We examine the unintended consequences of the 2005 increase in the asset threshold for FDICIA internal control reporting requirements from $500 million to $1 billion. We focus on a test sample of banks that grew from between $100 million to $500 million in assets prior to the change in...

We show that a mid-2000s increase in US extraterritorial enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), characterized by greater international regulatory cooperation and more frequent use of the FCPA's accounting provisions, has a significant deterrent effect on foreign direct...

We study the role of internal control in tax avoidance by evaluating the efficacy of the COSO framework in tax risk management. First, we use a comprehensive COSO-based index in China that covers a firm's internal control over not only financial reporting, but also operations and compliance....

To protect investors, regulators increasingly rely on regulating firms' internal controls over financial reporting, but they punish noncompliance only if an internal control weakness enabled accounting manipulation. In other words, enforcement is manipulation-contingent. We develop an economic...

Regulations implemented by the SEC in 2003 and 2004 simultaneously shortened the financial statement filing deadlines and increased the preparation time required for both the financial statements and the related audit of accelerated filers (AFs). However, there were indirect, unintended negative...

Non-compliant firms required to raise board independence by the 2003 NYSE and NASDAQ listing rules significantly increased their dividend payouts and held less cash reserves. As the crisis unfolded, they were more likely to reduce investment and ultimately under-performed compliant firms. The...