While tax avoidance strategies result in greater after-tax cash flows, they can involve uncertain future outcomes, which can impose significant costs on firms. Thus, the extent to which tax avoidance increases firm risk is unclear. This paper re-examines the relation between tax avoidance and...

We investigate the equity valuation effects of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (hereafter PPA 2006). The PPA 2006 has two main provisions: (1) firms must fully fund their pension plans within seven years (previously allowed 30 years to fund 90 percent of the pension liability), and (2) firms...

This paper uses the Ohlson (1995) model and other related literature to theoretically demonstrate that the empirical specification of value relevance models with current or next period's equity price as the dependent variable can be vastly improved when they utilize the most recent prior...

This paper revisits two valuation models based on accounting figures: the Residual Income Valuation (RIV) and Abnormal Earnings Growth (AEG). Our research design has two approaches: i) we demonstrate theoretical integration of both models; and ii) we show in a practical manner that models...

In response to the increasing use of computer programs to process firm disclosures, this registered report develops a new measure of “scriptability” that reflects computerized, rather than human, information processing costs. We validate our measure using SEC filing-derived data from prior...

We examine empirically if the manner of risk-taking in which firms engage is associated with aggressive reporting practices. Theoretical and anecdotal evidence suggests that firms face a tradeoff between risk-taking and managerial opportunism as they seek to produce higher returns. In the period...

This study investigates investor perceptions, proxied by earnings response coefficients (ERCs), of auditor independence-in-appearance as a function of audit and non-audit fees. For a sample of 8,940 firm-years over the 2000-2002 period, we find in separate regressions that ERCs are negatively...

We examine the combined value relevance of book value of equity and net income before and after the mandatory transition to IFRS in Greece. Contrary to our expectations, we find no significant change in the explanatory power of value relevance regressions between the two periods. The...

We analyze a sample of 330 firms making unaudited disclosures required by Section 302 and 383 firms making audited disclosures required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We find that Section 302 disclosures are associated with negative announcement abnormal returns of -1.8 percent, and...

Creditor reliance on accounting-based debt covenants suggests that debtors are potentially concerned with board of director characteristics that influence the financial accounting process. In a sample of Samp;P 500 firms, we find that the cost of debt financing is inversely related to board...