Third, CM cannot disprove that the actions taken by management are optimal economically (e.g., the sale of the credit card portfolio or of the headquarters building may maximize firm value rather than just executive compensation).Finally, they also cannot disprove that the actions may optimally address tax and/or regulatory concerns. Several studies document that incoming CEOs apparently have an incentive to decrease earnings in the year of the executive change and increase earnings the following year (Strong and Meyer, 1987; Elliott and Shaw, 1988; Pourciau, 1993; Francis et al., 1996), presumably to enhance the incoming CEO’s reputation.