Knowledge that Transforms

ABSTRACT Securities litigation is relatively rare, but can significantly affect sued firms. We extend this research by examining the spillover effect of securities litigation on industry peers using a sample of disclosure-related litigation—distinct from events such as restatements and SEC enforcement. We find investors respond immediately as peers exhibit negative abnormal returns before and after case filings. Additionally, peers provide more voluntary earnings and sales forecasts. Notably, investors and peers respond primarily to cases that eventually settle, where litigation costs are concentrated. Further, disclosure results are concentrated in growth firms, where voluntary disclosure is most important, and in low-litigation industries, where litigation is more noteworthy. Peers also adjust attributes of mandatory disclosures: disclosures become shorter, more readable, and contain fewer litigation-related terms. These changes appear successful as peers have lower future litigation incidence. Collectively, our findings indicate securities litigation has significant effects beyond the firms that directly face litigation. JEL Classifications: D82; G30; H26; K22; K41; M41.

ABSTRACT Auditors work in hierarchical teams in which effective upward communication is critical to audit quality. In these teams, subordinates choose both the content, as well as the style, of their communications. We report survey and experimental evidence of the importance of communication style in the context of audit team culture. Our first two studies provide evidence that audit staff perceive assertive upward communication as risky and prefer to communicate passively, especially in less autonomous team cultures. Our third study provides evidence that audit seniors consider more follow-up procedures and rate staff higher when staff communicate assertively, especially in more autonomous team cultures. Combined, these studies indicate a disconnect between audit seniors, who reward and follow up more on assertive communication, and their staff, who prefer passive communication. Our results suggest the potential for audit quality improvements by better alignment of supervisor-subordinate communication-style preferences, especially in more autonomous team cultures. Data Availability: Contact the authors.

ABSTRACT CEOs of S&P 500 firms that report high non-GAAP earnings relative to GAAP earnings receive substantial unexplained pay. Crucially, this result remains even after controlling for the level of non-GAAP and GAAP earnings. These firms are relatively poor performers (i.e., low GAAP earnings and stock returns) and have less powerful CEOs, consistent with non-GAAP earnings being used as justification when high executive pay is more likely to cause outrage. Additionally, despite the lower GAAP and return performance, these firms are more likely to beat the earnings targets specified in their compensation plans, which likely increases investors' perceptions of core operating earnings and reduces outrage. Indeed, these firms face less dissent from shareholders and proxy advisors, and no additional media scrutiny. Our evidence suggests that the fraction of CEO pay that seems attributable to opportunistic non-GAAP reporting, while limited, is economically meaningful. JEL Classifications: G14; G34; G38; M12; M41.

ABSTRACT Using a difference-in-differences approach, we examine the effect of industry-specific knowledge transfer on audit performance after a merger of two Chinese audit firms with different levels of expertise in an industry. For clients in an industry audited by both merging audit firms, those audited by the audit firm less specialized in that industry belong to the treatment group, while all other clients belong to the control group. We find an economically significant improvement in audit quality (as reflected in a reduction in financial misstatements) for the treatment group relative to the control group in the same merged audit firm. We show the treatment effect is not driven by changes in auditor incentives or personnel movement and is more pronounced when we expect stronger communication between the less and more specialized auditors after the merger. We caution that our findings are specific to China and may not generalize to other countries. Data Availability: Data used in this study are available from public sources identified in the text. JEL Classifications: M42.

ABSTRACT The SEC requires equity crowdfunding (ECF) companies to provide assured financial statements. Assurance can be provided with certification by management or an audit or review by an independent accountant. We utilize the ECF setting to examine whether voluntary assurance facilitates capital formation. We find that companies that provide either reviewed or audited financial statements during a capital campaign are marginally more likely to raise their target capital. They also raise more funds and attract more investors relative to companies that only provide management-certified financial statements. However, relative to reviews, audits are not associated with a greater likelihood of success in an ECF offering other than attracting more investors. Finally, we find that assurance is indirectly associated with a company's post-ECF survival and its ability to raise future capital. This suggests that assurance at the time of ECF has implications for a company's success beyond ECF. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.

