abstract
Instrumental variable (IV) methods are commonly used in accounting research (e.g.,
earnings management, corporate governance, executive compensation, and disclosure
research) when the regressor variables are endogenous. While IV estimation is the
standard textbook solution to mitigating endogeneity problems, the appropriateness of
IV methods in typical accounting research settings is not obvious. Drawing on recent
advances in statistics and econometrics, we identify conditions under which IV methods
are preferred to OLS estimates and propose a series of tests for research studies
employing IV methods. We illustrate these ideas by examining the relation between
corporate disclosure and the cost of capital.
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