic literature and the concept of ESG materiality to develop new corporate governance and ESG...

Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to assess the association between country-level corporate governance and earnings management. It aims to investigate whether the Governance Metrics International (GMI; acquired by Morgan Stanley Capital International in 2014) rating for national...

This paper examines whether dividend policy is associated with earnings management and whether the relationship varies across countries with wide-ranging degrees of institutional strength and transparency. Based on a sample of 23,429 corporations from 29 countries, we show that dividend payers...

Financial reports should provide useful information to shareholders and creditors. Directors, however, normally owe fiduciary duties to equity holders, not creditors. We examine whether this slant in fiduciary duties affects the likelihood that firms will use financial engineering to circumvent...