Disclosure of executive compensation schemes has been made mandatory over the past decade in many countries including the UK and the US. Firms however tend not to fully disclose the functional form of their executive compensation schemes. This paper provides a rationale for the lack of voluntary...

This paper investigates whether M&A operations influence the performance of banks. Using a sample of 714 deals involving EU acquirers and targets located throughout the world over the period 1991-2005, we investigate whether M&A operations are associated with improved performance (using both...

This paper introduces a model seeking to explain the discretionary write-downs, write-offs, and other restructuring provisions reported by managers. The model comprises a firm, a manager, and a financial market. The firm is about to be restructured. The manager has some private information about...

The last decades have seen a dramatic increase in litigation against auditors. This paper introduces a model, in which auditors differ in their levels of skill, where differences in levels of skill may or may not be observable and reflect differences in knowledge or audit technology. This model...

This paper introduces a model of the market for audit services in which auditors differ in their levels of skill, which may or may not be observable and capture differences in ability. The model captures the interplay amongst auditing standards, litigation, and auditors’ levels of skill, which...