We investigate how firm cost structure influences the information environment by studying the relation between the degree of operating leverage, earnings properties, and the usefulness of earnings to shareholders. Because the degree of operating leverage increases the impact of the incremental...

We study CEO successions to investigate the factors that lead a firm to select an individual with CFO experience for their CEO and whether appointing a former CFO leads to systematic changes in financial reporting, disclosure, and tax policies relative to other CEO appointments. Consistent with...

We argue that a firm’s suppliers and customers prefer it to account more conservatively due to information asymmetry and these stakeholders’ asymmetric payoffs with respect to the firm’s performance. We predict that a firm meets this demand for accounting conservatism when suppliers or...