We use a dataset of sell-side analysts' scenario-based equity valuation estimates to examine whether analysts can assess the state-contingent risk surrounding a firm's fundamental value. We find that the spread in analysts' scenario-based valuations captures the riskiness of operations and...

We examine the relation between firms’ prior acquisition experience and subsequent acquisition performance. Based on our sample firms’ complete acquisition histories, we find that acquirers with prior experience in the target industry perform better in subsequent diversifying acquisitions,...

Purpose: This study explores the relation among U.S. audit partners’ characteristics, their career advancement, and audit quality.Design/methodology/approach: This study uses data from PCAOB Form AP and publicly available online data sources. The hand-collected data on audit partners’...

We use confidential, U.S. Census Bureau, plant-level data to investigate aggregation in external reporting. We compare firms’ plant-level data to their published segment reports, conducting our tests by grouping a firm’s plants that share the same four-digit SIC code into a...

We examine the association between mandated Asset Retirement Obligations (ARO), i.e., environmental clean-up costs of normal operations estimated on the balance sheet, and the quality of voluntary ESG disclosures. We hypothesize that when firms recognize larger AROs with higher accuracy that...

This paper studies the effects of international coordination failure on resource allocations. Employing the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement as an experiment, we find that U.S. polluting firms increase their emissions and receive bank financing at lower costs after the sudden...