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The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 and Market Liquidity
Author(s) -
Jain Pankaj K.,
Kim JangChul,
Rezaee Zabihollah
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
financial review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.621
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1540-6288
pISSN - 0732-8516
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6288.2008.00198.x
Subject(s) - market liquidity , business , liquidity crisis , accounting liquidity , monetary economics , adverse selection , funding liquidity , financial system , volatility (finance) , capital market , economics , financial economics , accounting , finance
Investors rely heavily on the trustworthiness and accuracy of corporate information to provide liquidity to the capital markets. We find that the rash of financial scandals caused a severe deterioration in market liquidity in the form of wider spreads, lower depths, and a higher adverse selection component of spreads vis‐à‐vis their benchmark levels. Regulatory responses including the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) had inconsequential short‐term liquidity effects but highly significant and positive long‐term liquidity effects. These liquidity improvements are positively associated with the improved quality of financial reports, several firm‐specific variables (e.g., size), and market factors (e.g., price, volatility, volume).