We investigate whether investors are misled by firms that exclude particular expenses in calculating non-GAAP earnings in order to beat analysts' earnings forecasts. Our empirical analyses suggest that firms that pursue a strategy of non-GAAP reporting to beat analysts' earnings forecasts not...

This paper exploits a regulatory experiment that lifts the margin trading ban in China to examine the real effects of speculative retail investors. Using a regression discontinuity design, I find that margin trading eligibility causes an increase in share turnover and stock prices, and that...

Based on U.S. stock returns from 1973 to 2015, this study found that the asset growth anomaly does not seem to be pervasive and investable. The trading strategy is robust only among a tiny portion of the equity market in terms of both number of stocks and capitalization. In addition to...

We document time varying investor sentiment for corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) performance. We show that announcements of CSR activities generate positive abnormal returns during periods when investors place a valuation premium on CSR performance. In addition, we find that firms...

This study investigates whether firm opacity impacts the investment behaviors and outcomes of retail investors using the fintech brokerage Robinhood (i.e., “RH investors”). We theorize that higher firm opacity leads RH investors to make nonrational investment decisions. The testable...

We review here theory and evidence relating to herd behavior, payoff and reputational interactions, social learning, and informational cascades in capital markets. We offer a simple taxonomy of effects, and evaluate how alternative theories may help explain evidence on the behavior of investors,...

Managerial behavior differs considerably when managers report quarterly profits versus losses. When they report profits, managers seek to just meet or slightly beat analyst estimates. When they report losses, managers do not attempt to meet or slightly beat analyst estimates. Instead, managers...

The SEC's emphasis on the use of plain English is designed to make disclosures more readable and more informative. Using an experiment, I find that more readable disclosures lead to stronger reactions from small investors, so that changes in valuation judgments are more positive when news is...

Recent studies document that market participants react positively to the positive language sentiment or tone embedded in financial disclosures, and that investors' reactions to negative news are more muted with poor disclosure readability. However, while language sentiment and readability...

This paper examines how simultaneous presence of domestic accounting standards of various countries affects market reactions to firms' earnings announcements and subsequent post-earnings announcement drifts (PEAD) in U.S market. Drawing from the finance and accounting literatures on investors'...