The exercise price of stock options is typically the closing stock price on the option grant dates, so managers can potentially benefit from low stock prices on those dates. Prior studies find that on average, managers issue more pessimistic guidance before than after grant dates. They interpret...

This paper examines the link between managers' equity incentives - arising from stock-based compensation and stock ownership - and earnings management. We hypothesize that managers with high equity incentives are more likely to sell shares in the future and this motivates these managers to...

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...

Despite displaying a statistically significant optimism bias, analysts' earnings forecasts are an important input to investors' valuation models. Understanding the possible reasons for any bias is important if information is to be extracted from earnings forecasts and used optimally by...

We demonstrate the role of three empirical properties of cross-sectional distributions of analysts' forecast errors in generating evidence pertinent to three important and heretofore separately analyzed phenomena studied in the analyst earnings forecast literature: purported bias (intentional or...

We investigate potential costs experienced by firms that repeatedly have large quarterly earnings surprises during a condensed period of time. Consistent with our predictions, our univariate results indicate that surprise firms have lower analyst following, lower institutional ownership, and...

We examine whether firms with greater financial statement complexity are more likely to meet or beat analysts' earnings expectations. We proxy for financial statement complexity using the firm's industry and year adjusted accounting policy disclosure length. Firms with more complex financial...

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...