Does the SEC's Oversight Affect the Accounting Quality of Newly-Public Companies?

This dissertation examines whether the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC) oversight of public companies financial reporting affects accounting quality.

I investigate whether the SEC's regulatory oversight during the initial public offering (IPO) process subsequently affects accounting quality. I examine various attributes of the SEC's IPO comment letter process, and expect that increasing severity of the process is associated with higher post-IPO accounting quality. I find that only certain attributes of the IPO comment letter process are associated with post-IPO accounting quality, and find limited evidence that increasing severity of the process is associated with post-IPO accounting quality.

I further examine whether the SEC's oversight of public companies' periodic financial reporting affects accounting quality. I investigate various attributes of the SEC's Form 10-K comment letter process for firms receiving their first SEC comment letter review of their Form 10-K, and I expect that increasing severity in the comment letter process is associated with higher post-review accounting quality. I find only limited associations between attributes of the 10-K comment letter process and post-review accounting quality, and cannot conclude that increasing severity in the process is associated with higher post-review accounting quality.