We examine whether Canadian firms issuing convertible debt over the period 1996ndash;2003 structured issuances to minimize reported leverage. Over this sample period, some firms using payment-in-kind (PIK) provisions providing them with the option to make interest and/or principal payments in...

This study explores how firms' ownership structures affect their earnings quality and long-term performance. Focusing on a unique sample of private firms for which there is financial data available in the years before and after their initial public offering (IPO), I differentiate between those...

This study analyzes determinants and effects of differences between Domestic Accounting Standards (DAS) and International Accounting Standards (IAS). We use an extensive list of differences between DAS and IAS to create two indices, absence and divergence. Absence measures the extent to which...

This study examines whether adoption in 2003 of FASB Interpretation No. 46/R (FIN 46), Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities – an Interpretation of ARB No. 51, changes the cost of capital for affected firms. Using comparative analysis on a broad sample of 11,719 firm-quarter observations...

We provide evidence on the characteristics of local-GAAP reported earnings for firms choosing to cross list in US markets relative to both a matched sample of foreign firms currently not choosing to cross list and a matched sample of US firms. Our evidence suggests that cross-listing firms...

We provide evidence on the characteristics of local-GAAP earnings for firms cross listing on US exchanges relative to a matched sample of foreign firms currently not cross listing in the US to investigate whether US listing is associated with differences in accounting data reported in local...

This paper examines how the quality of firm information disclosure affects shareholders' use of dividends to mitigate agency problems. Managerial compensation is linked to firm value. However, because the manager and shareholders are asymmetrically informed, the manager can manipulate the firm's...

Recent studies and some policy experts have posited that dividends indicate higher quality earnings. In this study, we test this conjecture by comparing the dividend policies of firms accused of accounting fraud to those of firms not accused of accounting fraud. Specifically, we examine whether...

The concept of residual income has become popular in recent years due, in part, to the Ohlson 1995 article on residual income valuation. Since Ohlson assumed clean surplus accounting in that article, the concept of residual income and clean surplus accounting have become intimately linked in the...

This paper examines the shareholders' perceptions of the costs and benefits associated with the use of pooling-of-interests by investigating the market's reaction to the SEC's adoption of SAB 96. This regulation forced firms to choose between using pooling-of-interests and maintaining their...