This study examines the influence of institutional environment on capital structure and debt maturity choices by examining a cross-section of firms in 39 developed and developing countries. We find that a country's legal and tax system, the level of corruption and the preferences of capital...

Where legal systems and market forces enforce contracts inadequately, vertical integration can circumvent these transaction difficulties. But, such environments often also feature highly interventionist government, and even corruption. Vertical integration might then enhance returns to political...

Weak institutions ought to deter foreign direction investment (FDI), and mass media stories highlight China's institutional deficiencies, yet China is now one of the world's largest FDI destinations. This incongruity characterizes China's paradoxical growth. Cross-country regressions show that...

This paper compares the value of political ties and market credibility in China by examining the consequence of corporate scandals. We categorize Chinese corporate scandals by whether the scandal is primarily associated with the destruction of i) the firm's political networks (political...

Property rules of China's partial share issue privatization have created rent-seeking incentives for politicians that may hurt the performance and corporate governance of newly listed state enterprises. This study reports that almost 28% of the CEOs in the sample of 625 firms are ex- or current...

From the U.S. accounting scandals to the emerging markets crisis of 1997-1998, there have been numerous examples of managers or large shareholders using related party transactions to manipulate earnings or divert resources away from their companies. This paper attempts to provide large sample...

We find that analysts' forecast errors are predicted by past accounting accruals (adjustments to cash flows to obtain reported earnings) among both equity issuers and non-issuers. Analysts are more optimistic for the subsequent four years for issuers reporting higher issue-year accruals. The...

In an effort to increase the credibility of financial information in its emerging capital markets, China recently adopted rigorous new auditing standards designed to increase auditor independence. Consistent with increased auditor independence, we find that the frequency of modified opinions...

This paper examines the earnings patterns of initial public offering (IPO) firms in China to shed light on the role of earnings management in the quot;financial packagingquot; of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for public listing. We base our analysis on the case of B-Shares and H-Shares...

This paper examines the pyramidal organizational structure of newly listed local-government-controlled firms in China. These controlling owners are constrained by the Chinese laws prohibiting free transfer of state ownership. Pyramiding allows them to credibly decentralize decision rights to...