We investigate whether income smoothing affects the usefulness of earnings for contracting through the monitoring role of earnings-based debt covenants. First, we examine initial contract design and predict that income smoothing will increase (decrease) the use of earnings-based covenants if...

Prior research suggests that the fear of litigation precludes most managers from manipulating earnings in the initial public offering (“IPO”) setting. Yet, managers' restraint is perhaps unwarranted: research has not yet linked instances of aggressive pre-IPO reporting to increased...

The wide-spread use of rank and file equity-based compensation suggests that executives believe that rank and file employees can affect firm outcomes, and some research supports this view. If equity-based incentives influence rank and file employees' productive efforts, they might also influence...

We examine the relation between accounting conservatism and creditor recovery rates for firms in default. We also test the link between conservatism and the length of distress resolution proceedings. We find creditors of firms with more conservative accounting prior to default have significantly...