Campbell, Lettau, Malkiel and Xu (2001) document that firms' stock returns have become more volatile in the U.S. since 1960. We hypothesize and find that deteriorating earnings quality is associated with higher idiosyncratic return volatility over 1962-2001. These results are robust to...

We investigate how managers’ decisions to file audited financial reports prior to SEC reporting deadlines relate to the economic role of mandatory reporting. Contrary to the view that audited financial reports will be more informative when they are filed earlier, we find that managers file...

We investigate whether auditor verification of internal controls over financial reporting (i.e., ICFR verification) affects a firm’s likelihood of voluntary disclosure and investor’s perception of firm’s voluntary disclosure decisions. We exploit a recent amendment to Smaller Reporting...

We examine whether vocal markers of cognitive dissonance are useful for detecting financial misreporting. We use speech samples of CEOs during earnings conference calls and generate vocal dissonance markers using automated vocal emotion analysis software. We begin by assessing construct validity...

We examine the role of general counsel (GC) in firms’ financial reporting quality. GCs have a broad oversight role within the firm, including keeping the firm in compliance with laws and regulations and dealing with potential violations with respect to financial reporting. Several high profile...