We define accounting engagement as stakeholders’ actions taken with the intention of influencing corporate reporting. Using this definition, we review the literature on such activism and discuss avenues for research. The evidence reviewed suggests accounting engagement is rare. We reflect on...

Recent research in accounting suggests female directors exert more stringent monitoring over the financial reporting process than their male counterparts. However, an emerging literature in finance and economics provides mixed findings and questions whether females in leadership roles...

Using a sample of Spanish listed firms for the period 1997-2002 we find that firms where the CEO has a low influence over the functioning of the board of directors show a greater degree of accounting conservatism. We measure the influence of the CEO over the board of directors using two...

Conservatism, through the timelier recognition of losses in the income statement, is expected to increase firm investment efficiency through three main channels: (1) by decreasing the adverse effect of information asymmetries between outside equity holders and managers, facilitating the...

We argue that conservatism improves investment efficiency. In particular, we predict that it resolves debt-equity conflicts, facilitating a firm's access to debt financing and limiting underinvestment. This permits the financing of prudent investments that otherwise might not be pursued. Our...