Prior research argues that sequential decisions lead to a slippery slope toward unethical or fraudulent behavior, with little evidence to support such claims. We conduct two experiments which demonstrate the existence of the slippery slope in a controlled setting, and investigate how it leads...

Prior literature finds that short selling is beneficial to the market because it increases liquidity and helps to discipline optimistic market prices. In this paper we use two controlled experiments to examine the potential for an unintended consequence of allowing short selling or easing short...

Prior research finds that individuals struggle to detect deception at rates better than chance, and that this extends to accounting settings where users evaluate the veracity of management's claims. However, these findings relate to settings where individuals make conscious judgments about...

This paper examines how the reversibility of the accounting effect of asset impairments affects managers' investment decisions. We conduct two experiments in which participants act as CEO of a multi-division electronics company that suffers a large asset impairment at one of the divisions....

This paper examines how the reversibility of the accounting effect of asset impairments affects managers' investment decisions. We conduct two experiments in which participants act as CEO of a multi-division electronics company that suffers a large asset impairment at one of the divisions....

Prior studies document that managers consider a variety of costs and benefits in their decisions to initiate earnings guidance. Using both an abstract experiment and a survey of experienced financial managers, we provide evidence that managerial overconfidence may also contribute to the decision...

We test whether investors react more strongly to narrative disclosures when the CEO's presence or association with the message is more salient in the disclosure, holding all other information constant. In our first experiment, we manipulate whether a CEO uses more personal pronouns (e.g.,...

We use an experiment with experienced managers to provide more-direct evidence on how reporting goals and firm performance influence language choices. We find that bad news disclosures are less readable than good news, but only when managers have a stronger self-enhancement motive. Our results...

This paper independently replicates the results of the survey of experienced financial managers reported in section 4 of Libby and Rennekamp (2012). Using the same questions as Libby and Rennekamp (2012), we survey 110 experienced managers to examine their beliefs about the relationship between...

We review recent behavioral studies of the effects of regulation on earnings management and accounting choice. Our review examines the impact of financial reporting, auditing, and other corporate governance regulations on the beliefs and choices of managers, auditors and corporate directors....