ABSTRACT We investigate how performance-to-target (exceeding versus missing prior target) and task type (ability-driven versus effort-driven) affect managers' target-setting decisions in a setting where a manager sets targets for multiple employees. To do so, we use an experiment that involves executives, who average more than 16 years of work experience. We predict and find stronger target adjustments when prior targets are exceeded than when they are missed, especially when tasks are ability-driven. We also predict and find targets are differentiated more between employees within a firm when tasks are ability-driven rather than effort-driven, but this effect is attenuated when prior targets are missed. As prior empirical findings are inconclusive in this area of research, we contribute to the literature by providing controlled experimental evidence about the asymmetric nature of target adjustments. Additionally, we identify an important factor affecting managers' target-setting decisions—task type—that has largely been neglected in prior work. JEL Classifications: M21; M41; M52.

ABSTRACT This study examines whether audit firms hire former PCAOB employees in response to negative PCAOB inspection reports, and whether such hiring leads to reductions in future inspection deficiencies and an increase in audit quality. We find that the number of PCAOB employees hired by large audit firms is positively related to the number of deficiencies reported in their prior inspection reports, and that the number of deficiencies reported in firms' future inspection reports is negatively associated with the number of former PCAOB employees hired. However, we find no significant association between the number of former PCAOB employees that a firm hires and improvement in audit quality. These findings suggest that former PCAOB personnel possess valuable knowledge about how to perform and document audit procedures to satisfy PCAOB reviewers, but that this expertise does not necessarily have direct implications for the accuracy and reliability of clients' financial reports. JEL Classifications: G28; G38; M41; M49.

ABSTRACT Firms often use causal models to align decision-making with strategic objectives. However, firms often operate in changing environments such that an accurate causal model can become inaccurate. Prior research has not examined the consequences that a change in the accuracy of causal models may have for managerial learning. Using an experiment, we predict and find that providing an accurate causal model positively affects managerial learning, and this positive effect is not reduced by encouraging a hypothesis-testing mindset (HTM). However, when the model subsequently becomes inaccurate, we predict and observe that providing a causal model alone negatively affects managerial learning, although this effect is partially mitigated by additionally encouraging a HTM. Our results can inform designers of control systems about the potential implications of providing a causal model when its accuracy changes over time and demonstrate how simple encouragement of a HTM moderates the effects of providing a causal model. Data Availability: Contact the authors. JEL Classifications: C91; M41.

ABSTRACT We show that a mid-2000s increase in extraterritorial enforcement of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), characterized by greater international regulatory cooperation and more frequent use of the FCPA's accounting provisions, has a significant deterrent effect on foreign direct investment in high-corruption-risk countries. The decrease in investment is at least as large for non-U.S. as for U.S. firms, suggesting that widespread extraterritorial enforcement helps to create a level foreign investment playing field. Firms under U.S. jurisdiction with fundamental characteristics that make it more difficult to maintain effective internal controls invest less in high-corruption-risk countries after the FCPA enforcement increase, suggesting regulatory compliance costs play a role in deterring investment. Consistent with investments in accounting systems being one way, firms limit enforcement risk when investing in high-corruption-risk countries, firms pursuing new investments spend more time evaluating potential targets, and firms with existing investments report fewer restatements related to unintentional errors. JEL Classifications: F50; F60; K2; M4; O1.

ABSTRACT We propose and find that aggregate special items conveys more information about future real GDP growth than aggregate earnings before special items because the former contains advance news about future economic outcomes. A two-stage rational expectations test reveals that professional forecasters fully understand the information content of aggregate earnings before special items, but underestimate that of aggregate special items when revising their GDP forecasts. Using vector autoregressions, we show that aggregate earnings before special items has predictive ability for GDP because, as suggested by previous literature, it acts as a proxy for corporate profits included in national income. In contrast, aggregate special items captures changes in the behavior of economic agents on a timely basis, which, in turn, have real effects on firms' investment and hiring, as well as consumers' wealth and spending. Consistent with news-driven business cycles, we find that aggregate special items produces synchronized movements across macroeconomic aggregates. JEL Classifications: E01; E32; E60; M41.