{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/40437"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/40437","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"An Investigation of the Effectiveness of the Division of Corporate Finance as a Monitor of Financial Reporting","abstract":"This study uses the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) comment letters to investigate the SEC's role as a monitor of financial reporting. I examine whether the SEC effectively comments on firms with poor disclosure quality. I utilize forward earnings response coefficients (FERC) as a measure of the market's perception of disclosure quality. I expect comment letter firms to have lower disclosure quality and thus lower FERCs. Secondly, within the firms selected for comment, I investigate whether the Division allocates a greater amount of resources towards firms with more severe disclosure deficiencies. Results indicate that comment letter recipients have significantly lower forward earnings response coefficients than non- recipients. Results also document that comment letter recipients have lower contemporaneous earnings response coefficients than non-recipients. These findings are consistent with the DCF being effective in selecting firms that are perceived by the market as having low disclosure and earnings quality. However, within comment letter firms, I am unable to provide any evidence that the DCF allocates more resources to firms with lower forward earnings response coefficients.","abstract_html":"This study uses the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) comment letters to investigate the SEC's role as a monitor of financial reporting. I examine whether the SEC effectively comments on firms with poor disclosure quality. I utilize forward earnings response coefficients (FERC) as a measure of the market's perception of disclosure quality. I expect comment letter firms to have lower disclosure quality and thus lower FERCs. Secondly, within the firms selected for comment, I investigate whether the Division allocates a greater amount of resources towards firms with more severe disclosure deficiencies. Results indicate that comment letter recipients have significantly lower forward earnings response coefficients than non- recipients. Results also document that comment letter recipients have lower contemporaneous earnings response coefficients than non-recipients. These findings are consistent with the DCF being effective in selecting firms that are perceived by the market as having low disclosure and earnings quality. However, within comment letter firms, I am unable to provide any evidence that the DCF allocates more resources to firms with lower forward earnings response coefficients.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Edmonds, Jennifer Echols"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Ph. D.","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":"Accounting and Information Systems","degree_department":"Accounting and Information Systems","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Cloyd, C. Bryan"],"committee_members":["Brown, Robert M.","Hansen, Thomas Bowe","Maher, John J.","Mansi, Sattar A."],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-12-14","date_published":"2011-12-14","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:15Z","subjects":["Disclosure Quality","Forward Earnings Response Coefficient","Comment Letters"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-12212011-170804"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-12212011-170804","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/40437","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Cloyd, C. 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I examine whether the SEC effectively comments on firms with poor disclosure quality. I utilize forward earnings response coefficients (FERC) as a measure of the market's perception of disclosure quality. I expect comment letter firms to have lower disclosure quality and thus lower FERCs. Secondly, within the firms selected for comment, I investigate whether the Division allocates a greater amount of resources towards firms with more severe disclosure deficiencies. Results indicate that comment letter recipients have significantly lower forward earnings response coefficients than non- recipients. Results also document that comment letter recipients have lower contemporaneous earnings response coefficients than non-recipients. These findings are consistent with the DCF being effective in selecting firms that are perceived by the market as having low disclosure and earnings quality. However, within comment letter firms, I am unable to provide any evidence that the DCF allocates more resources to firms with lower forward earnings response coefficients."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph. D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Investigation of the Effectiveness of the Division of Corporate Finance as a Monitor of Financial Reporting"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Cloyd, C. Bryan"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Brown, Robert M.","Hansen, Thomas Bowe","Maher, John J.","Mansi, Sattar A."],"dc:contributor.department":["Accounting and Information Systems"],"dc:creator":["Edmonds, Jennifer Echols"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T21:23:30Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T21:23:30Z","2012-01-18"],"dc:date.issued":["2011-12-14"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study uses the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) comment letters to investigate the SEC's role as a monitor of financial reporting. I examine whether the SEC effectively comments on firms with poor disclosure quality. I utilize forward earnings response coefficients (FERC) as a measure of the market's perception of disclosure quality. I expect comment letter firms to have lower disclosure quality and thus lower FERCs. Secondly, within the firms selected for comment, I investigate whether the Division allocates a greater amount of resources towards firms with more severe disclosure deficiencies. Results indicate that comment letter recipients have significantly lower forward earnings response coefficients than non- recipients. Results also document that comment letter recipients have lower contemporaneous earnings response coefficients than non-recipients. These findings are consistent with the DCF being effective in selecting firms that are perceived by the market as having low disclosure and earnings quality. However, within comment letter firms, I am unable to provide any evidence that the DCF allocates more resources to firms with lower forward earnings response coefficients."],"dc:description.degree":["Ph. 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