“Measurement error biases against [finding results]” is an often-repeated phrase used to dismiss validity threats arising from measurement error. As a general rule, this phrase is false. We provide examples of commonly encountered circumstances where the variable of interest is...

This paper examines whether market participants infer negative information about future unexpected firm performance when managers adhere to pre-determined scripts when responding to questions during earnings conference calls. I argue that managers respond to questions from prepared scripts to...

Given the lack of diversity among senior executives of U.S. public companies, we investigate whether ethnic minority analysts face unique barriers to management access. We find managers are less likely to select minority analysts to participate in the Q&A session of public earnings conference...

This study develops an ex-ante measure of the likelihood of future corporate income tax settlements using qualitative (i.e., language) and quantitative information (i.e., firm fundamentals) from the Form 10-K. We find that both qualitative and quantitative information are incrementally useful in...

Despite the prevalence and importance of humor in interpersonal communication, the disclosure literature is silent on the use of humor in the context of corporate communications. We examine analysts' and managers' use of humor during public earnings conference calls. Using a sample of nearly...

Despite the prevalence and importance of humor in interpersonal communication, the disclosure literature is silent on the use of humor in the context of corporate communication. Using a sophisticated machine learning algorithm, we identify managers’ successful uses of humor during public...

Prior research suggests that: (1) politically active firms have an information advantage over firms that do not engage in the political process, but also that (2) politically active firms are more likely to disclose policy-related information. We examine whether there are externalities...