Accounting
Do Search Fund CEOs Improve Performance?
An analysis by search fund expert A.J. Wasserstein and accounting scholar Jacob Thomas finds that most gains come from selling companies at higher prices relative to their earnings, not from improving margins or efficiency.
Removing Government Notices from Newspapers Reduces Citizen Participation in Decision-Making
Yale SOM’s Anya Nakhmurina finds that weakening a centuries-old requirement to publish public notices about local government actions in newspapers decreases residents’ engagement and may have allowed unpopular decisions to proceed under the radar.
Disclosure of Carbon Emissions Spurs Business Creation
New research from Yale SOM shows that a federal disclosure rule, intended to curb pollution, has also spurred business formation in regulated industries—a finding that comes as the EPA proposes ending the program.
Remote Work Is Linked to a Decline in Financial Misconduct
A new study co-authored by Yale SOM’s John Barrios finds that firms better positioned to shift to remote work during the pandemic experienced a sharp decline in financial misconduct. The likely reason: remote work raised the cost of sustaining collusion.
Firms with a Well-Paid Chief Human Resources Officer Build More Effective Workforces
A new study co-authored by Prof. Edward Watts finds that firms that invest in the human capital function through higher pay to its leader have more productive and happier workers.
The Price of Trust: How Conflicts of Interest Threaten the Marketplace of Ideas
A new study co-authored by Yale SOM’s John Barrios investigates how conflicts of interest erode trust in the very institutions meant to produce independent knowledge.
In the Wake of the Pandemic, Flexible Work Arrangements Made Workers Less Likely to Start Their Own Businesses
Flexibility has long been a selling point for entrepreneurship. But COVID-19 helped make flexible arrangements more of a norm. A new study co-authored by Yale SOM’s John Barrios shows how this shift in workplace norms changed who starts businesses.
Companies That Receive State Subsidies Are More Likely to Break Workplace Laws
In a new study, Yale SOM’s Aneesh Raghunandan finds that state officials are then less likely to penalize companies that receive subsidies for corporate misconduct—and their leniency seems to encourage firms to ignore regulations.
A Partisan Mismatch with State Government Means Higher Borrowing Costs for Cities
Are red cities marooned in blue states—and blue cities in red states—at a financial disadvantage because of partisan politics? A new study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Anya Nakhmurina finds that cities whose leaders are from the opposite political party as their state governors are penalized in the bond market.
Firms Aren’t Living Up to Their Diversity Claims
A new paper co-authored by Professor Edward Watts finds that for many companies, actual diversity efforts bear little resemblance to the claims made in public disclosures. What’s more, funds from socially conscious investors flow more to firms that engage in this “diversity washing.”
Customer Data Can Reveal Revenue Fraud at Supplier Firms
Yale SOM’s Frank Zhang and his co-authors used publicly available information from suppliers and customers to zero in on the firms that were more likely to be cooking the books.
