We extend recent research on the links between political connections and financial reporting by examining the role of auditor choice. Our evidence that public firms with political connections are more likely to appoint a Big Four auditor supports the intuition that insiders in these firms are...

We analyze the importance of policy uncertainty to textual disclosure in the U.S. over the 1996 to 2015 period. We find that policy uncertainty increases textual disclosure length, lowers readability, and increases the tone of uncertainty and negativity. Our strong, robust evidence implies that...

We analyze the importance of policy uncertainty to textual disclosure in the U.S. over the 1996 to 2015 period. Consistent with the information-acceleration view, we find that policy uncertainty increases textual disclosure quantity evident in disclosure length. We also document that policy...

The scarcity of suitable proxies for asymmetric information has impeded empirical research from providing reliable evidence on whether information risk shapes equity pricing. In re-examining this unresolved question, we rely on firms' geographic distance from financial centers to gauge...

For a sample comprised of 36,105 U.S. firm-year observations from 1985 to 2008, we find that firms located in more religious counties enjoy cheaper equity financing costs. This result is robust to a battery of sensitivity tests, including alternative assumptions and model specifications,...