Publications:
"Misreporting of Mandatory ESG Disclosures: Evidence from Gender Pay Gap Information" with Stephen Glaeser, James Omartian, and Aneesh Raghunandan
Abstract: We examine ESG misreporting in the context of the UK government requirement to report gender employment ratios and pay gaps. Highlighting misreporting, many employers report a set of disclosures that are together mathematically impossible. Further, a disproportionate number of employers report perfectly balanced gender statistics, consistent with misreporting as a form of ESG-washing. Suggesting a lack of ethical considerations encourages misreporting, employers involved in ESG controversies and who commit labor violations are more likely to misreport. Suggesting capital market and media scrutiny discourage misreporting, employers that are the subject of an article about their gender pay gap reports and employers that receive an ESG audit or financial audit from a Big Four auditor are less likely to misreport. Overall, our results suggest 12-15% of employers misreport in 2017, and 8-11% misreport in subsequent years. Our findings highlight the importance of meaningful oversight of ESG reporting
Forthcoming at Management Science
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4192257
Working Papers:
“The Effect of Audit Partners' Prior Record on Post-Retirement Board Opportunities”
Abstract: This paper examines how audit partners’ pre-retirement record influences their post-retirement board opportunities. Utilizing data from the Form AP disclosure, I identify Big 4 audit partners who retired between 2017 and 2023 and analyze measures of their career status, industry expertise, and reporting reputation. I find that a partner’s career status significantly increases their likelihood of receiving board appointments. Additionally, partners are significantly less likely to obtain board seats when they are associated with past adverse audit outcomes. Lastly, I find mixed evidence for the effect of industry expertise on board seat acquisition. These results suggest that a partner’s pre-retirement record significantly shapes their post-retirement career trajectories.
Dissertation, Job market paper
Draft available upon request