This study examines the externalities of mandatory IFRS adoption on firms' investment efficiency in 17 European countries. We use the ROA difference between the firm and its peers to proxy for the information on the peers' investment performance. We find that the spillover effect of a firm's ROA difference versus its foreign peers, but not domestic peers, on the firm's investment efficiency increases after IFRS adoption. We also find that increased disclosure by both foreign and domestic peers after IFRS adoption has a spillover effect on a firm's investment efficiency. Further, a firm's investment changes induced by its ROA difference versus foreign peers are more value-relevant after IFRS adoption, and those induced by increased disclosure by foreign peers under IFRS are value-relevant. Additional analyses reveal that our results are affected by legal enforcement strength, peer composition, and industry competition. Overall, we document positive externalities of mandatory IFRS adoption. Data Availability: Data are available from commercial providers (Worldscope, DataStream, and I/B/E/S).

Relying on the size of partner signatures in audit reports in Taiwan to measure their narcissism, we find that audit quality rises with partner narcissism. Our analysis also implies that changes in audit quality are positively associated with changes in partner narcissism stemming from mandatory partner rotation. We also find that the impact of partner narcissism on audit quality only manifests when auditor independence is more likely to be compromised, although it does not vary with engagement complexity. These results suggest that partner narcissism improves audit quality mainly through increased auditor independence, rather than auditor competence. Additionally, we document that although partner narcissism has no perceptible impact on the incidence of Type I going concern reporting errors, it is negatively associated with the probability of making a Type II error, implying that more narcissistic partners are less likely to succumb to client pressure to issue opportunistic reports. Data Availability: Data are available from public sources as identified in the text.

Relying on the frequency of typos in engagement partners’ graduate theses to measure their conscientiousness, we find that more conscientious partners conduct higher-quality audits, evident in that they are more likely to require an audit adjustment. Our core results hold for both upward and downward adjustments, implying that being conscientious is not equivalent to being overly conservative. Consistent with DeAngelo’s (1981) theory, cross-sectional evidence suggests that the role that partner conscientiousness plays in audit quality comes through both the auditor competence and independence channels. Additionally, we find that the frequency of partner thesis typos is negatively associated with auditor effort. Collectively, our evidence implies that engagement partner conscientiousness plays a major role in shaping audit outcomes. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.

In response to growing economic and environmental concerns, companies in a range of industries seek to repurpose products (assets) that retain functional capacity beyond their initial first life. This paper examines a generic valuation model for used capacity assets that can either be recycled immediately or repurposed for a second life application. We apply our model framework to lithium-ion batteries retired from electric vehicles, as these assets typically retain substantial energy storage capacity at the end of their first life. Our analysis focuses on two battery chemistries: lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) and nickel-cobalt-X (NCX) based. We project their future fair market values in the United States and China. Our findings indicate that repurposing LFP batteries will be economically viable in both countries for the coming decade. In contrast, for most NCX batteries immediate recycling will soon be preferable due to their more valuable raw material content and shorter usable lives.