We analyze the changes in capital market risk measures following the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002 for publicly-traded insurers. The most substantive impact occurs for life insurers, who experience significant increases in all risk measures, although we also document...

Directors help determine the strategic direction of a corporation and are responsible for ensuring the institution has a good system of internal control. Banking institutions without a strategic direction emphasizing sound lending practices that promote the long-run financial health and...

Deposit insurance is a put option that encourages excessive risk taking by banks. Excess litigation against a bank, a form of operational risk, is one indicator of risk because litigation often reflects a failure to maintain a strong system of internal control. We analyze five different measures...

Excessive (substantially above peer) litigation against a bank is indicative of operational risk because it often suggests failure to maintain a strong system of internal control. We examine the relation between bank performance and weak internal control using legal expense as a proxy. We find...

We provide evidence that when more than half of a firm's voting shareholders disapprove of the executive pay plan, the spillover effects are significantly positive for peers of non-financial firms and significantly negative for peers of financial firms. The valuation effects are positively...

We investigate the factors that influence the variance in hospital charges and inpatient care for kidney transplant cases in the US. Using the AHRQ's (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) HCUP's (Hospital Cost and Utilization Project) NIS (National Inpatient Sample) database, we find that...