This paper examines the effect of tax-related material weakness in internal controls on investors' valuation of unrecognized tax benefits (UTBs). Firms are required to record a UTB when their uncertain tax positions are unlikely to be sustained upon tax return audit. While Koester (2012) finds...

This paper reports two empirical regularities regarding trading volume prior to earnings announcements. The literature suggests that discretionary liquidity traders postpone their equity trading until firms publicly announce earnings due to high information asymmetry before anticipated...

This paper investigates whether sell-side equity analysts fully incorporate the future earnings implications of really dirty surplus (RDS) into their earnings forecasts. RDS refers to gains or losses from contingent equity transactions settled at prices other than the fair value. We find that...

We investigate whether earnings comparability is associated with the probability of informed trading (PIN) as a proxy for information asymmetry in the equity market. We measure earnings comparability in three different ways to account for idiosyncratic variation in firm-specific components of...

This paper examines equity investor valuation of tax avoidance achieved through uncertain tax positions. New financial reporting standards require firms to separately disclose their contingent liabilities for tax positions that may be disallowed upon tax return audit. This disclosure provides...

We examine the role of political connections in US state government-awarded corporate economic incentives, and whether a role (if present) is cause for constituent concern. We find that companies are more likely to receive an incentive award in a politically connected state and this association...