The SEC's Revolving Door: Insights from Boards of Directors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane B. Wutzler
Keyword(s):  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Revolving Door ◽  
Regulatory Capture ◽  
Accounting Quality ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The U.S

This study aims to shed light on the determinants and consequences of the revolving door at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). While revolvers may be good monitors due to their SEC experience and, thus, continuously create benefits for the economy ("schooling"), it is possible that they exploit their insights into the enforcement process and private connections to undermine enforcement ("regulatory capture"). Using a newly created dataset of revolvers who moved from the SEC to company boards, this study shows that not all revolvers are appointed for the same reasons and create the same benefits for their new employers. I demonstrate that those revolvers most closely involved in the enforcement process are associated with fewer future enforcement actions while accounting quality does not improve. Contrarily, external revolvers seem to use their monitoring and advising duties to improve accounting quality.

Beyond the revolving door: Advocacy behavior and social distance to financial regulators

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin L. Young ◽  
Tim Marple ◽  
James Heilman
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Revolving Door ◽  
Organizational Characteristics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
The Social ◽  
The U.S

AbstractThe financial system is governed not just by formal rules but also by social relationships that pervade the elite strata of society. Understanding such dynamics entails understanding complex relational ties between actors, a task that can be facilitated through the use of network analysis. We argue that a latent feature of interest to scholars of the political economy of finance is one of social distance, which is a measurable concept. Using new data from the financial sector, we measure the social distance between a range of financial firms and one key regulator, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), over time to assess whether or not social distance is related to organizations’ advocacy behavior. We find a positive relationship between how close a given organization is to the SEC and how often it engages in advocacy. The result persists when we control for numerous factors related to organizational characteristics, firm size, and when we measure advocacy frequency in different ways.

scholarly journals Corporate governance: A risk management approach

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Xu ◽  
Hugh Grove ◽  
Philipp Schaberl
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
The U.S

Risk management committees are now required for all U.S. financial institutions that are regulated by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. All U.S. public companies must now report their risk management activities for both Board of Directors and top management in their 10 K annual reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This paper analyzes one approach to risk management for public companies and their Boards of Directors. Since 2011, Disclosure Insight Inc. has issued risk ratings for over 1500 public companies in US. Its risk rating is based on the number, nature, and timing of 100 risk factors, which are across major categories, such as the SEC investigative activity, auditor issues, capital market events, and corporate governance issues. Our study finds significant positive abnormal risk-adjusted returns for companies with lower risk ratings and these companies also outperform the S&P500. Thus, this paper should be of interest to investors, company executives, and risk management committees, as well as SEC and other regulators. Alternatively, risk management committees in public companies could just establish their own rating systems, based upon their own key factors, as opposed to using the Disclosure Insight Inc. aggregate rating approach for all 100 risk factors.

THE SEC PREEMPTS THE ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES BOARD IN 1965: THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE DEFERRED TAX CREDIT RELATING TO INSTALLMENT SALES

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Zeff
Keyword(s):  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Slow Pace ◽  
Accounting Principles ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Deferred Tax ◽  
Accounting Procedure ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Do So

In 1959, the Accounting Principles Board (APB) replaced the Committee on Accounting Procedure because the latter was unable to deal forthrightly with a series of important issues. But during the APB's first half-dozen years, its record of achievement was no more impressive than its predecessor's. The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Manuel F. Cohen, criticized the APB's slow pace and unwillingness to tackle difficult issues. This article discusses the circumstances attending the SEC's issuance of an Accounting Series Release in late 1965 to demonstrate forcefully to the APB that, when it is unable to carry out its responsibility to “narrow the areas of difference” in accounting practice, the SEC is prepared to step in and do so itself. In this sense, the article deals with the tensions between the private and public sectors in the establishment of accounting principles in the U.S. during the mid-1960s. The article makes extensive use of primary resource materials in the author's personal archive, which have not been used previously in published work.

