How do auditors respond to low annual report readability?

We show that increased audit effort is associated with lower annual report readability to compensate for a perceived increase in the risk of financial misstatement for United States (US) firms. In particular, we find that lower annual report readability is associated with longer audit delays and higher audit fees for Form 10-K for US auditors, suggesting that auditors spend more effort auditing clients when annual reports have lower readability. We also find that low readability increases the likelihood of auditors using more explanatory language in unqualified audit reports.     

Women on boards and greenhouse gas emission disclosures

We apply institutional and board capital theory to examine whether women on boards are associated with disclosure and quality of corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related reporting. We examine the research problem in Australia in a period when no requirements existed for listed companies to appoint female directors or to report GHG emissions. This environment allows us to examine the association between women on boards and GHG emissions related disclosure in annual and sustainability reports in a voluntary setting. We find that companies with multiple female directors make GHG emissions related disclosures that are of higher quality.     

Has the likelihood of appointing a CEO with an accounting/finance background changed in the post-Sarbanes Oxley era?

Congress passed the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) in July 2002 to improve the accuracy and reliability of financial reporting. The Act increased boards of directors’ responsibilities for financial reporting and control. Did it consequently increase boards’ preferences for a CEO with financial experience to protect against the potential reputational and/or legal losses that directors incur when financial scandals happen? We investigated whether newly appointed CEOs in the post-SOX period were more likely to have accounting or finance experience than in the pre-SOX period. Using a sample of 264 CEO changes from 2001 to 2004, we found that the percentage of newly-appointed CEOs with accounting/finance backgrounds significantly increased in the post-SOX period compared to the pre-SOX period. Our results suggest that the events surrounding the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act may have affected the CEO background experience preferred by boards of directors.     

Collective Action with Incomplete Commitment: Experimental Evidence

Face-to-face communication is investigated as an efficiency-enhancing mechanism in experimental common-pool resource environments in which the appropriation activities of outside appropriators create coordination and monitoring problems for the communicating group. We identify three distinct problems that can threaten successful collective action. Outsiders respond strategically to reductions in appropriation by cooperating group members. Members of the communicating group deviate from agreements more frequently when monitoring is imperfect and over appropriation can be blamed on outsiders. Groups that are allowed to communicate anticipate the potential problems and have difficulty reaching agreements or committing to a specific appropriation rule.     

Short sales,long sales,and the Lee–Ready trade classification algorithm revisited

Asquith et al. (2010) conclude that short sales are often misclassified by the Lee–Ready algorithm. The algorithm identifies most short sales as buyer-initiated, whereas the authors posit that short sales should be overwhelmingly seller-initiated. Using order data to identify true trade initiator, we document that short sales are, in fact, predominantly buyer-initiated and that the Lee–Ready algorithm correctly classifies most of them. Misclassification rates for short and long sales are near zero at the daily level. At the trade level, misclassification rates are 31% using contemporaneous quotes and trades and decline to 21% when quotes are lagged one second.     

A Comparative Analysis of Multilateral Environmental Negotiations

Global environmental problems pose important diplomatic and legal challenges to the international community. The nature of these problems requires an unprecedented degree of international cooperation that is achieved through multilateral negotiation, which is often shaped by scientific uncertainty, the complexity of the issues, and the wide range of actors and interests. One way of analyzing and explaining this complicated process is through the use of comparative analysis. By breaking down the negotiating process into a series of phases and turning points, it becomes easier to analyze the roles of different actors, the management of issues, the formation of groups and coalitions, and the art of consensus building. This article uses comparative analysis to characterize, develop, and specify a model of the multilateral environmental negotiation process. The model is elaborated upon inductively through a comparative analysis of eleven cases of multilateral environmental negotiations. Statistical techniques are used to determine whether there is any relationship among attributes of the process (within the phases or at the turning points) and between these characteristics and outcomes.     

Revisiting the research–practice gap in HR: A longitudinal analysis

Over 6300 articles published in 4 HR-focused journals over a 30-year period of time (1976–2005) were content analyzed according to 14 topic areas. The purpose of the study was to examine changes that have taken place over a 30-year time frame. Specifically, what HR issues dominate the field during the past and the present? And to what extent has the HR research–practice gap narrowed or widened over time? The results indicate that HR Development and Staffing were dominant HR issues throughout the past 30 years. In addition, some HR topics demonstrated a stable research–practice gap (Motivation-related issues), and other topics were characterized by an increasing gap (Compensation & rewards), a decreasing gap (Employee/Labor relations), or no significant gap (HR Developments, Staffing). These findings are discussed in the context of key human capital trends.