Companies like Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Xerox, Heinz, Apple and Gillette possess great brands and outstanding brand management competencies, yet they have failed to generate value for shareholders in recent years. What these companies are learning is that having strong brands which consumers value is not enough. Whether strong brands create value for shareholders depends upon the economics o...

We study the effect of earnings manipulation on incentives within the corporate hierarchy. Division managers have to be compensated for not blowing the whistle when top managers manipulate earnings. We show that it is easier for division managers to prove top management’s manipulations when the performance of their own division is low. Earnings manipulation therefore undermines middle managers’...

Research question/issue This paper examines how enhanced monitoring by corporate boards following the passage of Sarbanes–Oxley Act 2002 and concurrent reforms to stock exchange rules (SOX) mitigated risk-related agency conflicts prevalent in entrenched firms. findings/insights Post-SOX, firms increased risky value-enhancing investments. These investments were financed reductions financial slac...