In this paper, we examine the relation between auditor litigation risk and abnormal accruals over the 1989-2007 time period. We address potential endogeneity in prior studies by jointly modeling abnormal accruals and litigation risk in a simultaneous equation system. Our findings suggest that...

The objective of CEO compensation is to better align CEO-shareholder interests by inducing CEOs to make more optimal (albeit risky) investment decisions. However, recent research suggests that these incentives have a significant down-side(i.e., they motivate executives to manipulate reported...

Prior research suggests that the efficacy of a formally independent member of the board of directors could be undermined by social ties with the CEO. In this study, we examine the relation between CFO/CEO-board social ties and earnings management over the 2000-2007 time period. Our results...

In this paper, we examine religiosity as one determinant of tax avoidance by corporate and individual taxpayers. Prior research suggests a relation between religiosity and risk aversion. Because aggressive tax avoidance strategies involve significant uncertainty and possible penalties and damage...

In recent years, policy makers have expressed concern about the risks posed by audit market concentration (i.e., high market shares for the dominant Big 4 audit firms) for audit quality. In this paper, we examine the relation between concentration at the local (i.e., metropolitan statistical...

In this paper, we examine audit quality for Big 4 and Second-tier auditors during 2003-06. We utilize the auditor's propensity to issue a going concern audit report for distressed clients as a measure of audit quality. In addition, since the purpose of an audit is to improve financial reporting...

We investigate whether reputation concerns provides sufficient incentive for Big Four auditors to provide higher quality audits in ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries where litigation exposure is low or nonexistent. We proxy audit quality based on the quality of reported...

We examine the relation between nonaudit fees and SOX 404 opinions on the effectiveness of a client's internal control over financial reporting. We find a negative association between nonaudit fees and the auditor's propensity to issue an adverse SOX 404 opinion during 2004-2006 (when AS2 was...

In this paper, we examine timely loss reporting for U.S. firms with a dual-class share structure, i.e., firms characterized by a divergence (wedge) between insiders' voting rights and cash flow rights. In our primary analysis, we find compelling evidence that the wedge (quantified by excess...

We examine the consequences of misconduct in a Big 4 firm's nonaudit practice for its audit practice. Specifically, we examine whether KPMG's audit practice suffered a loss of audit fees and clients and/or a decline in factual audit quality following the 2005 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA)...