This study explores whether unionized municipalities use aspects of governmental (or “fund”) accounting to obscure the amount of resources available through the use of fund balance accounts. I first investigate whether governments with unions report more resources outside of the general...

We examine whether accounting measures of information uncertainty – specifically, the presence of internal control problems – impact municipal bond markups. Markups are the differences between the prices paid by investors and those stipulated in the underwriting agreement, and are a source...

We find that mean municipal debt costs are greater following financial restatement disclosures. Comparisons of the relative use of municipal debt, and of the use of unsecured versus secured debt, corroborate that financial restatements increase the cost of municipal debt financing. Additional...