In Chapter 2, "Accounting for Cross-Country Differences in Intergenerational Earnings Persistence: The Impact of Taxation and Public Education Expenditure," I study the determinants of cross-country differences in intergenerational earnings persistence between fathers and sons. Western economies...

This thesis consists of three chapters, each of which focuses on different aspects of economic inequality.First, we investigate the differences in wage inequality between the United States and continental European countries (CEU). Wage inequality has been significantly higher in the US compared...

This article documents the long-horizon mean reverting character of annual earnings and tests the implications of such mean reversion for security valuation. First, both theory-based and nonparametric measures of earnings persistence decrease as the estimation order increases, revealing 40...

This paper investigates the association between corporate governance mechanisms and earnings quality after the implementation of the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance in 2001. Using 1625 firm-year observations during the period 2003-2007, we tested whether corporate governance variables are...

This paper investigates whether firm corporate governance practices have an effect on the quality of its publicly released financial information. Researchers carrying out earnings quality research usually relies on Dechow and Dichev (2002), Leuz et al (2003), Penman (2001) or Barton and Simko...

This research is motivated by the fact that there is a paucity of research on the earnings management practices of banks in Australia. Research on the practices of North American, European and Asian banks provided conflicting evidence. In this study, we examine whether Australian banks engage in...

In this paper, we model earnings management as a consequence of the interaction among self-interested economic agents -- namely, the managers, the shareholders, and the regulators. In our model, a manager controls a stochastic production technology and makes periodic accounting reports about his...

Earnings and book value are commonly used as the basis for firm valuation. However, the reliability of earnings, as indicated by earnings management, may affect its relevance in determining firm value. This thesis investigates the link between earnings management and firm valuation by assessing...

This study adds to the earnings guidance debate by investigating whether quarterly guidance is related to two forms of earnings management: (1) benchmark beating and (2) accounting irregularities. Using a post-Regulation Fair Disclosure sample, I find that firms regularly issuing earnings...

This thesis comprises of three essays. The first essay is titled 'Do Acquiring Firms Manage Earnings?' and is co-authored with Professor Anand M. Vijh. The second essay is titled 'Do Firms Have a Target Leverage? Evidence from Credit Markets' and is joint work with Professors Anand M. Vijh and...