Corporate Political Activity and Regulatory Capture: How Some Companies Blunt the Knife of Socially Oriented Investor Activism

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 2064-2093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hadani ◽  
Jonathan P. Doh ◽  
Marguerite A. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Shareholder Activism ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Regulatory Capture ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Nonmarket Strategy ◽  
Labor Policies ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Impact

Socially oriented shareholder activism is an increasingly important mechanism through which social movement organizations seek to influence the private sector by exerting pressure on corporate activities in areas such as human rights, environmental protection, and labor policies. This activism challenges the status quo of targeted firms and potentially their institutional field, disrupting “business as usual” and often drawing negative attention to the firms. We theorize that some firms might use corporate political activity (CPA) as an indirect, nonmarket strategy aimed at regulatory capture to reduce the impact of such disruptions. We focus on one popular avenue of shareholder activism—the proxy proposal mechanism—and the role the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plays in allowing omission of socially oriented shareholder proposals from the proxy ballot. Using two distinct data sources, we find evidence that for S&P 500 firms, the SEC allows for the omission of the proposals from proxy ballots more frequently for those firms more active in CPA. These findings inform the growing scholarship on socially oriented activism as well as suggest the indirect influence of CPA on government agency decision making.

Significant Differences in Proved Reserves Estimates Using SPE/WPC Definitions Compared to United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Definitions

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (06) ◽  
pp. 520-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.R. Harrell ◽  
Thomas L. Gardner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Classification Systems ◽  
Direct Function ◽  
Oil Companies ◽  
Publicly Owned ◽  
Hydrocarbon Reserves ◽  
The U.S

Summary A casual reading of the SPE/WPC (World Petroleum Congresses) Petroleum Reserves Definitions (1997) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) definitions (1978) would suggest very little, if any, difference in the quantities of proved hydrocarbon reserves estimated under those two classification systems. The differences in many circumstances for both volumetric and performance-based estimates may be small. In 1999, the SEC began to increase its review process, seeking greater understanding and compliance with its oil and gas reserves reporting requirements. The agency's definitions had been promulgated in 1978 in connection with the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 and at a time when most publicly owned oil and gas companies and their reserves were located in the United States. Oil and gas prices were relatively stable, and virtually all natural gas was marketed through long-term contracts at fixed or determinable prices. Development drilling was subject to well-spacing regulations as established through field rules set by state agencies. Reservoir-evaluation technology has advanced far beyond that used in 1978;production-sharing contracts were uncommon then, and probabilistic reserves assessment was not widely recognized or appreciated in the U.S. These changes in industry practice plus many other considerations have created problems in adapting the 1978 vintage definitions to the technical and commercial realities of the 21st century. This paper presents several real-world examples of how the SEC engineering staff has updated its approach to reserves assessment as well as numerous remaining unresolved areas of concern. These remaining issues are important, can lead to significant differences in reported quantities and values, and may result in questions about the "full disclosure" obligations to the SEC. Introduction For virtually all oil and gas producers, their company assets are the hydrocarbon reserves that they own through various forms of mineral interests, licensing agreements, or other contracts and that produce revenues from production and sale. Reserves are almost always reported as static quantities as of a specific date and classified into one or more categories to describe the uncertainty and production status associated with each category. The economic value of these reserves is a direct function of how the quantities are to be produced and sold over the physical or contract lives of the properties. Reserves owned by private and publicly owned companies are always assumed to be those quantities of oil and gas that can be produced and sold at a profit under assumed future prices and costs. Reserves under the control of state-owned or national oil companies may reflect quantities that exceed those deemed profitable under the commercial terms typically imposed on private or publicly owned companies.

