We review and assess research findings from more than 120 papers in
accounting, finance, and law to evaluate the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We
describe significant developments in how the Act was implemented and find that despite
severe criticism, the Act and institutions it created have survived almost intact since
enactment. We report survey findings from informed parties that suggest that the Act has
produced financial reporting benefits. While the direct costs of the Act were substantial
and fell disproportionately on smaller companies, costs have fallen over time and in
response to changes in its implementation. Research about indirect costs such as loss of
risk taking in the U.S. is inconclusive. The evidence for and social welfare implications of
claimed effects such as fewer IPOs or loss of foreign listings are unclear. Financial
reporting quality appears to have gone up after SOX but research on causal attribution is
weak. On balance, research on the Act’s net social welfare remains inconclusive. We
end by outlining challenges facing research in this area, and propose an agenda for
better modeling costs and benefits of financial regulation.