We study the relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and internal control quality by empirically testing that CSR can be used to reduce managers' agency behaviors. Consistent with this agency cost hypothesis, we find that CSR indeed improves the firms' internal control environment...

Studying a sample of Japanese firms, we examine whether foreign investors exert a significant influence on earnings management through manipulation of real activities. We find that foreign investors play an independent role in restraining real earnings management, as captured by abnormal cash...

We examine whether debt covenant violations serve as an important determinant of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting. Motivated by the debt covenant hypothesis, we posit that the probability of ineffective internal control is expected to be significantly higher for...