We investigate the association between disclosures about key value drivers (i.e., growth, synergies, human capital, brands, customers and technology) in press releases announcing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals and acquirer stock returns upon the announcement. We find that, after...

Under IFRS, managers can use two approaches to increase the estimated fair value of goodwill in order to justify not recognizing impairment: (1) make overly optimistic valuation assumptions, and (2) increase future cash flow forecasts by inflating current cash flows. Because enforcement...

We analyze the effect of business and financial market cycles on credit ratings using a sample of firms from the Russell 3000 index that are rated by Standard and Poor’s over the period 1986-2012. We also examine investor reaction to credit rating actions in different stages of business and...