We examine the impact of SFAS 133, Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities, on the reporting behavior of commercial banks and the informativeness of their financial statements. We argue that, because mandatory recognition of hedge ineffectiveness under SFAS 133 reduced...

This study examines the effect of the readability of firm written communication on the behavior of sell-side financial analysts. Using a measure of the readability of corporate 10-K filings, we document that analyst following, the amount of effort incurred to generate their reports, and the...

When firms are forced to publicly disclose financial information, credit rating agencies are supposed to improve their risk assessments. Theory predicts such an information quality effect but also an adverse reputational concerns effect because credit analysts may become increasingly concerned...

This study examines the informativeness of firm disclosures related to COVID-19 in earnings conference calls and annual reports (10-K) during the first quarter of 2020 when firms face tremendous uncertainty and little regulatory guidance. We find that investors react to COVID-19 related...

We provide archival evidence on how a particular type of supplementary information affects the credibility of management earnings forecasts. Managers often provide detailed forecasts of specific income statement line items to shed light on how they plan to achieve their bottom-line earnings...

This study examines the effects of the interactions among IFRS adoption, analyst coverage and cross-listings in the U.S. on the voluntary disclosure of Brazilian public companies. We document a significant positive shift on voluntary disclosure incentives among cross-listed firms from the IFRS...

U.S. corporations are obligated to file financial statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system containing millions of financial statements is one of the most important sources of corporate...

Defining and measuring readability in the context of financial disclosures becomes important with the increasing use of textual analysis and the SEC's plain English initiative. We propose defining readability as the effective communication of valuation relevant information. The Fog Index — the...

Based on the ongoing disclosure overload debate, this paper investigates how deregulation-driven decreases in quarterly disclosure affect information asymmetry. We exploit a German setting in which the minimum content requirements for quarterly reporting have been reduced for firms listed in the...

Tax return information is often complex and difficult to interpret. Whether its public availability benefits unsophisticated users remains an empirical question. This study examines whether public disclosure of tax return information affects information asymmetry among more- and less-...