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We examine the relationship between brand capital and stock price crash risk. Crash risk, defined as the negative skewness in the distribution of returns for individual stocks, captures asymmetry in risk, and has important implications for investment choices and risk management. Using a sample of 39,685 publicly listed U.S. firm-year observations covering 1975 to 2018, we show that brand capital is significantly and negatively related to crash risk. We also use an advanced machine learning approach and confirm that brand capital is a strong predictor of future stock price crashes. Our cross-sectional analyses show that this negative relationship is more evident for subsamples with transitory poor earnings performance or persistent good earnings performance, greater corporate tax avoidance, and weak corporate governance structures. The results survive numerous robustness tests, including the use of alternative measures of brand capital, crash risk, and several endogeneity tests. In sum, our findings are consistent with agency theory, suggesting that high levels of brand capital expose firms to investor and customer scrutiny, which reduces managerial opportunistic behavior that may include the accumulation and concealment of negative information. This paper was accepted by Karl Diether, finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We survey the burgeoning literature on the determinants and consequences of firm‐specific future stock price crash risk. We synthesise a vast body of literature on the determinants of crash risk, identify weaknesses, and offer future research opportunities. We categorise the determinants into: (i) financial reporting and corporate disclosures, (ii) managerial incentives and managerial characteristics, (iii) capital market transactions, (iv) corporate governance mechanisms, and (v) informal institutional mechanisms. Despite a large body of research into the determinants of crash risk, very little research attention has been directed towards understanding the consequences of stock price crash. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine empirically the effect of managerial ability on firm-level investment efficiency and how this affects future stock price crash risk. Using a managerial ability measure developed by Demerjian et al. (2012), the paper documents consistent evidence that the more able managers over-invest compared to their not-so-able counterparts, even after controlling for the effects of financial reporting quality and other firm specific determinants of investment efficiency. This evidence is robust to alternative proxies for investment efficiency. The empirical evidence also suggests that crash risk increases for firms with more able managers, primarily through the investment inefficiency channel. Overall, the study contributes to a better understanding of the influence of managerial ability on investment decisions in the context of diverging opinions regarding manager-specific effects on organizational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines empirically the effect of firm-level business strategies on future stock price crash risk, and the extent to which equity overvaluation moderates this relation. By exploring the extent to which firms following particular business strategies are more or less likely to experience crash risk, we provide evidence that increases our understanding of the underlying determinants of crash risk. Using a composite strategy score developed by Bentley, Omer and Sharp (2013) and applying two variants of crash risk, we document that firms following innovative business strategies (prospectors) are more prone to future crash risk than defenders. We also find that prospectors are more prone to equity overvaluation which, in turn, increases future crash risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether auditor-provided tax services affect stock price crash risk: an important consideration for stock investors. Provision of tax services by incumbent auditors could accentuate or attenuate crash risk depending on whether such services give rise to knowledge spillover or impair auditor independence. The study investigates two channels through which tax services might affect crash risk: earnings management in tax expenses and tax avoidance. Also examined is whether the association between tax services and crash risk is moderated by the particular business strategy that organizations pursue. A two-stage model is used to control for the potential endogeneity inherent in the selection of auditors for tax services. Empirical findings reveal that auditor-provided tax services attenuate crash risk by constraining both earnings management in tax expenses and tax avoidance. Further evidence shows that auditor-provided tax services reduce crash risk for firms following innovator business strategies. Taken together, empirical findings reported in this study support knowledge spillover benefits, that is, insights gained from tax services can enhance audit effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]