Stock-based compensation (SBC) reduces the value of shareholder equity, ceteris paribus, and is a significant and growing expense for many firms. Despite its valuation implications and its growing importance, anecdotal evidence suggests that market participants ignore SBC in valuation. We first...

Firms facing financial distress must decide how to reduce costs, which often involves choosing between laying off some employees or reducing hours for a larger number. We investigate two questions related to this choice. First, how does the precision of a firm's performance measurement system...

In general, investors respond favorably to firms’ ongoing ESG initiatives. In three experiments, we examine whether their reactions differ across the lifecycle of ESG initiatives. In particular, we predict and find evidence of an “ESG stopping effect.” Even when investors react similarly...

We examine whether vocal markers of cognitive dissonance are useful for detecting financial misreporting. We use speech samples of CEOs during earnings conference calls and generate vocal dissonance markers using automated vocal emotion analysis software. We begin by assessing construct validity...