The term “audit style” is used to characterize the unique set of internal working rules of each Big 4 audit firm for the implementation of auditing standards, and the enforcement of GAAP within their clienteles. Audit style implies that two companies audited by the same Big 4 auditor,...

We use hand-collected audit partner data to show that approximately one-third of clients are audited by partners located more than 100 kilometers away from the clients' corporate headquarters. We explore the role that partner location plays in audits by first modeling how it affects the matching...

Prior studies document a Delaware incorporation effect on firm valuation, generally using Tobin's Q, but the directional effects are mixed and inconclusive. Our study uses implied cost of equity to assess valuation, and we find consistent evidence that firms incorporated outside of their home...

Prior studies document a Delaware incorporation effect on firm valuation, generally using Tobin's Q, but the directional effects are mixed and inconclusive. Our study uses implied cost of equity to assess valuation, and we find consistent evidence that firms incorporated outside of their home...

This study investigates whether differences in accounting standards across countries create information costs that inhibit firms from investing in foreign markets. Using the frequency and dollar magnitude of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) from 32 countries over the period 1998-2004,...

In most European countries, U.S.-owned subsidiaries are required by law to file separate entity financial statements in local GAAP. We use this unique institutional setting to examine whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) had a flow-through effect on the earnings quality of local GAAP...

The association of a country's investor protection regime with the quality of reported earnings is examined for a large sample of firms from 42 countries. Three attributes of earnings are evaluated: the magnitude of abnormal accruals, the likelihood of reporting losses, and earnings conservatism...

Prior research finds that clients of high-quality auditors report higher quality GAAP earnings. We extend this research to investigate whether auditor quality is associated with the quality of voluntarily disclosed non-GAAP earnings measures. Using a sample of Australian firms disclosing annual...

Accounting accruals are managers' subjective estimates of future outcomes and cannot, by definition, be objectively verified by auditors prior to occurrence. This causes audits of high-accrual firms to pose more uncertainty than audits of low-accrual firms because of potential estimation error...