We find that firms are more likely to manage earnings upward when their earnings would otherwise fall short of expected dividend levels. This earnings management behavior appears to significantly impact the likelihood of a dividend cut. Firms whose discretionary accruals cause reported earnings...

We examine how incentives embedded in managerial compensation contracts are priced by the bond and stock markets. Specifically, the incentives we consider are the sensitivity of CEO wealth to stock price (delta) and the sensitivity of CEO wealth to stock-return volatility (vega). Controlling for...

In this study, we take a comprehensive look at asymmetry in pay for luck, which is the finding that CEOs are rewarded for good luck, but are not penalized to the same extent for bad luck. Our main takeaway –– based on over 200 different specifications –– is that there is no asymmetry in...

Our goal is to document the causal impact of having a board-level risk committee (RC) and a management-level executive designated as chief risk officer (CRO) on bank risk. The Dodd Frank Act requires bank holding companies with over $10 billion of assets to have an RC, while those with over $50...

We document the impact of having a risk committee (RC) and a chief risk officer (CRO) on bank risk using the passage of the Dodd Frank Act as a natural experiment. The Act requires bank holding companies with over $10B of assets to have an RC to oversee risk management, while those with over...

We study the role of foreign directors in U.S. firms. We conclude that foreign directors, especially those from countries that are dissimilar to the U.S. in terms of business environment (i.e., dissimilar directors), are chosen by multinational corporations (MNCs) to provide advice, and this...

We document the impact of having a risk committee (RC) and a chief risk officer (CRO) on bank risk using the passage of the Dodd Frank Act as a natural experiment. The Act requires bank holding companies with over $10B of assets to have an RC to oversee risk management, while those with over...