The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 brought wide spread changes to financial reporting. Companies now must report on internal control deficiencies. There are criminal penalties for false certification of financial reports. The new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was established. And audit...

The use of derivative financial instruments has become common among large non-financial firms. Theoretical arguments suggest that firms benefit from the use of foreign exchange derivatives to reduce foreign currency risk exposures, and interest rate derivatives to reduce interest rate risk...

n recent years, German companies report consolidated financial statements under German GAAP, U.S. GAAP, or International Accounting Standards (IAS). Market observers, researchers, and regulators have argued that financial statements prepared under the shareholder (or investor) model, such as...