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Regulation and Sarbanes‐Oxley
Author(s) -
HART OLIVER
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of accounting research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.767
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1475-679X
pISSN - 0021-8456
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-679x.2009.00329.x
Subject(s) - sarbanes–oxley act , business , accounting , audit
Many of the papers in this special issue are concerned with regulation and some with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). In this commentary I will begin by summarizing the arguments for regulation that have been made in the literature.1 I will then consider whether these arguments apply to SOX. I will suggest that, rather than being based on sound principles, regulation often seems to be a consequence of the public’s need for action in response to a crisis, and that this was the case with SOX .I will argue that the recent financial meltdown provides another example of the same phenomenon.