This paper investigates the economic consequences of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) by examining
market reactions to related legislative events. Using concurrent stock returns of non-U.S.-traded
foreign firms to estimate normal U.S. returns, I find that U.S. firms experienced a statistically
significant negative cumulative abnormal return around key SOX events. I then examine the crosssectional
variation of U.S. firms’ returns around these events. Regression results are consistent with
the non-audit services and governance provisions imposing net costs. Additional tests show that
deferring the compliance of Section 404, which mandates an internal control test, resulted in
significant cost savings for non-accelerated filers.