An analysis of a unique proprietary dataset reveals that non-trivial proportions of directors, CEOs and CFOs in Swedish listed companies have been convicted of crimes. Based on prior literature, we argue that directors and senior executives with prior criminal convictions are more prone to take...

An important aim of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was to reduce cost of capital by enhancing auditor independence. However, prior literature has argued that SOX has been ineffective in meeting this objective. We contribute to this debate by first providing evidence suggesting that auditor...

Revenues and expenses are fundamentally proportional to one another, but are likely to be disproportionally affected by transitory items or economic shocks. We build on this observation and propose a new measure of sustainable earnings based on deviations from normal profit margins. While some...