I show that private equity transactions (i) illustrate market-driven reactions to inefficient equity markets that result from the diffusion of equity ownership in the public firm and (ii) form part of a larger market trend to-wards the market oriented blockholder model – a hybrid ownership...

This article reviews the literature on insider trading by SEC employees and discusses ethical issues. It also provides links to more than 20 insider trading articles. Recent research has indicated that some employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission might have engaged in insider...

In the last dozen years, economists have produced a considerable body of research suggesting that the historical origin of a country’s laws is highly correlated with a broad range of its legal rules and regulations, as well as with economic outcomes. Much of this research has dealt with rules...

The Dodd-Frank Act allows the SEC to choose either an internal administrative proceeding or a federal district court as an enforcement venue for resolving violations of federal securities laws. I first document that the SEC increased the use of administrative proceedings after Dodd-Frank. I next...

One of the main goals of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) is to ensure a greater flow of timely and accurate accounting information to investors. While there has been a lot of criticism of SOX, mostly with regard to compliance costs, very little light has been shed on the impact of SOX on...

We examine the effects of Ontario Bill-198 (CSOX-2003), the strictest corporate law in Canada. Despite some drawbacks, we find the Act has added significant value contrary to many practitioners' beliefs. Using a large sample of Canadian tender offers between 1996 and 2009, we find that both...

This study investigates the influence of management over auditor selection decisions during a period in which audit committees have “direct responsibility” for auditor selection. We find that contrary to the intent of SOX, management continues to have significant influence over auditor...

Following SOX, exchanges mandated majority independent boards and defined independence such that some directors could reclassify from non-independent to independent. Because membership is unchanged, reclassifications make a board more independent legally, but not economically. I exploit the...