General evidence exists to indicate that managers manage earnings at three common earnings thresholds: analyst forecasts, prior period earnings, and zero earnings. We examine one market-based motivation suggested for this behavior. If managers perceive the market penalty for barely missing an...

We measure managerial affective states during earnings conference calls by analyzing conference call audio files using vocal emotion analysis software. We hypothesize and find that when managers are scrutinized by analysts during conference calls, positive and negative affect displayed by...

Valuation theory, investment managers, financial analysts, and textbooks advocating horizontal financial statement analysis suggest that the change in earnings growth (earnings acceleration) conveys value relevant information. We test this assertion using a large sample of U.S. firms. Results...

The discontinuities at zero in the frequency distributions of reported net income (deflated by beginning-of-period market capitalization), deflated change in net income, I/B/E/S quot;actualquot; earnings, and analysts' forecast errors are the most widely cited evidence of earnings management. We...

This paper investigates the possibility of false signaling by firms announcing open-market stock repurchases. We examine a sample of 281 open-market share repurchases, with the self-styled reason of undervaluation, by firms between 1993 and 1998. Our results showed no evidence of an upward...

I examine the market's efficiency in processing manipulated accounting reports and provide an explanation for the post-merger underperformance anomaly. I find strong evidence suggesting that acquiring firms overstate their earnings in the quarter preceding a stock swap announcement. I also find...

This paper examines the interaction between an analyst's disclosure and a manager's earnings report. We show how the nature of the analyst's information affects the quality of reported earnings. We also provide conditions for the analyst's disclosure to reduce the quality of investor information...

We examine market participants' reactions to dividend changes conditional on earnings quality. We define earnings quality as the extent to which current earnings are associated with one-year, two-year, or three-year ahead operating cash flows. Controlling for the magnitude of the dividend...

We examine how accounting transparency and investor base jointly affect financial analysts' expectations of mispricing (i.e., expectations of stock price deviations from fundamental value). Within a range of transparency, these two factors interactively amplify analysts' expectations of...

We examine whether analysts include the managed earnings component in their forecasts or are surprised by the managed earnings component. We also investigate whether analysts' earnings forecasts for future periods and their stock recommendations are affected by earnings management in the current...