Restatements are made to correct material errors in companies' financial statements previously filed with SEC. Companies try to avoid restatements because a restatement itself would raise the question of whether the management has been playing the "Numbers Game". My dissertation is motivated by...

We examine the impact of adverse auditors' opinions on clients' internal control over financial reporting (ICFR), issued under SOX Section 404, on auditor dismissals. Companies receiving adverse ICFR opinions are more likely to subsequently dismiss their auditors. This association between...

Most earnings restatements are blamed on error, or misunderstanding of GAAP, but suspicion persists that many of these restatements are instead due to intentional earnings management. We analyze balance sheet bloat, or unusually high levels of working capital account balances, for evidence of...

We examine the market reaction to a sample of 403 restatements announced from 1995 to 1999. We document an average abnormal return of about -9 percent over a two-day announcement window. We find that more negative returns are associated with restatements involving fraud, affecting more accounts,...