We propose that relationship-specific investment induces accounting conservatism and find that at both industry and firm levels a firm's accounting conservatism is positively associated with relationship-specific investment of its customers/suppliers. Further, this association is weaker when...

The year 2007 may well be remembered as a milestone in the development of accounting and financial reporting standards in China, as it was the year that the country's new, substantially IFRS-convergent, accounting standards became compulsory for selected companies. Having evolved from a closed...

We examine how the rent-seeking incentives of local government motivate private firms1 listed in China to establish political connections, and whether such connections lead to more concentrated corporate control structures. Our results show that such firms are more likely to establish political...