The negative consequences of restatements provide incentives to improve corporate governance and internal controls
that might prevent future earnings errors. Farber (2005) finds that companies whose managers have committed financial
reporting fraud take actions to improve their governance following fraud detection. Srinivasan (2005) finds that outside
directors, especially audit committee members, are more likely to be replaced after restatements. Desai et al. (2006)
document that managers of restating companies face an increased likelihood of job loss. Both corporate boards and the
external labor market impose significant penalties on managers for violating Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
(GAAP). Given this prior evidence of changes in corporate governance among firms restating earnings, we undertake
additional analyses to determine whether changes in corporate governance are associated with increases in conservatism
among test firms.