We examine the influence of face-based judgments of CFO/CEO honesty on earnings management for the largest publicly traded companies in America. After controlling for incentives and opportunities to manage earnings, CFOs and CEOs perceived to be less honest engage in higher levels of both...

We examine the determinants of target ownership plans and their association with earnings management. We find that firms adopt target ownership plans not only in response to poor performance as documented by prior research, but also as a means to mitigate moral hazard concerns and in response to...

This instructional case presents the problems that began in the summer of 2015 when Home Capital Group (HCG) announced it had cut ties with 45 mortgage brokers for falsifying figures on mortgage applications regarding the earnings of prospective home purchasers in Canada. The case details the...