Using 10-K Text to Gauge Financial Constraints

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andriy Bodnaruk ◽  
Tim Loughran ◽  
Bill McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Financial Constraints ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Financial Constraint ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Low Correlation ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Firm Attributes ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Better Than

AbstractMeasuring the extent to which a firm is financially constrained is critical in assessing capital structure. Extant measures of financial constraints focus on macro firm characteristics such as age and size, variables highly correlated with other firm attributes. We parse 10-K disclosures filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) using a unique lexicon based on constraining words. We find that the frequency of constraining words exhibits very low correlation with traditional measures of financial constraints and predicts subsequent liquidity events, such as dividend omissions or increases, equity recycling, and underfunded pensions, better than widely used financial constraint indexes.

scholarly journals Recent Trends in U.S. Childbearing Intentions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Sten Hartnett ◽  
Alison Gemmill
Keyword(s):  
National Survey ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Population Composition ◽  
Important Contributor ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Childbearing Intentions ◽  
Family Growth ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The U.S

The U.S. period TFR has declined steadily since the Great Recession, to 1.73 children in 2018, the lowest level since the 1970s. This pattern could mean that current childbearing cohorts will end up with fewer children than previous cohorts or this same pattern could be an artifact of a tempo distortion if individuals are simply postponing births they plan to eventually have. In this research note, we use data on current parity and future intended births from the 2006-2017 National Survey of Family Growth to shed light on this issue. We find that total intended parity declined (from 2.26 in 2006-2010 to 2.16 children in 2013-2017), and the proportion of women intending to remain childless increased slightly. Decomposition indicated that the decline was not due to changes in population composition, but rather changes in the subgroup rates themselves. The decline in intended parity is particularly notable at young ages and among Latinxs. These results indicate that although tempo distortion is likely an important contributor to the decline in TFR, it is not the sole explanation: U.S. individuals are intending to have fewer children than their immediate predecessors, which may translate into a decline in cohort completed parity. However, the change in intended parity is modest and average intended parity remains above two children.

Alaska's Embrace of Digital Opportunities

2005 ◽  
pp. 163-186
Author(s):  
Ping Lan ◽  
David C. Yen
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Government Expenditure ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
Potential Development ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Large Scale Survey ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The U.S

There have been a very limited number of systematic studies of how a region is turning digital opportunities into a development force. In theory, major advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have successfully transformed traditional businesses and markets, revolutionized learning and knowledge-sharing, generated global information flows, and empowered citizens and communities in new ways to redefine governance (Afuah, 2003; Mullaney et al., 2003). At a regional level, this “digital revolution” could offer enormous opportunities to support sustainable local prosperity, and thus help to achieve the broader development goals (DOT Force, 2001). Alaska is one state that can be positioned to take advantage of Internet and e-commerce technologies. Isolated from the U.S. main economic centers and heavily reliant on the export of commodities in its economy, e-commerce or business via the Internet is an ideal choice for Alaska. However, the available statistics do not support this claim. Most economic indicators show a downward trend in Alaska since 1995, in spite of the fact that the federal government expenditure has been increasing (ASTF, 2002). This chapter is dedicated to measuring the usage of the Internet in Alaska. It hypothesizes that geographical limitations help a region like Alaska embrace ICT and its applications without much hesitation, but also hinders the region to fully exploit the potential of ICT due to the limitations of resources. A large-scale survey was conducted to reveal the characteristics of Internet usage among individuals, government agencies, local communities, and private firms in Alaska. This research is of interest in two aspects: It could offer help for policymakers and enterprises within Alaska to realize the potential development brought about by the current digital revolution, and it could help enterprises outside Alaska to target this market more effectively. Theoretically, it could shed light on issues related to technology adoption and local innovation. Besides that, the platform-dependent approach used in this research can be applied in a broader context.

Interoperability of XBRL Financial Statements in the U.S.

2012 ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
Hongwei Zhu ◽  
Harris Wu
Keyword(s):  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ◽  
Data Elements ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
The U.S

In the wake of the global financial crisis, a pressing need exists for improving investor friendliness, especially the transparency and interoperability of the financial statements of public companies. eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) and XBRL taxonomies can accomplish this objective. In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has mandated that all public companies must file their financial statements using XBRL and the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) taxonomy according to a phased-in schedule. Are the XBRL-based financial statements interoperable? This question is addressed by analyzing all of the annual XBRL financial statements filed to the SEC as of February 26, 2010. On average, 63% of data elements are not comparable between a pair of statements. The incomparability is partly caused by issues related to the GAAP taxonomy and misuse of the taxonomy by companies. The results have practical implications that will help improve the quality of financial data.

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