We compare US firms' earnings with reconciled earnings for cross listed non-US firms. Non-US firms' earnings exhibit more evidence of smoothing, greater tendency to manage towards a target, lower association with share price and less timely recognition of losses. Firms from countries with weaker...

DeFond and Hung [DeFond, M., amp; Hung, M. (2007). Review of Accounting Studies, 12] test the conjecture whether financial analysts, due to demand-side pressure, compensate for the limited usefulness of reported earnings by issuing cash flow forecasts. They find that analysts supplement their...

This paper examines international differences in firms' cost of equity capital across 40 countries. We analyze whether the effectiveness of a country's legal institutions and securities regulation is systematically related to cross-country differences in the cost of equity capital. We employ...

Previous studies (e.g., Sun and Tong, 2003; Wang et al., 2004) show that Share Issue Privatization (SIP) in China did not improve the profitability of State-owned Enterprises (SOEs). This is puzzling given that SIP improves firm profitability almost around the world and China's economic reform is...

I examine the short- and long-term impact of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on cross-listed foreign private issuers. Both short- and long-term test results suggest that the costs of SOX compliance significantly exceed its benefits and reduce the net benefits of cross-listings

DeFond and Hung (2007) test the conjecture whether financial analysts, due to demand-side pressure, compensate for the limited usefulness of reported earnings by issuing cash flow forecasts. They find that analysts supplement their earnings forecasts more frequently with cash flow forecasts in...

Market regulators, commissions and accountancy bodies have recommended the establishment of audit committees as an important step in improving corporate governance. In 2002 the Kenya Capital Markets Authority required all listed companies to establish audit committees. This study examined the...

This study hypothesizes and tests whether the degrees to which managers exercise earnings discretion relates to their value system (i.e., culture) as well as the institutional features (i.e., legal environment) of their country. We find that uncertainty avoidance and individualism dimensions of...

I discuss the analysis in Piotroski and Srinivasan (2008) and how it helps to disentangle the effects of Sarbanes Oxley on observed listing patterns. Since the paper is quite thorough and reflects the comments from many workshop participants, I focus on broader issues. Further, I attempt to...

Using a sample of 185 Chinese IPO firms listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange during the period 1999 to 2001, we show that related party (RP) sales of goods and services could be used opportunistically to manage earnings upwards in the pre-IPO period. We also provide evidence that such behavior...