October 8, 2025Managers’ attempts to distract investors from bad news have serious implications for market efficiency.
May 15, 2024The SEC’s unique treatment of companies that opt into public reporting shows that lighter-touch regulation can sometimes be just as effective. Associate professor of accounting Bret Johnson’s recent paper looks at how the SEC handles the added responsibility of reviewing voluntary filings.
April 3, 2024Mason accounting professor, David Koo, goes back through history to trace how financial reporting requirements affect investors’ long- vs. short-term thinking.
June 20, 2023Why are some firms more forthcoming than others about their social and environmental impact? It may have to do with the CEO’s personal incentives.
April 19, 2023The inverse relationship between charity care and trustee compensation highlights curious contradictions in the management practices of some of the biggest non-profit hospitals in the U.S.
January 31, 2023Research by Mason Accounting Professor Bret Johnson, a former SEC staff accountant and academic fellow, shows how seemingly mundane intra-agency policies can have unintended effects that benefit Wall Street over Main Street.
April 28, 2022According to a recent working paper co-authored by Mason finance professors Lei Gao and Bo Hu, more than 80 percent of U.S. public firms use graphics in their annual reports. Further, visual presentation has market benefits as well as aesthetic ones.
