Most accounting studies use only public enforcement actions (SEC cases) to measure accounting fraud. However, private cases (securities class actions) also play an important enforcement role. We discuss the legal standards and processes for both public and private enforcement regimes, emphasize...

This study examines whether and how weak internal controls increase the risk of financial reporting fraud by top managers. There is a longstanding debate on whether control strength significantly affects fraud risk, yet little evidence on this issue. Further, there is no evidence on the...

In response to financial reporting scandals, Congress and the securities exchanges mandated increases in board and audit committee independence and banned most non-audit services. We exploit these exogenous shocks to examine whether these governance reforms reduced financial reporting fraud....