We examine the role of interest rate sensitivity for bank acquisitions. We expect that the interest rate sensitivity of a bank impacts the likelihood that it is acquired as the fair value of fixed rate loans increases (decrease) when interest rates decrease (increase) while book values remain...

We examine how auditors respond to news coverage of their firm and evaluate the extent to which national news outlets function as a watchdog over audit firms. We find that when media coverage includes issues specific to audit conduct (i.e., restatements, adverse internal control opinions, or...

The earnings season represents a key information discovery period for market participants. During an earnings season, components of firm performance can be derived from both the firms’ earnings announcement and the disclosures of peer firms reporting earlier in the earnings season. We examine...

We examine the effects of local newspapers on firms’ information environments. With newspaper employment dropping precipitously in the last few decades, we posit that these changes will have a detrimental effect on local firms’ information environments. Consistent with local news improving...

This study examines managers’ strategic use of concurrent disclosures around the announcement of negative material events. We predict and find that managers disclosing negative 8-K news are more likely to issue a concurrent press release about an unrelated event relative to a press release...

This paper investigates the role of manager perception in proprietary disclosure decisions. I find robust evidence that firms with overconfident CEOs (managers who are more likely to perceive proprietary costs to be lower) provide significantly more narrative R&D disclosures than firms without...

We investigate executive employment gaps (hereafter, gaps) between the appointment of an external CEO at a public firm and the individual's prior executive position at a public company. These gaps cannot be reliably obtained from common databases. We hand collect data for externally hired CEOs...

We examine the ability of insiders of firms with operational connections to China to anticipate the COVID-19 stock market crash. The COVID-19 crash provides a unique identification opportunity to study insiders' informational advantages due to its sudden and historic nature. We find that China...

Litigation poses a significant business risk for auditors. We argue that auditors learn from other auditors' litigation events and examine the consequences of such events for future accounting misstatements. Using a hand-collected sample of auditor litigation events, we find a significant...

Litigation poses a significant business risk for auditors. We argue that litigation events involving other auditors' deter audit firms from providing low quality audits. We find a significant subsequent decrease in the misstatement frequency of financial reports in within-industry audits...