We develop a dictionary of linguistic extremity in earnings conference calls, a setting where managers have considerable latitude in the language they use, to study the role of extreme language in corporate reporting. Controlling for tone (positive vs. negative) of language, we document that...

In this paper, we examine factors prompting companies to voluntarily adopt sustainability standards for sustainability reporting and the consequences of such voluntary commitment. Using data on firms’ voluntary adoption of sustainability standards developed by the Sustainability Accounting...

We construct an index of aggregate management optimism from managers' qualitative disclosures in annual and quarterly financial reports and show that this index varies with market-wide sentiment. First, we find that the correlation between the management optimism index and Baker and Wurgler's...

Using the propensity to engage in extra-marital activities as a proxy for sensation seeking behavior, we show that sensation-seeking households exhibit riskier economic behavior. They are more likely to obtain a home loan and, conditional upon borrowing, they choose larger loans. Banks are at...

Street earnings are non-GAAP earnings, adjusted for consistency with the analyst majority basis and disseminated by forecast data providers (FDPs). We find that the time it takes an FDP to incorporate street earnings in its products (activation delay, hereafter) reflects variation in the...