High-frequency traders (HFTs) mainly operate on public exchanges. Since the European regulatory changes in 2018 (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II), some HFTs began operating Systematic Internalizers (SIs), i.e., single-dealer platforms where clients trade against the dealer's inventory. Using Swedish equity market data, we show that higher HFT dealer-platform activity reduces displayed exchange liquidity: quoted spreads widen and depth falls. Effective spreads are largely unchanged for HFTs but increase for non-HFT traders. Price efficiency improves as return autocorrelations and excess variance ratios move closer to random-walk benchmarks. Evidence suggests HFT dealers' inventory management is the main channel behind these results.

Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

We propose life history (LH) theory as an overarching theoretical explanation of CEO preferences and decision-making. LH theory has the potential to integrate prior research on variation in top executives’ impact on decision outcomes and to demonstrate how observable differences in behavior can be explained by evolutionary drivers. According to LH theory, individuals pursue fast or slow LH strategies. Fast individuals tend to follow accelerated reproduction strategies and engage in impulsive, opportunistic, and risk-seeking behavior. We theorize how CEO LH strategies shape both on-the-job and off-the-job decisions and thus add to a growing body of research on evolutionary drivers of preferences and decision-making in accounting. We measure CEO LH strategies based on biodemographic micro-data related to reproductive behavior. Our findings linked to on-the-job decisions suggest that firms managed by CEOs who pursue fast LH strategies exhibit more financial irregularities, lower accounting conservatism, and higher earnings management. Findings related to CEO off-the-job decisions show that fast CEOs are more likely to engage in criminal behavior and to have a higher conspicuous consumption and a higher personal leverage. By applying an LH theory lens, we reconcile and advance prior fragmented research on CEO preferences by showing a clear theoretical link between on-the-job and off-the-job decisions.

We examine the association between permissible non-audit services provided by auditors and the timeliness of earnings announcements. Although earnings announcements are unaudited, audit progress influences management’s ability to release earnings while maintaining confidence in reported results. We posit that non-audit services generate earnings announcement timeliness benefits by improving the efficiency and timing of audits through knowledge transfer. We find that tax non-audit services are associated with timelier earnings announcements while nontax non-audit services are not. These benefits are concentrated in the pre-regulatory period before changes in the mid-2000s. Following these changes, the association persists for firms with weaker information environments, poorer performance, and greater audit-related challenges. Overall, our findings show that auditor-provided tax services are associated with enhanced timeliness of unaudited disclosures and that these benefits vary across firms and over time, highlighting previously undocumented spillovers from non-audit services with implications for academic research and regulation.

Cryptocurrency has been the subject of heightened regulatory and investor attention in recent years, and regulators and policymakers across the globe are deliberating on how to account for, regulate, tax, and oversee digital assets and cryptocurrency marketplaces. Yet researchers have a limited understanding of key attributes of those who deal in crypto assets, such as whether their financial sophistication differs from that of other investors. Using U.S. administrative data, we provide evidence on (i) the attributes of taxpayers reporting cryptocurrency sales to the IRS, (ii) how these attributes are evolving, and (iii) how investors treat cryptocurrency versus other financial assets in certain settings. The results suggest that average reporting cryptocurrency sellers exhibit demographic attributes generally associated with less financial sophistication and are more likely to trade in meme stocks. Overall, we provide timely evidence that can inform cryptocurrency policy deliberations by highlighting the characteristics of taxpayers who appear to report cryptocurrency sales.

This paper provides early evidence on the integration and impact of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in accounting at the accountant and task levels. Using survey data from 277 professional accountants, we document substantial heterogeneity in adoption patterns, perceived benefits, and concerns about GenAI. Using proprietary field data from an AI‐enabled accounting platform serving 79 small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises, we analyze over 200,000 transaction‐level records. We document that GenAI adoption is associated with significant productivity gains and systematic reallocation of effort away from routine data entry toward business communication and quality assurance tasks. GenAI use is also associated with improvements to financial reporting quality, evidenced by more granular ledgers and faster month‐end closing. Examining human–AI interaction, we find that accountants selectively intervene when AI confidence scores are low, consistent with complementarity between professional expertise and AI. A framed field experiment further shows that while AI assistance improves classification accuracy on average, reliance on non‐consensus AI recommendations can increase the risk of error. Overall, our findings highlight both the promise and the risks of GenAI in accounting and suggest that, in practice, AI is most effective as a tool that augments—rather than replaces—professional judgment.

This study examines turnover experiences in public accounting, including the exit phase (from public accountants' initial thoughts of leaving to their exit) and the post‐exit phase (from their exit to the present moment) of the turnover process. Drawing on social exchange theory and organizational support theory, we also investigate the relationship between these phases by exploring how turnover characteristics within the exit phase impact alumni's decisions to engage in post‐employment citizenship in the post‐exit phase (e.g., recommending the firm's services to others). Using the experiential questionnaire method, we rely upon two separate surveys to investigate the turnover process from the perspective of 284 firm alumni (“leavers”) and 83 experienced public accountants (“stayers”). Our process‐based research method allows us to gather a large and rich data set that provides multiple perspectives on the turnover experience in public accounting. Our results not only provide insights into the underlying factors influencing turnover but also indicate several places in the turnover decision process where firms can strategically intervene. Finally, our results show that several turnover characteristics within the exit phase impact post‐employment citizenship behaviors in the post‐exit phase. Consequently, our results demonstrate that the characteristics that drive employees' decisions to leave the firm also play a significant role in shaping their post‐employment citizenship behaviors following their departure.