Prior studies document that social capital influences managers' propensity to seek private rents. We extend this line of literature by linking regional crime rates, an indicator of extreme breakdown of social capital, to corporate reporting behaviours such as earnings management and tax...

By analyzing a large panel of elections in 55 countries, we show that political uncertainty surrounding elections can affect asymmetric cost responses to activity changes (i.e., cost stickiness). In comparison to non-election years, we find that the asymmetry in cost behaviors is stronger during...

In analyzing a large panel of elections in 56 countries for the period 1989-2012, we show that political uncertainty surrounding elections can affect asymmetric cost behaviors to activity changes (i.e., cost stickiness). The asymmetry in cost behaviors is stronger during election years than in...

We examine the relation between labor union strength and investment efficiency using comprehensive firm-level data of Korean listed companies. We find that the perceived underinvestment related to unionization documented in previous studies is attributable to a negative relation between union...

This paper examines the influence of dividend covenants in corporate bonds on investment and operating performance. Prior literature analytically demonstrates that by limiting dividend distribution to shareholders, dividend restrictions effectively place a minimum on investment expenditures...

We study manufacturing firms' asymmetric inventory investment in response to sales changes. Focusing on the costs of resource adjustment and stockout which likely differ in sales-increasing and sales-decreasing periods, we predict and find that inventory investment declines less during periods...

This study explores audit implications of shared leadership in client firms. Shared leadership via co-CEO appointments may lead to either suboptimal or optimal managerial decisions, depending on the conflicting or complementary dynamics between multiple CEOs. Analyzing data from 2002 to 2013 of...

We examine how labor-friendly institutional features, i.e., laborism, relate to corporate investment efficiency in labor in a sample that represents 33 countries during 1996 to 2012. We consider various dimensions of laborism such as the presence of left-leaning government, rigidity of employee...

The literature suggests that the presence of a labor union poses operational risk for firms by reducing operating flexibility. We posit that managers stockpile inventory in response to their heightened operational risk, such as potential strikes, so that managers maintain bargaining power in...