This study examines whether changes in operational efficiency predict firm performance. Using measures based on frontier analysis as our proxies for operational efficiency, we find that changes in efficiency are positively associated with changes in current and future profitability. We also find...

We find that financial statement comparability enhances the ability of current period returns to reflect future earnings, as measured by the future earnings response coefficient (FERC). Thus, comparability improves the informativeness of stock prices and allows investors to better anticipate...

In this study, we investigate whether managerial ability is related to income smoothing and, if so, whether smoothing associated with managerial ability improves the informativeness of earnings and stock prices about future performance. Using a large sample of firms, we find that managerial...

In this study, we use geographic proximity as a measure of private information and examine the informational role of social media in stock markets. Using a large sample of individual messages (tweets) collected from Twitter during the period July 2011–March 2012, we find that local Twitter...

Although prior studies provide evidence on the financial reporting incentives to inflate core earnings through classification shifting (e.g., shifting core expenses to income-decreasing non-core items), few examine the tax-related incentive to report lower core earnings through classification...

Using analysts' multi-period earnings forecasts, this paper investigates whether analyst forecast errors are related to asset growth and, if so, to what extent analysts' optimism for high-growth firms can explain the asset growth anomaly. We find that analyst forecasts are more optimistic for...

An increasing number of firms repurchase debt and recognize associated accounting losses (rather than gains). However, few studies to date have examined the effect of reporting incentives on debt repurchase decisions. We examine the relation between managers’ bonus incentives and the...

An increasing number of firms repurchase debt and recognize associated accounting losses (rather than gains). However, few studies to date have examined the effect of reporting incentives on debt repurchase decisions. We examine the relation between managers’ bonus incentives and the...

We examine whether and how managers alter their tax avoidance strategies when the country adopts stricter competition laws. Using comprehensive data on competition laws from 44 countries, we find that firms engage in more tax avoidance when the country’s competition laws become stricter. This...