This paper examines the market reaction to and earnings management choices around changes in the regulations requiring a higher minimum dividend payout in China. We exploit the unique Chinese setting that facilitates identification of the agency cost effect to shed new light on the determinants...

This paper evaluates the hypothesis that the difference between reported earnings and permanent earnings approximates zero, on average. We measure a firm's permanent earnings using its stock price, and the short term interest rate determines the permanent earnings to price relation. The...