Concerns have also been expressed about fewer foreign firms choosing to list in the U.S. postSOX,
a concern empirically validated in the data (see Figure 4). Piotroski and Srinivasan (2008)
find that fewer foreign firms enter U.S. equity markets post-SOX compared to pre-SOX, and that
defecting firms are more likely to list in London. Firms that defect to London are smaller, less
profitable, less likely to have a Big 4/5 auditor, and are more likely to be based in developed
countries. These firm characteristics are consistent with costs of SOX being higher for smaller
companies (as with U.S. firms going dark), while the benefits of a U.S. listing are lesser for firms
from developed countries.